The "Waste Management and Sustainable Solutions in Universities Workshop" recently took place to champion the "Zero Waste" vision, aiming to transform campus initiatives into a broader social culture and advance sustainable environmental goals.
06 April 2026
The "Waste Management and Sustainable Solutions in Universities Workshop" recently took place to champion the "Zero Waste" vision, aiming to transform campus initiatives into a broader social culture and advance sustainable environmental goals.
Hosted by Ege University, the event featured keynote remarks from Mehrali Ecer, Deputy Director of Climate Change. This year’s workshop, centered on the theme of "Food Waste," provided a platform for Ecer to address critical global and domestic agendas, including the COP31 Presidency, the Circular Economy, and the European Green Deal Action Plan.
In his address, Deputy Director Ecer called for decisive action in translating environmental targets into reality. “The global climate agenda is at a turning point,” Ecer noted.
“For years, the emphasis was on setting ambitious goals and strengthening commitments. Today, however, the real challenge lies in execution. As the first global stocktake highlights, our primary obstacle is not a lack of vision, but an implementation gap.”
Beyond setting immediate goals, the workshop serves as a strategic foundation for Türkiye’s upcoming COP31 host role. It seeks to scale "Eco-campus" initiatives and consolidate the field experiences of individual universities into a unified national strategy, providing a roadmap for sustainable living across all organizations and agencies.
The event brought together a distinguished group of attendees, including the Governor of İzmir, Dr. Süleyman Elban; President of Ege University, Prof. Musa Alcı; Director General of Environmental Management, Fatih Turan; and Prof. Ece Ümmü Deveci, alongside various NGO representatives and leading academics.