THE ENVIRONMENT FESTIVAL

The theme of Kadıköy Municipality Environment Festival,Turkey’s most comprehensive and largest environmental festival,is “Urban Resilience:Work for Nature!”.Many activities were organized at the Festival for both children and adults. This year’s Kadıköy Environment Festival highlighted the importance of “urban resilience”in the fight against natural disasters caused by earthquakes and climate change.During the Festival;Kadıköy City Council,Kadıköy Climate Ambassadors,METU Green Campus Community,change.org,Natural Life Association,Istanbul Medeniyet University etc.opened stands. Non-Governmental organizations,foundations,communities,experts,academics,artists,students,activists,urban stakeholders and all citizens participated in the Kadıköy Environment Festival on 2-3-4 June 2023 within the scope of many activities such as panels,interviews,workshops,shows,concerts.They decided to build environmentally friendly cities,the steps we will take for a sustainable future and to move forward together towards a resilient future. Speaking at the Festival,Mayor Şerdil Dara ODABAŞI said,”We are proud to be the first and only city from Türkiye to be included in the A List among participating cities according to the 2022 survey of CDP,the platform where more than 8 thousand cities and orgaizations worldwide share their climate change strategies.” In the seminars where academic and representatives of institutions took part as speakers,the topic of “Bodily and Spiritual Resilience”,”Volunteering and Organizing”,”Reconstruction of cities and a Sustainable Future”,”Disaster and Urban Resilience”were discussed.Interviews titled”Protecting our garbage-Transforming the Consumption Culture”,”Tell me your Transportation Vehicle and I’ll Tell You Your Carbon Footprint”were held. Short films were screened in the Cinema House Tent.One of the main agendas of this year’s festival was earthquakes and other disasters.Kadıköy Municipality Search and Rescue Team,which carries out search and rescue activities in earthquake,fire and flood zones,organized various activities for children aged 5-10 and their families to inform them about before,during and after disasters.Among the events organized are “fire fighting game”,”find your partner,prepare your disaster kit”,”escape plan”. As last year,many events related to seeds were held at the festival this year as well.The people of Kadıköy participated in the workshops titled”Exchange Table”,”Seed Germination”,”Climate Tree”,organized by various organizations and associations. Concerts,musicals for children and adults,and plays were staged by the Istanbul Theater Workshop. On the last day of the Festival,pilates lessons were given to the people of Kadıköy. At the same time,800 trees were distributed free of charge in the festival area by the Kadıköy Municipality Parks and Gardens Directorate.