Issue: 108
“I came across a grant call for projects on energy efficiency in household appliances, and decided to develop a project about the relation between climate change and energy for new generations,” she says. “It is they who will be most affected from adverse effects.”
Meltem’s project was selected as one of five winning grantees and awarded US $100,000, as part of UNDP’s Market Transformation of Energy Efficient Appliances programme. Funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and UNDP’s core resources, the aim of the initiative is to reduce household electricity consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating market transformation and raising awareness that energy-efficient appliances benefit the environment as well as families’ budget.
Turkey has about 17 million households, and dishwashers, refrigerators, air conditioners and other staples of modern homes have become a booming business. But a survey found that only about half the people in Turkey know about energy efficiency labelling. Awareness of the risks of climate change is relatively high, but fewer people grasp that their purchase choices can make a difference.
Meltem’s project ran an awareness-raising campaign in three cities (İstanbul, İzmit and Bursa), and conducted a survey of 1,300 female consumers. Along with special brochures for kids and women distributed during these meetings, a demo of an online game on energy efficiency at home was developed for a new generation who will deal with challenges of climate change in the future.
The interactive game, suitable for children from 6-12 years old, was played by 3,500 children in 26 elementary school. It provides a simple and fun opportunity to learn how to use household appliances efficiently.
“It was really exciting to see how the new generation is so smart and already an advocate for energy efficiency. We have noticed that the kids have shown great interest in energy efficiency especially in the schools located in low-income areas,” said Meltem.
Making consumers aware has been key in Turkey’s push for energy efficiency. So far, the project enabled training of more than 50,000 household appliance sales staff on the benefits of energy efficiency.
A public awareness campaign reached over 9 million people with messages that energy-efficient appliances are good for the environment and can slash electricity bills by up to 50 percent.
Other measures include improving standards for eco-friendly design and detailed labeling of the new appliances launched on the market. Overall, energy efficiency is expected to increase as much as 50 percent.
To ensure compliance, UNDP helped train Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology staff members to enforce the regulations and introduce a market monitoring system to measure the energy consumption and emissions of household appliances.
By the end of 2014, the measures already taken in Turkey are expected to save about 3,700 gigawatt hours in energy use, and keep 2.4 megatons of carbon dioxide out of the air.
Implemented in partnership with Anadolu Efes, Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Future is in Tourism Sustainable Tourism Support Fund project had received 417 applications from 66 cities this year and three projects were selected to be supported.
Göbeklitepe will shape Urfa’s architecture
One of three projects that is qualified for the fund is “Stonemasonry at Göbeklitepe, the Oldest Temple of the World” which will be carried out by Şanlıurfa Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the partnership of Şanlıurfa Governorate.
Project aims to transfer 12 thousand year-old stonemasonry to the next generations and to increase the number of qualified tourists and tourism revenue in the region.
The ultimate goal in Göbeklitepe is to identify traditional stonemasonry patterns to be used in touristic products, in parallel to that, to establish a ‘Stonemasonry Atelier’ to train new stonemasonry masters and to make sure tourists visiting the region experience this authenticity.
Project also aims to increase tourism revenues by strengthening the SME’s in the tourism sector and by increasing the number of days tourists stays in the city.
Project team will organize a Göbeklitepe Symposium, as well.
Göbeklitepe, the oldest temple of the world, was listed in UNESCO World’s Heritage Tentative List recently.
5 thousand years old Arslantepe Mound will galvanize through ‘Future is in Tourism’
“Malatya’s Legacy Arslantepe” project which is granted for support fund, is a local development project which will stimulate social and cultural potential of Arslantepe.
Project will introduce and improve 5.000 years old Arslantepe Mound, an archaeological settlement area in Malatya’s Battalgazi district.
Project, designed by Association for Supporting and Developing Arslantepe and Battalgazi Mayorship, aims to make Arslantepe a center of attraction for tourists, contribute to its promotion, provide a sense of ownage for the site among people in the region, raise awareness to protect and be proud of Arslantepe, and galvanize the economy of the district.
‘Future is in Tourism’ supports both tourism and economy of Safranbolu
“A Souvenir from Safranbolu” is the third project qualified to benefit from Sustainable Tourism Support Fund.
As part of the project, expectations and purchasing behaviours of tourists for souvenir shopping in Safranbolu will be identified and on this basis, new souvenir designs will be crafted.
Created by Karabük University and Safranbolu Chamber of Craftsman and Artisan Cooperation, project aims to increase the type of souvenirs particular to Safranbolu and create new job opportunities for people in the region.
‘Traditional Kitchen of Seferihisar’ which is supported by ‘Future is in Tourism’ introduced to the media on 4 November.
‘Traditional Kitchen of Seferihisar’ is one of first three projects which was supported by Future is in Tourism implemented in partnership with Anadolu Efes, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and UNDP.
Seferihisar district of İzmir, which is one of globally known “Slow Cities” (Cittaslow), takes a huge step towards branding its products with Future is in Tourism Sustainable Tourism Support Fund (STSF) carried out in partnership with Anadolu Efes, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and UNDP.
“Traditional Kitchen of Seferihisar” project, one of the first term projects of Future is in Tourism, will enable Seferihisar women to brand endemic flavors of the region.
Seferihisar’s local flavors meet with the world
Future is in Tourism - Sustainable Tourism Support Fund which aims to create local development models with tourism-centered projects, provides training and mentoring support to the beneficiaries along with providing fund for establishing a kitchen within the scope of the “Seferihisar’s Traditional Cuisine”.
Seferihisar’s Traditional Cuisine launched on 4 November with the participation of Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Anadolu Efes, UNDP, Tunç Soyer, Mayor of Seferihisar, Resul Çelik, Seferihisar District Governor, Ali Özdemir, Seferihisar District Food, Agriculture and Breeding Director, Neptün Soyer, Head of Hıdırlık Agricultural Development Cooperative, Bülent Köstem, Head of Cittaslow Turkey and Prof. Dr. Kamile Nazan Turhan, İzmir University of Economics Agricultural Technology and Food Science Faculty Dean.
Innovation Turkey 2014 Exhibition was organized on 13-16 November in Istanbul with the motto of “Bright ideas enlightening the future”.
The innovative projects from the GAP Region were promoted in the exhibiton and event was inaugurated by the President of the GAP Regional Development Administration Sadrettin Karahocagil and Vice President Muhammed Adak.
Experts from GAP Regional Development Administration, İpekyolu and Karacadag Development Agencies and representatives from GAP YENEV and UNDP Turkey office participated to the fair where innovative projects such as GAP Organic Clustering and Utilization of Renewable Energy Resources and Increasing Energy Efficiency in Southeast Anatolia Region were promoted to the wider audience.
Innovation Turkey Fair aims to introduce innovative ideas and new technologies by expanding the information network among the industry and academic environments, thus to create solutions for the future.
The aim is to promote volunteerism and establish a legal framework which enables volunteerism in Turkey. The first workshop was held in Union of Turkish Bar Associations building on 31, October.
The study is carried out in partnership with UNV, who is one of the members of National Volunteering Commitee, Turkish Third Sector Foundation (TÜSEV), Education Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV), Neighborhood Disaster Volunteers (MAG), and Research and Education Center for Labor and Social Security (ÇAGSEM). TBB supports the study.
In the workshop, it is decided to scan the legal legislature on subjects listed below:
A survey will be conducted to gather the experiences of NGOs on these subjects.
A question booklet, prepared based on the results coming out of the survey, will be sent to TBB. TBB will answer the questions in accordance with legal legislature.
Following this study, a workshop to which NGOs and public institutions will attend, will be held.
The Grant Programme closing event of the “Market Transformation of Energy Efficient Appliances in Turkey” Project (EVUDP) executed by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources General Directorate of Renewable Energy and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the financial support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was held on 27 November 2014 in Ankara.
The grant programme aimed to contribute to the academic studies conducted in universities on the energy efficiency of appliances in Turkey, develop capacity and open new undergraduate and graduate courses on energy efficiency and integrate them into the existing curricula.
Deputy General Director of the General Directorate of Renewable Energy Mr. Erdal Çalıkoğlu who delivered a speech at the closing event of the Grant Programme stated that the residential sector in Turkey consumes 36% of the total energy consumed in Turkey but that 30% of this energy consumption could be saved and stressed the importance of this Grant Programme.
The universities that were supported within the context of the Grant Programme were Ankara University, Boğaziçi University, İstanbul Aydın University, Kadir Has University and Özyeğin University.
New courses were opened, research and training labs for the energy efficiency of appliances and the impact of energy consumption on climate change were established, knowledge and awareness were raised and new partnerships with various institutions working in this field were established within the projects that address both technical, R&D and social issues.
An evaluation of the projects, interviews with Grant Programme beneficiaries and the introduction of the Project Stories booklet were also realized in the Grant Programme closing event.
Please visit www.evudp.net for more information (Turkish website).
Please click here for the Project Stories Booklet in Turkish.
International Volunteer Day is celebrated all around the world by volunteers, non-governmental organizations, UN Agencies, government authorities and private sector to create awareness on the important impact of volunteer activities, to recognize the value of volunteers for their societies since 1985.
This year UNV and National Volunteering Committee, which UNV is one of the founders, invite all individuals and organizations in the field to celebrate the day.
This year, the International Volunteer Day will be celebrated whole week, instead of one day.
You can find agenda below for 5 December International Volunteer Day which UNV supports:
On the first day of the conference a session on Public Contribution to Solar Energy was organized and “Solar Energy Potential of GAP Region and Pilot Projects of GAP Regional Development Administration” was presented by Dr. Nusret Mutlu, GAP RDA Genereal Coordinator of Economic Development, Private Sector and Entrepreneurship in this session.
On the second day of the conference, session on Solar Energy in Development was moderated by Dr. Nusret Mutlu and detailed information on Utilization of Renewable Energy Resources and Increasing Energy Efficiency in the Southeast Anatolia Region (GAP) Project was given.
Furthermore, two scientific articles on the role of solar energy irrigation practices in regional development were presented.
SolarTR 2014 is an international conference that is related to science and technology about the innovative technologies and practices within the realm of solar energy, which is gradually becoming more significant in Turkey.
Solar 2014 is a platform that brings all stakeholders from researcher to industry and from public to implementer to evaluate the sector and its development in all aspects.
Currently, no consultancy company is in service in the Southeastern Anatolia (a.k.a. GAP) Region.
Hence, within the scope of "Utilization of Renewable Energy Resources and Increasing Energy Efficiency in Southeastern Anatolia Region" project, it is planned to establish an Energy Efficiency Consultancy Incubation Center, to facilitate the establishment of energy efficiency consultancy companies and to help improve the technical labor force capacity.
The incubation center will also include a laboratory with a set of calibrated test and measurement devices that are required to conduct energy efficiency applications in industrial facilities and buildings.
Devoted to the engineers, who will act as consultants of the incubation center, a theoretical training program, including the "how-to-use" details of such devices as thermal camera, flue gas analyzer, thermal conductivity measurement device and air flow meter, was performed at Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce on November 15th.
The second part of the training program is planned to be realized on December 20th.
Under this framework, it is planned to provide technical devices and equipment to the OIZs that can allocate certain resources such as facilities, vehicles, personnel, etc. for this activity.
Field visits are conducted to identify the physical conditions, personnel structures and the interest and awareness levels on energy efficiency of the OIZs that have applied and selected after the selection process for the activity.
A delegation composed of the project team and experts from General Directorate of Renewable Energy visited Gaziantep OIZ on 6 November, Adiyaman OIZ on 7 November, Kayseri OIZ on 18 November and Bursa OIZ on 19 November.
During these visits, the delegation informed the OIZ Regional Directors and EMU unit officers about the programme, planned activities for the improvement of EMUs and the trainings on Energy Management Systems.
Also the potential areas of cooperation were discussed. Moreover, information was gathered about the capacity and management of these OIZs in order to update the information regarding to respective OIZs.
New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme in Turkey has been giving information to the audience about projects and implementations of UNDP which works for a more productive, greener, healthier and a more educated future.
New Horizons Podcast released the first episode of its new season on 17 November, which was about Social Good Summit 2014 İstanbul Meet-up held in 23 October.
Social Good Summit, which is a global event organized every year during the UN week in which United Nations Assembly meets and it has been a unique platform for 5 years through which global communities around technology and social media for social change have been connected.
This year, Turkey joined global Social Good Summit for the second time, together with more than 70 countries around the world.
Participants imagined the world they want to live in 2030 during Social Goof Summit 2014 İstanbul meetup.
How to follow New Horizons Podcast?
You can reach our Podcast programmes which are in Turkish on tr.undp.org, iTunes Store, Soundcloud and Audioboo. These programmes are prepared by UNDP Turkey Communications Office with contributions of Radyo İlef and Açık Radyo.
Turkish versions of the New Horizons podcast are aired on Açık Radyo in Istanbul and on radios of universities in our network.
You can also find the English and Turkish transcripts of programmes on the web page of New Horizons Podcast. (http://bit.ly/yepyeniufuklar)
New Horizons Podcasts will continue to be published on every Monday.
To see all vacancies, click here.
Editor: Faik Uyanık
Assistant: Nazife Ece
Intern: Damla Deniz Haykır
Contributors to this issue: Birce Albayrak Coşkun, Burcu Morel, Deniz Tapan
© 2014 UNDP Turkey
All rights of New Horizons are reserved to UNDP Turkey. Any use of information should be accompanied by an acknowledgment of New Horizons as the source citing the URL of the article.