FROM GLOBAL COMMITMENTS TO LOCAL ACTION
A year full of international agreements
The conversation around sustainable cities has focused on three major themes in recent years: population density in urban areas, the role of the cities in climate change and injuries and fatalities caused by traffic crashes.
In 2015, the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris set landmark goals for taking action on climate change, aiming to keep the temperature rise to well below 2 degrees C and to pursue efforts limiting the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees C. Countries will aim to peak global emissions as soon as possible and have agreed to reduce emissions rapidly to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the second half of the century. 196 countries joined in together on the Paris Agreement, which will be officially signed on April 22, 2016. To achieve this, we need to change the way we build, manage and live in our cities.
Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015 suggests that despite the increase in population and in the number of motor vehicles, traffic crash fatalities have not risen. However, the expected positive change is happening rather slowly. In November 2015, delegates from a hundred countries met in Brazil and discussed the possible solutions to cut the fatalities in traffic in half by 2020. The declaration links to greater issues of development, including sustainability, resilience, urban growth management and social equity.” This sets the stage for appropriate consideration of road deaths and injuries within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the future New Urban Agenda within the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Urban Development and Housing (Habitat III).
At Livable Cities Symposium 2015, we discussed how we can create energy efficient, smart cities in Turkey and around the world. At Livable Cities Symposium 2016, we will discuss how we are can implement the global commitments of 2015 in Turkey in beyond
Zeki Toçoğlu – Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality, Mayor
Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Elmas – Sakarya University, Rector
Arzu Tekir – WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities, Director
Hayrettin Güngör – Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, General Manager of Vocational Services
Mustafa Ayhan – East Marmara Development Agency, Secretary General
Sibel Bülay – Eko IQ, Local Administrations Editor
Zeki Toçoğlu – Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality, Mayor
Moderator: Arzu Tekir – WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities, Director
Sam Adams – WRI US, Director & Former Mayor of Portland, Oregon
Ömer Öztürk – Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, Expert on Environment and Urbanization
Prof. Dr. Levent Kurnaz – Boğaziçi University, Academician
Ümit Şahin – Istanbul Policy Center, Climate Coordinator
Sam Adams – WRI US, Director & Formen Mayor of Portland, Oregon
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Semra Mazlum Cerit – Marmara University, Academician
Burcu Özcan – Ministry of Transportation, EU Expert
Büşra Buran Bektaş – İETT, Manager of Service Improvement
Dinçer Sezgin – Ministry of Environment and Urbanization Department of Urban Design, Head of Branch
Tolga İmamoğlu – WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities, Road Safety Projects Manager
Övünç Yılmaz – Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, Manager of Public Transportation
Moderator: Dr. Göktuğ Kara – Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, Manager of Transport Sector
Mert Umut Özkaynak – Temsa Global, Innovation and Production Manager
Bjarne Schultz – Danfoss A/S, Senior Director of Product Portfolio Management
Dr. Kemal Gani Bayraktar – İzocam, Technical Marketing Manager
Eric Mackers – WRI, Building Efficiency Director
Esra Turan Tombak - Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, Head of Branch
Seda Güleç – Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, Green Building Expert
Ö. Selçuk Özdil – ÇEDBİK, Chair of Board
Moderator: Yasemin Keskin Enginöz – YAPI Magazine, Chief Editor
WRI Turkey Sustainable Cities reserves the right to change the people and organizations in the draft agenda.
He was born in Adapazarı in 1955. He completed his primary education in the Serdivan district, secondary and high schools in Adapazarı. He graduated from Advanced Islamic Institute in 1980.
Toçoğlu worked as a Teacher for two years in Hekimhan district of Malatya and five years for Imams and Preachers High school in Adapazarı. He worked as a branch manager at the Director General for Religion of National Education Ministry in years between 1986 - 1992. He was appointed to Libraries and Documentation Department Manager in 1992. Later on, he worked as the Secretary of Faculty of Theology in Sakarya University for six years. On 18 May, 1999 local elections, he was elected as President of Serdivan District municipality of Sakarya and then on 28 March 2004 was reelected for Serdivan District Municipality for second term. After the March 28, 2004 local elections, this time, he was elected as the Mayor of Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality.
1956 Giresun doğumlu olan Prof. Dr. Muzaffer ELMAS ilk, orta ve lise öğrenimini Giresun’da tamamladı. İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi’nden 1982 yılında mezun oldu. 1984 yılında İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü İnşaat Mühendisliği Ana Bilimdalı’nda yüksek lisansını, 1988 yılında İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü İnşaat Mühendisliği Ana Bilimdalı’nda doktorasını tamamladı. 1982 yılında İstanbul Teknik üniversitesinde Arş. Gör., 1988 yılında aynı üniversiteside Yrd. Doç. Dr., 1994 yılında Sakarya Üniversitesi’nde Doçent, 1999 yılında aynı üniversitede Profesör oldu. ELMAS’ın uzmanlık alanları Yapı Dinamiği ve Betonarme Yapılar konularındadır. Prof. Dr. Muzaffer ELMAS bugüne kadar yurtiçinde 3 ayrı projede görev almıştır.
İTÜ Sakarya Mühendislik Fakültesi Sakarya Meslek Yüksekokulu Müdür Yardımcısı, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi İnşaat Mühendisliği Bölüm Başkan Yardımcısı, Sakarya Üniversitesi Sağlık Hizmetleri Meslek Yüksekokulu Müdürü, Sakarya Üniversitesi Mühendislik Fakültesi, Fakülte Kurulu Üyesi, Sakarya Üniversitesi Mühendislik Fakültesi Dekan Yardımcısı, Sakarya Üniversitesi Mühendislik Fakültesi İnşaat Mühendisliği Bölüm Başkanı, Sakarya Üniversitesi Mühendislik FakültesiYapı ABD Başkanı, Sakarya Üniversitesi Mühendislik Fakültesi Yönetim Kurulu Üyesi, Sakarya Üniversitesi Üniversite Yönetim Kurulu Üyesi, Sakarya Üniversitesi Rektör Yardımcısı grevlerinde bulunan ELMAS Rektör olarak göreve devam etmektedir.
Elmas evli ve iki çocuk babasıdır.
EMBARQ Turkiye Executive Director Arzu was appointed Director of the Turkish center of the EMBARQ Network in December 2011., where managed the establishment process of Sustainable Transportation Association. She initially joined EMBARQ in January 2011 as Operations Manager. Prior to joining EMBARQ, Arzu worked as a consultant and conducted several market research projects in New York and wrote business plans and reports for investors and telecom companies who were looking at developing innovative information technology (IT) projects in Istanbul. She also worked as European Union Projects Coordinator and External Relations Director for IT companies, directed the financing of research and development projects and initiated the firms’ participation in several key European Union (EU) organizations.
Burcu ÖZCAN was born in İzmir on 30 May 1981. She was graduated from Middle East Technical University (METU) Department of International Relations in 2003. She also take her Master’s Degree in 2008 from Hacettepe University, Institute of Social Sciences Department of International Relations with thesis named “The Cyprus Problem in Turkey-EU Relations”.
She started her duty in Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications as EU Expert on 29 December 2004. She gained that EU Expert title on January 2008 with her expertise thesis named “Preparation for Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds: Turkey’s Transport Operational Programme”.
Currently, she is working as Chief of Programming, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of Department for EU Investments in DG Foreign Relations and EU Affairs of Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications. Turkey-EU financial assistance, management of pre-accession funds are the main areas of her expertise.
Büşra Buran Bektaş 1988 yılında Kocaeli’de doğdu. 2006 yılında Kocaeli Anadolu Lisesinden, 2010 yılında Yıldız Teknik Üniversite Endüstri Mühendisliğinden mezun olmuştur. 2012 yılında Galatasaray Üniversitesi Endüstri Mühendisliğinde yüksek lisansını tamamlamıştır.
Çalışma hayatına 2010 yılında İETT İşletmeleri Genel Müdürlüğü’nde Endüstri Mühendisi olarak başladı. 2010 yılında Avcılar-Söğütlüçeşme Metrobüs Hattı Simülasyonu lisans tezi, 2012 yılında Sürdürülebilir Toplu Taşıma Sefer Sıklığı Belirleme Yaklaşımı ve İstanbul Uygulaması yüksek lisan tezini tamamladı. 2013 yılı Nisan ayında İşletme Planlama Müdürlüğü görevine atandı. 2014 yılı Ağustos ayından itibaren İETT’de Hizmet İyileştirme Müdürü olarak görev yapmaktadır.
Celal Tolga Imamoglu is a Road Safety Projects Manager at EMBARQ Turkiye with a focus on public transportation, bus rapid transit (BRT), cycling infrastructure design, traffic safety projects as well as integrated transport. He is currently involved in supporting efforts related to planning, development and implementation of sustainable transportation projects in Turkish cities and Ghana Accra, Ethiopia Addis Ababa, including road safety inspections, audits. He has conducted more than 50 road safety inspections and more than 20 road safety audits.
Tolga is a transportation engineer M.Sc. with a background in civil engineering. He obtained his civil engineering degree from Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, followed by a master's degree in Transportation Engineering from Istanbul Technical University. While at Istanbul Technical University, he worked as a course assistant for Earthwork and Railway Engineering. His master's thesis covers the environmental effects of transportation, highway construction and noise dampening on high-traffic roads.
Tolga previously worked as field engineer at the New Shakhtar Donetsk Stadium at Ukraine. His role covered developing business strategy, analytical and structural analysis, and synchronizing the building process.
A graduate of Lycée de Galatasaray, he is fluent in French and English.
1974 yılında Ankara’da doğdu. Lisans eğitimini 1995 yılında Gazi Üniversitesi Mühendislik-Mimarlık Fakültesi Şehir ve Bölge Planlama Bölümünde, yüksek lisans eğitimini ise 2010 yılında Gazi Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Şehir Planlama Ana Bilim dalında tamamladı.
1998 yılında İller Bankası Mekansal Planlama Dairesi Başkanlığı’nda Şehir Plancısı olarak başladığı çalışma hayatını 2012 yılından itibaren Çevre ve Şehircilik Bakanlığı’nda sürdürmekte olup halen Kentsel Tasarım Dairesi Başkanlığı’nda Şube Müdürü olarak görev yapmaktadır.
Eric is the Building Efficiency Manager with the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. He supports the Building Efficiency Initiative through program development, project management, and research. Eric contributes to strategy development, work planning, partnership development, fundraising, monitoring, and evaluation related to the Center’s efforts on building efficiency and energy more broadly. He manages global projects and partnerships with key cities, including in Mexico, China and India. Additionally, he helps to conduct research on emerging trends and best practices in building efficiency and sustainable cities.
From 2010-2015, Eric worked at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) where he led an initiative focused on community-based and local government implementation of energy efficiency strategies in the United States. He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen publications on energy policy, urban energy systems, and community development. Eric also has prior experience with affordable housing policy and organizing environmental campaigns.
Eric holds a Master of City Planning and Environmental Planning Certificate from the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning and a B.A. in Political Science, Public Policy, and Environmental Studies from Albion College.
Eric is a Michigan native. He enjoys learning, traveling, and being outdoors (in both natural and urban environments). Eric and his wife have lived in the District of Columbia since 2010. Since moving to the area they have particularly enjoyed spending time in and around Shenandoah National Park.
Esra Turan Tombak work for Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation as a branch manager of the Energy Efficiency Branch. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in architecture from METU in 1992. After working in the private sector as an architect in architectural offices and site architect in the construction site, she began working in the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement in 1997. She was responsible for the preparation and supervision of the architectural projects of the public buildings, such as ministry buildings, justice buildings, embassy buildings. Also she worked as the jury member of the architectural design competition of important government buildings such as Presidency of the Council of State and Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey.
Since 2009 she has been working in the enegy efficiency in buildings department of Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation. She participated in the preparing and supervising the necessary legislation related with energy efficiency of buildings and software for energy performance certificate of buildings.
She is also responsible for the activity “the studies on energy efficiency in buildings” in the Government Plan. She has experience in national and/or international projects, related with energy efficiency in buildings and capacity building that are carried by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation. She is the project coordinator of the IPA Project Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings in Turkey.
Göktuğ Kara graduated from TED Ankara College in 1994. Mr Kara enrolled to international relations department of Bilkent University with scholarship. After his graduation, he was awarded British Chevening scholarship to continue his studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science University. He graduated with success in 1999 and wrote a thesis on the possible repercussions of Turkey’s exclusion from the EU enlargement process. Despite obtaining a scholarship and acceptance for a PhD study at the LSE, he preferred to return to Turkey in 2000 and started working for BOTAS, the State Pipeline Corporation of Turkey. In his assignment, Mr Kara coordinated the implementation of host government agreement related to the execution of the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline Project in Turkey. Currently he is working at the Delegation of the European Union to Ankara, responsible programme manager for the transport policy and infrastructure investments. He is also a part time academic member of the international relations department of the Bilkent University delivering a lecture on sustainable development and climate change. Mr Kara has so far been instrumental in upholding many reforms in the transport sector to align with the EU policies. Mr Kara holds a PhD in international relations from the Bilkent University. He studied Russia’s transformation in the post-Cold War period with a particular focus on the energy sector and its relationship to the Russian foreign policy engagements.
Prof. Levent Kurnaz was born in Istanbul. He received his B.S. Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 1988, his M.S. Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and his B.S. Degree in Physics in 1990 from Bogazici University, his M.S. Degree in Physics in 1991 and his Ph.D. Degree in Physics in 1994 from University of Pittsburgh. Between 1995 and 1997 he worked as a research associate at Department of Chemistry in Tulane University. In 1997 he joined Bogazici University Physics Department as an assistant professor. Since he has been a Professor of Physics at Bogazici University. In 2014 he has been appointed as the Director of the Center for Climate Change and Policy Studies at Bogazici University. Prof. Kurnaz has 1 international book and 28 scientific papers in international journals. He has been an advisor to 24 M.S. and 7 Ph.D. thesis ongoing and finished. He is married with two children.
He graduated from Tarsus American High School in 1996. Mr.Özkaynak went on to receive Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering from Yıldız Technical University (YTU). He earned his MBA degree from Yıldız Technical University (YTU), MS degree from Istanbul Technical University (ITU), MEng degree from Lehigh University, USA. Mert Özkaynak did academic research in engineering at ITU, George Washington University and Lehigh University. Mr.Özkaynak began his professional career in 2005 as a R&D Engineer at TEMSA and worked in R&D, Production, Planning, Order Management, Marketing, Business Development areas. Mr. Özkaynak still serves as Innovation and Product Manager at TEMSA.
Mustafa AYHAN was born on the 1th of the February 1970 in Aksaray, Turkey. He completed his primary school- secondary school and high school education in Aksaray. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration from Ankara University in 1990.
After he passed the exam of district governor from Ministry of İnternal affairs in 1991, He was appointed as the candidate of district governor to Çanakkale city. During his three years term as the candidate of district governor, he served as the acting district governor in Bursa-Harmancık, Bursa-Gürsu and Eskişehir-Mahmudiye.
He was sent to England by Ministry of İnternal Affairs between 1993-1994 years for 8 months with a view to learning foreign language and increasing his knowledge and experience. He was appointed as the district governor of Kastamonu-Seydiler after he completed the course of district governor run by Ministry of İnternal Affairs succesfully in December 1995.
He served as the district governor between 1995-1998 in Kastamonu-Seydiler , between 1998-2000 Tunceli-Pertek, between 2000-2004 Sivas-Zara, between 2004-2005 Tokat-Artova, between 2005-2009 Kastamonu-Cide, between 2009-2015 Sakarya-Hendek.
He has been serving as the Secretary General of East Marmara Development Agency since 24 August 2015.
Mustafa Ayhan is married and has two children, he speaks english.
Kadıköy Maarif Koleji (1973) and METU Mechanical Engineering (1978 BS, 1979 MS) graduate. He has worked long years in the steel sector on structural steels and steel structures. He has led pioneering work in this sector. He was one of the founding member s of TUCSA (Turkish Constructional Steel Association), still active in the committees and representing the association in IMSAD Sustainability committee. Since 2014 he is the Chairman of the Board of Çedbik (Turkish Green Building Council).
1980 yılında Ankara'da doğmuştur. İlk, orta ve lise eğitimini Ankara’da tamamladıktan sonra 2002 yılında İTÜ Kimya bölümünden mezun olmuştur. 2008 yılında Gazi Üniversitesi Kimya bölümünde Yüksek Lisansını ve 2011 yılında ise İngiltere Lancaster Üniversitesi Çevre Bilimleri alanında Yüksek Lisansını tamamlamıştır. Halen Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Çevre bölümünde doktora çalışmalarını yürütmektedir.
2004 yılından bu yana Çevre ve Şehircilik Bakanlığı’nın çeşitli birimlerinde (Ankara İl Müdürlüğü, Çevre Referans Laboratuvarı, Deniz ve Kıyı Yönetimi Dairesi Başkanlığı) uzman olarak çalışmış olup şu anda İklim Değişikliği Dairesi Başkanlığı’nda görev yapmaktadır. Ayrıca 2013 yılında Birleşmiş Milletler Çevre Programında (UNEP- Atina/ Yunanistan) danışman olarak çalışmıştır. Evli ve iki çocuk babasıdır.
He graduated from Kocaeli Anatolian High School in 1999. After graduating from Urban and Regional Planning Department at Erciyes University in 2003, he completed his Master of Science in Transportation Planning at İstanbul Technical University in 2007. Currently, he continues his academic carreer with doctorate studies on transportation in Sakarya University. After working in an international private company between 2005-2008, he has been working for Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Transportation Department since 2008. He has got several training on Public Transportation Organization, Transportation Management, Transportation Planning, Sustainable Transportation and also he has worked on some EU projects on behalf of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality.
Sam is the former Mayor of Portland, Oregon. As director of WRI’s U.S. Climate Initiative Adams leads WRI’s efforts to analyze and develop new policies, build political will and support coalitions that will encourage the U.S.’s transition to a strong, low-carbon economy.
“Sam is a dynamic and savvy leader, who will invigorate U.S. climate activities at a critical time for the nation and planet,” said Dr. Andrew Steer, President & CEO, WRI. “As Mayor, a member of the city council, mayoral chief of staff and nonprofit leader, Sam played a central role in making Portland, Oregon one of the most livable and sustainable cities in the United States. We are excited to have his leadership to build support for national action that will address the climate challenge.”
As mayor, Adams ensured that sustainability was integrated across all city-level decisions by combining the sustainability office and city planning agency. He also led a coalition of government, business and labor leaders, along with neighborhood and environmental advocates, to create Portland’s Climate Action Plan and “We Build Green Cities” job creation and economic development strategy. According to the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, the city’s emissions were cut by 11 percent between 1990 and 2013, alongside significant population and economic growth.
Sam holds a B.A. in political science from University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.
She was born Istanbul in 1987. After completing her primary, secondary and high school education in Gaziantep, she entered faculty of engineering and architecture in Çukurova University. After graduating from university, she started doing her masters degree for her graduate study specializing in ecological architecture in Haliç University and her master’s thesis was accepted in 2011. After gaining many experiences from various jobs between the years of 2008 and 2011 in Istanbul, in august 2011 she began her active duty as the director of City Design department of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality. Presently, she is still carrying out ecological projects.
Sibel Bülay was the founder of EMBARQ Turkey. Prior to joining EMBARQ, Ms. Bülay worked in Product Development at Ford Motor Company. At Ford, in addition to product design and development in chassis and powertrain systems, Ms. Bülay led sustainability initiatives, worked at the Ford Unlimited Think Tank, and was involved in integrating systems engineering into the product development process. Ms. Bülay was an instructor at the Middle East Technical University in Gaziantep, Turkey.
In October 2011, Ms. Bülay was elected to a three-year term on the Council for the European Transport Association, the European sister organization to the Transportation Research Board in the United States. Ms. Bülay holds master’s degrees in both business admistration and mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan. She also holds a degree in communications from the State University of New York
1997 yılında İTÜ Mimarlık Fakültesi’nden mezun oldu. 2000 yılında aynı üniversitesin FBE Mimari Tasarım Anabilim dalından yüksek lisans derecesi aldı. 1997-2001 yılları arasında çeşitli mimarlık bürolarında çalıştı. 2002 yılında kurulan Depo Yayıncılık içinde çeşitli yayınların geliştirilmesi sürecinde aktif rol aldı. 2003 yılından 2006 yılına dek ilk adıyla XXI Mimarlık, Tasarım ve Kent sonraki adıyla XXI Mimarlık, Tasarım ve Mekan dergisinin yazı işleri görevini yürüttü.
2006 ve 2012 yılları arasında Yapı-Endüstri Merkezi’nde Süreli Yayınlar Sorumlusu ve YAPI Mimarlık, Tasarım, Kültür, Sanat Dergisi’nin yazı işlerini yürüttü. 2012 yılında Süreli ve Sanal Yayınlar Yöneticisi olan Yasemin Keskin Enginöz, 2013 yılı Mayıs ayından bugüne YAPI Dergisi’nin Genel Yayın Yönetmeni olarak da meslek hayatına devam etmektedir. Okullarda mimarlık proje stüdyolarında jürilere ve Yüksek Lisans derslerine konuk öğretim görevlisi olarak katılmaktadır ve sektörel çok sayıda etkinlik ve konferansa konuşmacı ve moderatör olarak katılım sağlamıştır.
Turkey Sustainable Cities, Communication Director
