Yuva Association, in partnership with Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and the HUDOTO Foundation, shared two key outputs of the “Izmir Climate Citizens’ Assembly” project with the public. The Final Report and the Climate Citizens’ Assembly Implementation Guide were introduced during an online launch and experience-sharing event.
The project aimed to strengthen social resilience in Izmir against the impacts of climate change and to enable local residents to take part in shaping climate policies. Within this framework, a Citizens’ Assembly composed of 50 randomly selected residents was established to reflect Izmir’s demographic structure. Taking district population density into account, SMS invitations were sent to 50,000 people, and participants were selected through a software system based on diversity criteria such as age, gender, occupation, education, and place of residence.
The assembly sessions began on 7 September 2025 with a Climate Literacy Training session. The opening was also attended by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay. The process continued with thematic sessions held on the following dates:
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21 September: Nature-Based Solutions & Green Areas
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5 October: Water Management
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19 October: Health
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2 November: Closing Session
Following presentations by academics, participants engaged in group discussions during each session. In every session, 10 proposals were selected through voting, resulting in a total of 30 proposals, which were then prioritized during the final session and compiled into the report.
This citizens’ assembly model, implemented for the first time in Türkiye in Izmir, aimed to contribute to the wider adoption of participatory democracy practices among local governments. The conference organized to share this experience was also broadcast online.
The event program began with opening remarks by Serkan Gümüş from UNDP and Dr. Zafer Levent Yıldır from Izmir Metropolitan Municipality. This was followed by a presentation by Erdem Vardar, who shared the Izmir experience and the methodology used in the process. A panel moderated by Bilge Martan featured Prof. Dr. Koray Velibeyoğlu, Tülin Hadi, and Erdem Vardar as speakers. The program concluded with a documentary screening, citizen presentations, and a session where municipal commitments were shared.
