Millions of people in the world travel from one point to another every day. Tens of different needs of the people, from food to clothing, are conveyed to the consumers by using different means of transportation. To calculate how much and how often we use these means in order to reach the goods and services, has become a difficult mathematical problem. Changing life styles increase the number of journeys made by individuals. Growing volume of trade as well as increasing population bring about many new issues. The lengths covered in a single journey are longer due to the developments in vehicles hence fuel and raw material consumption is increased.
The first vehicle that humankind used, without doubt, was the human body itself. Human beings that used to hunt on foot and walk to his/her farm, now use different kinds of transportation which does not necessarily need their physical power to travel and transfer goods. Many vehicles such as trains, planes, ships, trucks and automobiles use fossil fuels or the electric energy which is generated by burning fossil fuels. In the transport sector 92% of the vehicles work with fossil fuel thus cause climate change globally and many environmental issues from noise to heavy metal pollution locally. Number of privately own vehicles is increasing and it is another reason of environmental pollution which, in the mean time, creates some social issues. Preferring motor vehicles for road transportation sends an invitation to some infrastructural developments such as motorways, crossover roads and bridges; each one of them has its own impacts to the environment.
More than half of the world population live in the cities. Urbanisation, changing life styles and living away from the production centres create many problems regarding transportation. Other issues related to transportation and which have direct effects on the quality of life are the inability of the poor people in the cities to meet the cost of transportation, the quality and inadequacy of public transports, traffic congestion and problems facing disable people in having access to public transportation.
Heinrich Böll Stiftung, opens transportation policies of the cities up for discussion in the Green Economy Conference which will be the third of the series. Public transport but what kind? Which one is more environment friendly; metrobus, metro or buses? Are the bicycle roads part of the green fantasies for big cities or are they -sine qua non- absolutely necessary? Issues such as the big projects in the big cities, poor people’s access to the public transports are becoming unsolvable problems together with the population increase. Third Green Economy Conference, together with experts from Turkey and abroad, will seek for the clues for green transportation policies, analyse economic data and try to identify the next “green” steps which will lead us to this transformation.
We invite everybody who is interested in green economics and transportation issues to join the Green Economics Conference and contribute in the discussions.
Heinrich Böll Stiftung Turkey Representation
Location: Istanbul Technical University Social Facilities - Macka Campus, Besiktas
Date: 3 December 2012
RSVP: Banu Yayla – 0212 249 15 54 / banu.yayla@tr.boell.org
Participation is free. Simultaneous translation in to Turkish and English will be provided during the conference.
Programme
09:00 Registiration
09:30 Opening Address
Dr. Ulrike Dufner - Heinrich Böll Stiftung Turkey Representation
SESSION 1 – Sustainable Mobility Policies in the Cities
09:40 Key note speaker: Prof. Dr. H. Murat Çelik – (Izmir Institute of Technology, Department of City and Regional Planning)
10:05 Q&A
10:30 Break
10:45 The elements of green mobility (Moderator: Özgür Gürbüz)
The role of rail systems in urban transport – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ela Babalık Sutcliffe (Middle East Technical University, Department of City and Regional Planning)
Transportation policy without carbon - Önder Algedik (350 Ankara Group, Climate and Energy Consultant)
Socio-economic benefits of transport investments – RA Eda Beyazıt (Istanbul Technical University, Department of City and Regional Planning)
11:45 Q&A
12:15 Break for lunch
SESSION 2 – Green Mobility Examples and Problems
13:30 Municipalities and model practises (Moderator: Barış Erdoğan)
Integration of cycling mobility in Antalya - Sevcan Atalay (Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, Transport Planning and Rail System Department)
Organic mobility in Yalova - Mehmet Nuray Tozlu (Director of Yalova Municipality Transportation Services)
Slow cities and mobility - Prof. Dr. Rıdvan Yurtseven (Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University-Cittaslow Turkey Network Coordinator)
14:30 Q&A
15:00 Break
15:15 People and mobility in the cities (Moderator: Ulrike Dufner)
Istanbul’s historic peninsula and pedestrians – Sibel Bulay (Embarq Turkey, Founder and the board member)
Disable people’s access to transportation- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nilgün Camkesen (Bahcesehir University, Transportation Research Center)
Mobility with a gender perspective – Tuğba Özay Baki (Istanbul Feminist Collective)
Cities and bikes- Aydan Çelik (Bicycle writer and designer)
16:15 Q&A
16:45 Break
17:00 The fuel issue of transport (Moderator: Senem Gençer)
Hydrogen energy for urban transportation – Dr. Fazıl Serincan (UNIDO-ICHET)
Clean Vehicles and fuel – Jonas Ericson (Clean Vehicles in Stockholm)
17:30 Q&A
18:00 Closing and break
18:15 Screening: The Shore (Son Kumsal)
Director: Ruya Arzu Koksal
Synopsis: On the black sands of Black Sea Shores local residents enjoy the final days of summer, as they have for generations. Fisherman near Trabzon, Turkey are counting their last catch and wondering how they will survive. All try to ignore the reality that these treasured shores are doomed as trucks have begun pouring tons of rock into the sea along the five-mile-long coast of Vakfikebir, irreversibly destroying the shoreline to create a new highway. A culture shaped by the sea is on the brink of extinction. The new highway will stand like a wall between seafaring people and the wild waves of the Black Sea they have sailed for centuries.