Nick Hobbs: “Sustainability is no longer just the dreams of idealists and visionaries”

Nick Hobbs from the Hiking Istanbul Project met with students at an online conference titled "Rethinking the Rural Area of Istanbul" organized by Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU) English Language and Literature Student Club. "Sustainability is no longer just the dreams of idealists and visionaries," said Hobbs, and shared his experiences ranging from popular walking tours in the rural Istanbul to his long career in the international music industry with students.

60 WALKING ROUTES OUTSIDE THE METROPOL
Stating that they are focused on giving sustainable values to Istanbul's precious countryside, Hobbs gave details about how Hiking Istanbul started and how it evolved into an online community with more than 5,000 followers, and his upcoming book which maps about 60 hiking routes outside the metropolitan area.

Noting that "Sustainability is no longer just the dreams of idealists and visionaries” Hobbs added: “Either we immediately put sustainable economics into practice, or we accelerate the degradation of the planet’s biosphere that we depend on and love, with terrible, largely-irreversible consequences that will likely plunge us into the darker visions of science fiction.”

Hobbs concluded his speech as follows:

“the beautiful, historical and habitat-rich places should need no additional reason to be protected and conserved. The places that are not, could, with imagination, a little effort and modest expense, be transformed into natural and social assets — into common-wealth, that which we hold in trust for each other and those to come.”