Cities 2030: Localization of Sustainable Development Goals in Turkey

SDSN Turkey
Published: 17 January 2022
Last edited: 17 January 2022
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Summary

SDSN Turkey contributes to raising awareness and developing capacity among the Turkish municipalities’ staff on SDGs via its collaborations with the Union of Municipalities of Turkey, Marmara Municipalities Union and Municipalities. In this context, SDSN Turkey organized education programs such as “Cities 2030: Localization of Sustainable Development Goals” and “Sustainable Cities and Climate Change” among Turkish Municipalities and “Circular Economy and Zero Waste” webinars. SDSN Turkey also works to ensure that local studies are included in national and international reports.

Classifications

Region
East Europe
Scale of implementation
National
Ecosystem
Area-wide development
Urban ecosystem and build environment
Theme
Local actors
Other theme
Resilience of the cities for climate crisis and roadmap of cities for SDGs and climate action
Species Conservation and One Health Interventions
Risk communication, community engagement and behaviour change
Urban and Disaster Risk Management
City management, governance and finance
Challenges
Lack of access to long-term funding
Sustainable development goals
SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities
Aichi targets
Target 19: Sharing information and knowledge
Sendai Framework
Target 6: Enhance international cooperation to developing countries through adequate and sustainable support to complement their national actions for implementation of this Framework by 2030
Business engagement approach
Direct engagement with associations

Location

Turkey

Challenges

The demand for education was high but the monetary possibilities are narrow to arrange wide-scale education programs.

Beneficiaries

The staff of the municipalities of Turkey (over 1000 municipalities in Turkey).

How do the building blocks interact?

The building blocks follow this process:

1. Define the target

2. Assign the role to each party

3. Open communication among parties

4. Build trust among parties

5. Concrete and successful results satisfy the parties

Impacts

Various municipalities in Turkey are inspired by the education programs of SDSN Turkey. Over 1000 staff working in the municipalities have participated in the courses and 35 municipalities built their sustainability offices. Some of them began to write Voluntary Local Reviews. SDSN Turkey contributed to the consulting, education and preparation process of Voluntary Local Reports of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality (Izmir is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara; and the second largest urban agglomeration on the Aegean Sea) and the Municipality of Sultanbeyli, Istanbul (Sultanbeyli, has served as a hub for migrants for several decades) in collaboration with UCLG-MEWA. These reports are the first Voluntary Local Reports (VLR) of Turkey. Many municipalities are in continuous communication with SDSN Turkey to elaborate sustainability (SDGs) and climate action plans. 

Story

SDSN Turkey has initiated intensive action about the localization of SDG 11 and SDG 13 at the level of municipalities. The action has started with a Conference where the Municipalities have signed a declaration "We Are IN" and pledged to prepare their Climate Action Plans to reduce carbon emissions and take measurements to adapt to climate change, using the latest scientific information and following international standards. The municipalities have taken SDSN Turkey online courses and they began to prepare Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) to declare that they act in line with SDGs.

Contributed by

clara.latini_41401's picture

Clara Latini UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network