Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer, spoke at the high-level session in Brussels, where he went as part of the 20th European Week of Regions and Cities, which will guide the policies and practices of European Union cities. In his speech about the food strategies in İzmir, President Soyer said, “We are creating a healthy, fair and safe local food cycle for nature and people. İzmir has taken a decisive step towards changing food production patterns.”
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, President of Social Democratic Municipalities Association (SODEM) and Member of the Global Management Committee of the Sustainable Cities Association (ICLEI) Tunç Soyer, spoke at the high level session of the 20th European Week of Regions and Cities, where the policies and practices that will guide the food practices of European Union cities will be determined. President Soyer talked about the food strategies created with the vision of Another Agriculture is Possible in İzmir in the session titled “Farm to Table Food Supply for Resistant Regions”. President Soyer, who made a presentation with the title "Implementation of Urban-Rural Food Strategies with Regional-Specific Food Education for Children", stated that as İzmir, they are committed to participating in the School Food 4 Change project of the Sustainable Cities Association (ICLEI) "Healthy, fair and safe for nature and people. we create a local food cycle. İzmir took a decisive step towards changing food production patterns. "We recognize the importance of starting with schools to revolutionize food supply."
Emphasis on harmony with nature
Starting his speech by stating that we are facing many crises from energy to food, from climate to war in today's world, President Soyer emphasized the importance of local solutions in order to alleviate the devastating effects of these crises on people and ecosystems. Stating that local governments have the opportunity to be the catalyst of change, Soyer said, “The concept of cyclical culture, which we highlighted at the UCLG Culture Summit held in Izmir in 2021, proposes a holistic method for the problems in today's cities. Circular culture rises on four legs: harmony with nature, harmony with each other, harmony with the past and harmony with change. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality is working to build a 'harmonious life' by adopting these elements as the basis for designing a city. With our efforts to make İzmir a resilient city, we are protecting the city's ecosystem on the one hand, and growing the local economy on the other hand," he said.
“İzmir has taken a decisive step”
Stating that they developed the vision of “Another Agriculture is Possible” in İzmir within the scope of the circular culture concept, the President Tunç Soyer“We are fighting poverty and drought at the same time with our food and agriculture policy. We strengthen agricultural planning at the watershed level and in this way ensure food security supported by local producer cooperatives. As an institute specializing in agricultural planning at the basin level, we established the İzmir Agriculture Development Center. We are implementing the 'Passage İzmir' program as a unique approach in agricultural planning in Turkey. Our team went to every village in the countryside and identified 4 shepherds. Our project goes beyond inventorying İzmir pastures. We buy milk from local producers that meet our ecological criteria at a price more than twice the market price. Shepherds who can participate in this program must feed their animals locally produced, drought-resistant, less water-requiring crops. In addition, the production cycle must have a low carbon footprint and a high biodiversity conservation value. With the milk we buy, we produce dairy products that all Izmir residents can access. We also collaborate with many famous chefs on the project to make our products more visible. In a nutshell, we are creating a new cycle of local food that is healthy, fair and safe for nature and people. İzmir has taken a decisive step towards changing local food production patterns with this project.
İzmir is in the School Food 4 Change project
Stating that they have recently committed to be one of the cities participating in the School Food 4 Change project of the Sustainable Cities Association (ICLEI), President Soyer continued his words as follows: “I am honored to be a part of this project and I look forward to further expanding our partnership. This program allows us to enrich our projects with an integrated approach to food supply for schools. We strive to bring our work to kindergartens and transform the understanding of food by supporting schools. We integrate the products we produce with our Mera İzmir project into the kitchens of our kindergarten. We are planning to use our Living Parks as a learning area for 'nature literacy' for children in İzmir. Our municipality organizes training and camp activities in cooperation with non-governmental organizations so that young people have the opportunity to learn outdoors. In this way, children not only have access to nutritious food, but also have the chance to learn more about gardening, cooking and animal husbandry. We are expanding our partnership with farmer cooperatives and chef associations. We recognize the importance of starting with schools to revolutionize the food supply.”
Who spoke?
The opening speech of the high-level session attended by President Soyer was made by Serafino Nardi, Head of the Natural Resources Commission of the European Committee of the Regions. In the session, President Soyer and European Parliamentarian, Rapper for Farm to Table Strategy and EU School Food Program Sarah Wiener and Member of the European Committee of the Regions, President of the Italian South Tyrol Region Arno Kompatscher also made speeches.
Contacts continue
President Soyer continues to hold high-level contacts in Brussels. In this context, Soyer, Head of the Socialist Group Turkey Working Group of the European Committee of the Regions and Vice-President of the Bremen Government Parliament Antje Grotheer, President of the European Committee of the Regions & Co-Chair of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) Vasco Alves Cordeiro, Head of the Socialist Group of the Committee of the European Regions and The Mayor of France Coulaines, Christophe Rouillon, also met with the European Parliamentarian, Eero Heinäluoma, Vice-President of the Group of Socialists and Democrats of the European Parliament.
“Saving the Environment: Local Communities Take Action”
The European Week of Regions and Cities is organized annually in Brussels by the European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions as part of Cross-Border and Regional Cooperation. The event serves as a platform where mutual experiences are exchanged on issues such as the implementation of local and urban development projects, finding solutions to global problems such as the climate crisis, COVID-19, and making use of EU cooperation opportunities.
The event, with more than 2021 partners and 590 local administrators and participants in 18, will be held between 10-13 October this year under the main title of “Saving the Environment: Local Communities Take Action”. The sub-themes of the event were determined as “Green Transformation”, “Regional Integrity”, “Digital Transformation” and “Youth Empowerment”.
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