European Union Provides Support to ITU Faculty Member’s Climate Change Project

The project coordinated by Assoc. Prof. Ömer Ekmekcioğlu, a faculty member at the Disaster Management Institute, has been granted support from the European Union under the Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin Cross-Border Cooperation Program.

A consortium led by Istanbul Technical University (ITU), in partnership with Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality (Turkey), Kavala Municipality (Greece), Mykolaiv Municipality and the Ukrainian Association of Business Support Centers (Ukraine), and Kobuleti Municipality (Georgia), has been awarded funding for the project titled 'Strengthening Local Intervention Capacities for Climate Change in the Black Sea Region.' The project has a total budget of 1,462,466.94 Euros and will run for 24 months.

Enhancing capacities to combat climate change 

The project aims to enhance local capacities to address climate change impacts in the Black Sea Basin. As the lead partner, ITU will conduct R&D and guide consortium members in adaptation processes. Key goals include creating Local Adaptation Plans (LAPs) for the local authorities in the consortium, determining and prioritizing strategies to mitigate climate change impacts, establishing monitoring and evaluation systems, building continuous improvement infrastructure and increasing awareness by involving relevant stakeholders in the adaptation processes.

Sustainable Park implementation to be realized 

The project activities will also be supported by pilot-scale implementations. and partner municipalities will construct Sustainable Parks. These parks will serve as living laboratories, enabling the implementation and experience of climate-resilient infrastructures, green spaces, and sustainable practices. In the medium and long term, the project aims to increase resilience to the impacts of climate change, implement sustainable land-use planning practices, and adopt efficient water management strategies.