"Water Positive," the second in a series of webinars organized by Turkuvaz Media Group’s inBusiness magazine, will focus on the preservation of water resources and ensuring access for all to clean water in the latest edition of the program. Public officials, representatives from nonprofit groups, academics and company executives will join the online event on Tuesday.
The event comes at a time that climate change and related drought threaten precious resources in need of protection. Participants will discuss a set of topics from reusable wastewater to water management and efficiency as well as the approach of the public and private sector to the issue. Professor Lütfi Akça, a member of the Turkish Presidency’s Local Administration Policies Council, and Sundeep Waslekar, head of India-based think tank Strategic Foresight Group are among the guests participating in the event which will consist of two panels and two special sessions. The first panel will focus on "building water-positive companies." The concept of water positivity promotes businesses increasing their water efficiency by creating more water through sources than used in the business. Ece Börü, general manager of Industrial Development Bank of Turkey, Mehmet Ürek, general manager of Turkey branch of Wilo, a European manufacturer of pumps and pump systems and Tarık Bayar, a board member of Reckitt, a leading producer of hygiene products, will speak at the panel. In another panel, participants, including Mahmut Sami Şahin who leads a project to protect water resources in the fertile Konya Plain in Turkey, Kaya Yıldız, acting general manager of State Hydraulic Works (DSI), academics Professor Cumali Kınacı and Professor Levent Kurnaz will discuss "how to preserve water." Stuart Orr, a water management expert who serves as Freshwater Team manager at World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) will attend the special session.
The webinar is part of the Global Hope Festival, whose first webinar this year focused on "Women Inspiring Hope." The festival seeks to raise awareness about sustainability as it was understood over the course of the coronavirus pandemic that there is a pronounced need for it going forward. Turkuvaz Media Group launched the festival platform in December 2020 and has a busy calendar for the year, including 10 webinars on different aspects of sustainability. It aims to reach out to 1 million viewers with videos featuring sustainability stories broadcast online and plans to plant a tree for each viewer once the number is achieved. In October, a four-day Sustainability Festival, the first of its kind in Turkey, will be held as part of the events.
Water management is a key issue for Turkey which shares concerns of a drought with other countries amid climate change. The country seeks to preserve its water resources by prevention of aggressive use of water resources in farming practices while experts suggest rain harvesting and gray water techniques to alleviate the concerns.