The European Commission has published a call "100 Climate-Neutral and Smart City Mission" as part of the Horizon Europe Programme. In this context, an information meeting was held online with high-level participants from the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (UMT), Directorate for EU Affairs and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK).
This call aims to support the transformation of 100 cities into climate-neutral ecosystems and smart cities by 2030 and to set an example for the transformation of other European cities.
The opening speeches of the meeting were made by UMT Secretary General Birol Ekici and Director General of Financial Cooperation and Project Implementation at the Directorate for EU Affairs Bülent Özcan.
Secretary General Ekici talked about the historical development of the concept of “sustainable development” and its current importance. Referring to the agreement reached after the COP-26 Climate Summit, Ekici stated that as UMT, they closely follow all developments related to climate change. Ekici said, “We can achieve a clean world with clean local.” He pointed out that 16 Turkish cities have already prepared the "Climate Action Plan" and that the municipalities have many roles in the "Adaptation Action Plan" prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. Ekici also congratulated TÜBİTAK, which works on science centers, science cities and science fairs.
Bülent Özcan, Director General of Financial Cooperation and Project Implementation at the Directorate for EU Affairs, in his speech, he stated that they aim to make our cities ready to be climate-neutral. He underlined that municipalities should follow programmes such as Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) and Horizon Europe, and drew attention to the importance of the Town Twinning project, which was coordinated by the UMT. Özcan also said that this call is not a grant, but it will provide guidance to local governments and is a helpful programme to prepare for the process. Özcan concluded his speech by stating that studies and practices should be carried out in line with the EU's Green Deal.
After the opening speeches, TÜBİTAK experts made their presentations.