Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Association, has held the “Diyarbakır Climate Adaptation Workshop”.

Organised by the Department of Climate Change and Zero Waste within the framework of the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP), the “Diyarbakır Climate Adaptation Workshop” took place at the Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre. The workshop brought together representatives from the relevant departments of the Metropolitan Municipality, district municipalities, the City Council, Dicle University, Boğaziçi University, the Provincial Directorate of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture, the Diyarbakır Water and Sewerage Administration (DİSKİ) General Directorate and the Ecology Association.

‘The climate crisis is a multi-dimensional problem’

In her speech, Head of the Department of Climate Change and Zero Waste, Evin Dinar, underlined that, at a time when climate units are only just being established within municipalities, they had come together in order to make the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan stronger, more participatory and more implementable.

Noting that the impacts of the climate crisis are increasingly being felt in many areas, from water resources to agricultural production, from extreme temperatures to the living conditions of vulnerable groups, Dinar said:

“It is of great importance that climate work is approached not merely as a technical issue, but in a holistic way that encompasses its social, economic and environmental dimensions.”

Dinar stated that cooperation with all stakeholders is ongoing with the aim of building a city that is resilient in the face of the climate crisis, and summarised the objective of the workshop as follows:

“To strengthen a shared language, to clarify roles and responsibilities, to enhance inter-institutional coordination and to develop concrete, practicable climate actions together.”

Presentations at the workshop

At the workshop, academics and ecologists delivered presentations under the following headings: “Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan”, “The Role of Local Authorities in Climate Adaptation”, “Findings on the Current Situation in Türkiye”, “The Science, Politics and Justice of Climate Change” and “Local Strategies for Resilient Cities”.