In Search of a Green City

The ‘In Search of a Green City’ event will bring together green local councillors from different municipalities and civil society from across Turkey, Belgium, Greece and Spain. 

In this event, we aim to share best practises and discuss the role and participation of city actors  through the examples below which are the findings of the GEF Cities as Places of Hope Project.

This event will help the researching and mapping of progressive and transformative practices at the different cities and exploring the EU practices and possibilities for cities to organise themselves in trans-local networks and connect them to the Green movement and facilitate their exchanges.

* This event is organized by the Green Europe Foundation with the support of the Green Thought Association.

** The meeting will be held digitally. Turkish and English translations will be available at the first part of the event.

Context:

Part of the ‘Cities as Places of Hope’ series; a project launched in 2019 focussing on progressive city networks that are a key factor in the development of a positive narrative on the future of Europe. The project brings together partners from Spain (EQUO), Catalonia (Nous Horitzons), Croatia (The Institute for Political Ecology-IPE) , Belgium (Oikos), North Macedonia (Sunrise) and Turkey. This 2020 project aims to bring together progressive and transformative trans-local city networks, to connect them and facilitate their exchanges, ultimately contributing to a positive narrative for the future of Europe.

For more information 

Info about the speakers and Organizations: 

Dirk Holemans is the chairperson of the Green European Foundation (gef.eu) and Coordinator of Oikos, the Flemish green Think Tank for social-ecological change. He has previously been Member of Parliament (Flanders) and city councilor (Ghent) for the green party. Dirk is also editor-in-chief of Oikos’ eponymous journal. His main interests are ecological economy, green cities and political ecology. 

Oikos think tank strives for social and ecological change by contributing to public debate from an ecological perspective. The starting positions  of Oikos are the environmental limitations of the planet and worldwide solidarity.

Sergi Alegre Calero: He has been a member of Iniciativa Per Catalunya (the Green Catalan Party), vice-mayor of the city of El Prat, member of the Barcelona Metropolitan Government. He was chair of the working group of environment and member of the international working group at the Iniciativa Per Catalunya. He has been involved for a long time with Fundacio Nous Horitzons in transnational projects. 

Fundacio Nous Horitzons  is the foundation of Iniciativa Per Catalunya (ICV),  it was founded in 1992. Its goals are the promotion, the research and the exchange of ideas from a ecologist, feminist and transformative perspective.

Ümit Şahin is the Coordinator of Climate Change Studies at Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center. Since the early 1990s, Şahin has been part of the green political movement and climate, ecology and environmental movements, and an active contributor to anti-nuclear and human rights movements. He is the founding member of Green Thought Association. 

Müge Yorgancı graduated from the City and Regional Planning Department with distinction. She conducted projects on strategic planning, participatory urban planning models, game design, and cycling cities. She worked as an expert on project cycle management and participation processes at BİMTAŞ, a partner organization of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. She is working on Participatory Democratic Management Policies at the Istanbul Vision 2050 Office.