The 'energy lifestyle' project against the climate crisis

The European Union (EU) project called "CAMPAIGNers", which includes 15 countries from 5 continents in order to prevent climate change, which has become a global crisis, has been put into practice. Izmir participated in the project, which was prepared with the aim of increasing energy efficiency by changing people's lifestyles, and consolidating a nature-friendly life understanding, as a pilot city from Turkey. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Efe Biresselioğlu, Head of IUE Divison of Sustainable Energy, is the coordinator of the 5 million euros (50 million TL) project in our country. Biresselioğlu stated that the behaviors of a total of 100 thousand people will be measured in 16 cities (15 countries), including cities such as Izmir, Milan, Dublin, Vilnius and Cape Town, and personal habits that affect climate change will be determined within the scope of the project. Prof. Dr. Biresselioğlu said, “We must change the lifestyle regarding energy in order to reduce the effects of global warming and climate change. We want to ensure this change and present a comprehensive roadmap to policy makers with this project.”

Prof. Dr. Biresselioğlu, who carries out many international Horizon 2020 supported energy-related projects simultaneously, shared the details of the project, which includes cities from different regions such as Canada, Chile and South Africa as well as European countries.

WORLD-WIDE STRUGGLE IS NECESSARY

Emphasizing that the problem of global warming and climate change, which is on the agenda of the world, is human-induced, Prof. Dr. Biresselioğlu said, "Climate change is a human-induced, global problem that affects people and requires a human-oriented action for its solution. Therefore, it is not a matter to be dealt with personally or nationally only. We must be in a world-wide struggle. We must act together to ensure this struggle. The 'CAMPAIGNers' project is a well-attended project involving countries in different continents. Therefore, we attach great importance to the project. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality is also among the stakeholders of the project.”

MOBILE APP COMING

Prof. Dr. Biresselioğlu continued as follows: “We will examine energy-related lifestyles and habits in Izmir and many cities on different continents, using different methods including surveys or one-on-one interviews. We will consider many issues such as how often people drive, use public transport, how they evaluate household appliances such as air conditioners, water heaters, refrigerators, or whether there is insulation in their house. We will develop a mobile application that can be easily used by everyone based on the outputs of the project. What we should pay attention to in daily life will be explained in the application to be downloaded to smartphones. The idea that even small changes to be made in routine life can contribute to nature will be instilled. People will also have instantaneous self-control thanks to the mobile application. Details on the application will be clarified in the coming period.”

IZMIR AND IUE WILL SET AN EXAMPLE

Stating that they will make suggestions to policy makers as a result of the project, Prof. Dr. Biresselioğlu said, "Combating climate change is not just a personal matter. Policy makers also have important duties. Policy makers must come up with methods to remove barriers to personal change and motivate citizens. For example, one step may be to ensure that cities create and implement policies to promote low-carbon lifestyles. We will prepare many comprehensive reports, taking the preferences of individuals into account. I believe that this step we took in Izmir will have important results that can spread throughout our country. Our city and university will be pioneers in this regard. We aim to complete this project, which we have just started, in 3 years."