Innovation in the Public Sector

At the end of May, Team Buca, which consists of four people from Izmir Buca Municipality in Turkey, came to Sweden for a few days filled with study visits. We took the chance to talk to them about their reflections on the programme ‘Co-design for Sustainable, Resilient and Inclusive Public Spaces and Services’ (CIPSS) and also organize a small graduation ceremony.

Team Buca’s change project, which they presented at the final conference of CIPSS in early May, aims to increase the renewable energy usage capacity in the public buildings of Buca Municipality and to provide energy and water efficiency with solar energy system/rainwater collection applications by creating a good pilot example.

They focused on a big youth centre where thousands of university students go regularly to study and so on and turned it into a green building.

“We wanted to affect the youth as a first step and build their awareness around sustainability, which can make them become ambassadors for change. In the long run we want all public buildings in Buca Municipality to have a green stamp”, says Berk Hızlıateş, one of the project team members.

In Izmir, which is a very hot city, ‘green building’ is quite a new concept.

“We have to make the environment much cooler and good examples of how to do that are needed. Around the youth centre, we have put up an information wall where people can read about green buildings and our project with the youth centre in particular”, says Yasemin Güzel, another team member.

It’s not about ego it’s about eco!

“Through the modules of the programme we learned that humans are part of the nature, so we are all in this together. We are so human centred today and need to think differently. It’s not about ego it’s about eco!”, says Ferhat Orhun Uyar.

“We also built a very valuable network through the programme. For example, we have already met the Tetovo team from North Macedonia face to face and started a co-operation”, says Yasemin Güzel.

“When we go back to Turkey, I feel hopeful that we can make some changes. It was like a utopia for us before, but now we have seen that it’s not a utopia at all, it’s the reality in some other countries. So, it’s not impossible to do. In fact, there are lots of good examples around the world. We only need to change our way of thinking and this was a very efficient programme about how to make the world more sustainable and inclusive”, says Ferhat Orhun Uyar.

“As a next step in Buca Municipality we want to align the sustainable development goals to our strategic planning for the coming years. We also plan to share our experience with other municipalities”, says Beyza Kuşoğlu.

Since September 2022, the programme participants of “Co-design for Sustainable, Resilient and Inclusive Public Spaces and Services” (CIPSS) have completed several online modules, exploring and understanding the development of sustainable, inclusive and climate resilient cities.

At the beginning of May, an online final conference was held, where they got to share their experiences of developing and implementing local change projects in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

And oh were there a lot of interesting presentations! Everything from how they worked to revitalize a public place in Indonesia (Merdeka square) by engaging important stakeholders in the public, to making playgrounds more inclusive in North Macedonia and making a busy street in Istanbul, Turkey become full of urban green infrastructure including active and passive recreation opportunities.

A selection of pictures from the presentation of the change project on revitalizing Merdeka square in Indonesia

Some pictures from the presentation of the change project on transforming a busy street in Istanbul

The Swedish Institute and SALAR International were present

Some former programme participants, the teachers and mentors, representatives from Lund University Commissioned Education (LUCE), the Swedish Institute and SALAR International were among the audience.

SALAR International is a company owned by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR). They support democratic community planning and administration at the local and regional levels, using knowledge and experience from Swedish local and regional governments. Magnus Liljeström, senior advisor at SALAR International, spoke about his reflections on the project presentations on the second day of the seminar.

The Swedish Institute, financing the programme, is a public agency that builds interest and trust in Sweden around the world. Magdalena Ellfors, programme manager from the Swedish Institute, also held a presentation and talked about future networking-possibilities.

At the end, Lund University Commissioned Education (LUCE) gave a virtual tour of the city of Lund, which was much appreciated. And, of course, there was a festive diploma ceremony! Now, we wish everybody the best of luck!

Soon, a book is coming that will summarize all the fantastic change projects in the programme so far. Stay tuned for more information!

Many thanks to the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science at Lund University and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for great teaching! The impact on society is clear.