Gelisim News

Tatlısu reminded that Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU) has ranked 201-300 among the world universities and 8th among the participating universities from Turkey applying in the field of clean water and sanitation according to the report of Times Higher Education (THE), which evaluates the contributions of universities to the sustainable development of communities within the scope of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG6- Clean Water and Sanitation).
 

Tatlısu stated: “Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Ranking has the feature of being the first and only ranking in the world based on the responsibility undertaken by universities in the local, regional, national and international and the added value it produces areas to achieve these goals in line with the 17 sustainable development goals set by the United Nations (UN).”

Mentioning that the Sustainable Development Goals created by the United Nations are primarily global goals created to save the planet and protect the life of every living, Tatlısu spoke: “It is a call to action created from 17 subjects titled as no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being; quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; climate action, life below water, life on land; peace, justice and strong institutions and partnerships for the goals. The main goal to be reached is to provide a sustainable world in every area and every moment of life.”
 

Expressing that the determined goals are interconnected, Tatlısu said: “It must be thought of like a chain or a honeycomb, it requires continuity and durability. A goal that cannot be reached in any of them negatively affects the goal in total. For this reason, Istanbul Gelisim University did not only aim at one goal when taking steps for clean water. Successful steps were taken and have been taken by creating a holistic solution set that includes every step affecting the cause and outcome of the problem with an educational approach that adopts a multidisciplinary approach.”

Emphasizing that water is indispensable in ensuring sustainability for life, Asst. Prof. Dr. Nevruz Berna Tatlısu said: “The effects of global warming, population growth, developing industry and grayed cities now became obvious more and they trigger climate changes and natural events together. The depletion of potable clean water resources is a universal fact that affects all continents. Even in some countries, these resources are running out. In the Sustainable Development Goals' clean water and sanitation target report, it is estimated that one in every 4 people in the world will have water shortages by 2050. Currently, water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of people in the world. In order to eliminate the negativities caused by this ordinary change, it is very important to take valuable steps to produce new ideas for sustainable consumption and production, to produce new ideas and to offer a quality life.”

Stating that the university has a water management plan for a sustainable future and has made significant improvements to evaluate and reduce water consumption, Tatlısu said: “Conducting water consumption analyzes is very important in determining the amount of water consumption of the institution. In order to reduce water use, the average fixed water consumption should be determined first. At the university, faucet taps with sensors are currently used in order to reduce the continuous water flow and tap aerator to reduce the excess flow of water. In addition, separate meters are used to monitor the water used for green areas at our university. This is an important activity to evaluate the necessity of non-green areas and to generate ideas for reducing use.” 

Tatlısu mentioned that important activities are carried out at the university in order to raise awareness of the youth, which is essential to understand the importance of sustainability in order to live a sustainable life and continued as follows: “Providing education to teach students the concepts of knowledge, skills and competence and enabling them to evaluate the situation can be an effective way for them to become conscious consumers with competence acquisition. With courses such as Introduction to Sustainability, Sustainable Environmental Management, Sustainable and Green Logistics, Environmental Economics and Sustainability, we raise the awareness of students and enable them to review their consumer habits in the name of their own future. For the sake of society sustainability, increasing awareness of each individual's water consumption and being included in the chain will bring us a greener world. A greener world is the golden key to a sustainable life.”

Reminding that the university has taken important steps to increase water efficiency and is making waste utilization plans, Tatlısu added: “Especially, it carries out activities with projects for the recycling of wastewater and other waste recovery, which is a very important issue. The collection of rainwater in tanks to be reused in dry periods or reuse of waste water through filtering are sustainable movements. For a sustainable life, it is necessary to consider the goals together and to take more steps. Taking enough care and returning it will no longer be sufficient for the irrepressible increase of the population. For this reason, it is common for all our sustainability goals to be able to make an upcycle rather than recycling that was brought with a rapidly developing and changing world in order to ensure continuity.”