Advancing education and research in water resources sustainability, climate change and renewable energy in Türkiye/Turkey
Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH)
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Academic institution
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#SDGAction50613
Description
Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH) is one of the leading research universities in Turkey with an increasing international outreach. One of the strategic goals of IZTECH is to advance its position to a leading academic institution in its priority research areas including water resources, sustainability, climate change and renewable energy. Accordingly, IZTECH focuses on water theme especially by giving priority on “Water-Energy-Food Nexus”, “Sustainable Economic and Urban Development”, “Transboundary and International Water Cooperation”, “Cross Sectoral Cooperation”, “Climate” and “Resilience” fields. Within this context, “Water Resources” graduate program, which started to accept students in 2010, constituted the first step of IZTECH's education program on the subject. Then, due to the high demand for the program and the increasing importance of the subject, “International Water Resources Department” was established in 2020. The department, supported by the Council of Higher Education, accepted its first master's students in the 2020-2021 and the first Ph. D students in the 2021-2022 period. Many undergraduate students from African, Middle East and Asian countries are participating in the program besides Turkey.
IZTECH has strong institutional commitment to sustainability. Its educational and research activities address SDG 4, particularly SDG 4.7 by ensuring that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles. Most recently, IZTECH published Sustainable Campus Policy Document in October 2021 and adopted economic, social, and ecological sustainability as a basic principle in terms of education, research, and benefit to society. In addition to the development of corporate culture and organizational capacity with a participatory structure, IZTECH committed itself to organize social events to raise awareness, to provide training and research opportunities to the relevant stakeholders on the theme of sustainable development and climate change, and to review and renew its education and research plans regularly. Therefore, IZTECH aims to attend the UN 2023 Water Conference to promote deeper understanding, uncover new learnings and reinforce existing best practices in water for development issue. Moreover, IZTECH research staff and graduate students have a particular focus on geothermal energy. They carry out advanced research projects to assess overall supply potential of 'critical' raw materials (CRM) carried by geothermal fluids and to enlarge an existing geothermal fluid atlas by collecting new data and sampling wells for their CRM content in Europe and East Africa. The project will advance key reference points for stakeholder engagement, in order to obtain and maintain a 'social license to operate'. CRM-geothermal will open up a potentially huge untapped resource and deploy solutions to help Europe fulfil the strategic objectives of the EU Green Deal and thereby serve the agenda for SDG 7, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Furthermore, in line with the SDG 6, particularly 6.5, by 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate IZTECH International Water Resources Department Curriculum comprises graduate level courses such as the IWR 514 Water Politics course, which aims at bridging the gaps within the science-policy-practice interface to influence sound decision-making based on scientific knowledge and evidence. The course outcomes and methodology provided evidence of how inter- and transdisciplinary approaches can lead to meaningful and lasting impact on students by providing new relevant knowledge and strengthened capacities on sustainable water policy and management. On the other hand, in the past twelve months, the IWR 514 course convener has published scientific articles and volumes, and also acted as the project coordinator or member of international research projects, which are closely related to the UN 2023 Water Conference main themes, particularly Water for Cooperation: Transboundary and International Water Cooperation, Cross Sectoral Cooperation and Water Across the 2030 Agenda.
Horizon 2020, 2021 and 2022, European Commission Research Executive Agency
British Council
The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Republic of Türkiye
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Türkiye
Izmir, Metropolitan Municipality, Türkiye
SDGS & Targets
Goal 4
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
4.1
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
4.1.1
Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
4.1.2
Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)
4.2
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
4.2.1
Proportion of children aged 24–59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex
4.2.2
Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex
4.3
By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
4.3.1
Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex
4.4
By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
4.4.1
Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill
4.5
4.5.1
Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
4.6
By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
4.6.1
Proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex
4.7
By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
4.7.1
Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment
4.a
Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all
4.a.1
Proportion of schools offering basic services, by type of service
4.b
4.b.1
Volume of official development assistance flows for scholarships by sector and type of study
4.c
By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States
4.c.1
Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications, by education level
Goal 6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
6.1
By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
6.1.1
Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
6.2
By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
6.2.1
Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water
6.3
By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
6.3.1
Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated
6.3.2
Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality
6.4
6.4.1
Change in water-use efficiency over time
6.4.2
Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources
6.5
By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
6.5.1
Degree of integrated water resources management
6.5.2
Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation
6.6
6.6.1
Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time
6.a
6.a.1
Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan
6.b
Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
6.b.1
Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management
Goal 7
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
7.1
By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services
7.1.1
Proportion of population with access to electricity
7.1.2
Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology
7.2
7.2.1
Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption
7.3
7.3.1
Energy intensity measured in terms of primary energy and GDP
7.a
7.a.1
International financial flows to developing countries in support of clean energy research and development and renewable energy production, including in hybrid systems
7.b
By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support
7.b.1
Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing and developed countries (in watts per capita)
SDG 14 targets covered
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Deliverables & Timeline
IZTECH published Sustainable Campus Policy Document in October 2021 and adopted economic, social, and ecological sustainability as a basic principle in terms of education, research, and benefit to society
IZTECH research staff and graduate students have a particular focus on geothermal energy. They carry out advanced research project to assess overall supply potential of 'critical' raw materials (CRM) carried by geothermal fluids
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Region
- Europe
- West Asia
Other beneficiaries
University students Civil society Energy companies Irrigation unions
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Contact Information
Aysegül, Prof. Dr.