Date: 18 March 2022, Friday

09:30 - 10:00 Opening

  1. Serdil Dara Odabasi, Mayor, Kadikoy Municipality
  2. Katrin Jammeh, Mayor, Malmö, Sweden; ICLEI First Vice-President
  3. Wolfgang Teubner, Director, ICLEI Europe Region
  4. Tunc Soyer, Mayor, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality; Co-Chair on Climate Action, ICLEI Global Executive Committee

10:00-11:00 Green City Finance Plan
Cities are the places where economic, physical and social assets are concentrated and they produce more than 80% of global GDP. Finance provides the lifeblood of the investments necessary to attain the Sustainable Development Goals. In order to build sustainable and circular cities, municipalities require newer, better financial products. In addition, financial institutions have to update their data on the practices and the needs of the municipalities. Improving the legislation is also a crucial matter for municipal finance and for local fight against the climate crisis. Thanks to this session, the demand side of finance consisting of municipalities and the supply side consisting of financial institutions will have the opportunity to come together.

Moderator: Onur Eryuce, Counsellor to the Mayor, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality

  1. Sule Kilic, Deputy Head of Turkey, EBRD
  2. Umberto Del Panta, Head of Representation, European Investment Bank Representation to Turkey
  3. Tanguy Denieul, Director, AFD Turkey
  4. Ozan Beşer, Lead for Turkish Cities, IFC
  5. Recep Gurkan, Mayor, Edirne Municipality
  6. Alper Tasdelen, Mayor, Cankaya Municipality

11:00- 11:30 Break

11:30-13:00 Mayors Panel
Sustainability is widely discussed in today’s world as a major global priority. The growing risks about the future of the world prove that public decision makers from every level need to take action. At this point, it becomes indispensable to translate decisions of global institutions into concrete implementations at the local level. This session will discuss the challenges faced by cities, their sustainability strategies and best practices. With practical cases, the session will demonstrate how sustainability goals can be realized.

Moderator: Yunus Arikan, Director of Global Advocacy, ICLEI World Secretariat

  1. Minna Arve, Mayor, Turku, Finland; ICLEI Vice President
  2. Ekrem Imamoglu, Mayor, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality
  3. Serdil Dara Odabasi, Mayor, Kadikoy Municipality
  4. Peter Kurz, Mayor, Mannheim, Germany; Chair of Global Parliament of Mayors
  5. Tunc Soyer, Mayor, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality; Co-Chair on Climate Action, ICLEI Global Executive Committee
  6. Ali Orkun Ercengiz, Mayor, Burdur Municipality
  7. Fatma Kaplan Hurriyet, Mayor, Izmit Municipality
  8. Birsen Celik, Mayor, Bozkurt Municipality

13:00 - 14:00 Lunch

14:00 - 15:30 Circular Life: Culture, Nature
UCLG 2021 Culture Summit in Izmir brings about the concept of “Circular Culture” in response to borderless global challenges such as poverty, pandemic and climate crisis. The circular culture aims to solve the common challenges of cities by leaning on culture. It is based on four pillars: harmony with nature, harmony with the past, harmony with each other and harmony with change. This session will allow us to further elaborate Circular Culture as a new concept. Urban policies related to circular culture will be another subject of discussion.

Moderator: Mert Firat, UNDP Goodwill Ambassador

  1. Louisa Vinton, UNDP Turkey Resident Representative
  2. Jordi Pascual, Culture Committee Coordinator, UCLG
  3. Serdil Dara Odabasi, Mayor, Kadikoy Municipality
  4. Gorgun Taner, Director-General, IKSV
  5. Guven Eken, President of Board of Directors, Izdoga A.S.; Counsellor to the Mayor, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality
  6. Merve Akı, Urban Mobility Director, WRI Turkey
  7. Dr. Irem Daloglu Cetinkaya, Bogazici University Institute of Environmental Sciences
  8. Buket Uzuner, Writer

15:30 - 16:00 Break

16:00 - 17:30 Localization of European and Global Deals
Localization of European and Global Deals on sustainability is vital for making our cities more resilient and prosperous. This session highlights the importance of accelerating the transition towards a clean, sustainable and carbon-neutral urban life. By bringing together the practices of different cities of the World, the session aims to convey the challenges that local authorities face regarding the green transition and to highlight the achievements of cities.

Moderator: Wolfgang Teubner, Director, ICLEI Europe Region

  1. Peter Kurz, Mayor, Mannheim, Germany
  2. Gerd Trogemann, UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub Manager
  3. Dr. Göktuğ Kara
  4. Verena Schwarte, Department of International Affairs and Global Sustainability, City of Bonn, Germany (online)
  5. Julia Bartmann, Deputy Head of Office, Heinrich Böll Stiftung Turkey Representation Office
  6. Gökhan Yüksel, Mayor, Kartal Municipality
  7. Chris Castro, Director, Office of Sustainability & Resilience, City of Orlando, ABD
Sustainable Cities Summit will take place in Kadikoy with physical participation. There will also be a live broadcast which can be accessed through the following link: youtube.com/tvkadikoy
Contact: +90 216 414 67 10, [email protected]