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Meghan Mills

Hello and welcome to The City Citizen. This is a new podcast series from EY, we'll examine how cities can transform to be more resilient and sustainable places to live and work.

I'm your host, Meghan Mills, EY Global Strategy and Operations Leader – Government and Public Sector based here in New Jersey in the United States. Each episode we’ll be joined by expert guests for their specialist insight into our theme. Joining us from Istanbul is Asli Pasinli, CEO of the World Wildlife Fund in Turkey.  

Hello, Asli.

Asli Pasinli

Hello Meghan, how are you?

Mills

Good thanks, thanks for being here today. Also joining us from Istanbul is Mehmet Gulez, former Innovation and Markets Leader for EY Turkey. Hello Mehmet.

Mehmet Gulez

Hi, Meghan

Mills

Asli, how long have you been in Istanbul, did you grow up there?

Pasinli

No. I am from Izmir, a southern part of Turkey on the Aegean coast. I came to Istanbul at the age of 18 to go to Bosphorus University, and I have been here most of my life. I lived abroad in the US, and in Europe for a total of four years, but almost 30 years now I've been in Istanbul and that tells you, my age.

Mills

I also understand it’s the most populous city in Europe with over 15 million residents. What are some of the key trends shaping the cities future at the moment?

Pasinli

There are a few trends that I would like to talk about that we would like cities to adopt.

One is you may have heard of is the 15-minute city plan that the Mayor of Paris announced this year. We really like that plan because it's talking about building communities where people can reach all their needs education wise, food wise, all their essential needs with a 15-minute bike ride.

When it comes to food transportation, food moves 1600 kilometres on average before it reaches your plate. So, we need to not be transporting food. We need to be growing our food in [the place] where we live. Generating our energy where we live. So, that's one trend of the future we see very critically.

So, in summary, it’s less mobilization and more staying in close communities. Producing your own food in the apartment complexes [in which you live]. Producing your own energy and managing your waste [such as compost] within the same complex you live. You can grow your vegetables where you live. You can harvest your water and generate your energy. So that's how the cities should be forming in the future.

Mills

What is WWF doing to encourage people to live more sustainably?

Pasinli

Our motto is to build a future where humans live in harmony with nature, and I’ll add a Turkish saying that I really like, we have. You cannot build the happiness on someone else's misery. And I think, for very long we have been trying to build cities at the expense of nature. So, we really need to revisit that approach, because apparently, it's not going to work.

As WWF, we think protecting what we have is the number one tool for combating climate change. So, one of our priorities is the 30 by 30. We want 30% of all land, and all land space and sea space protected by 2030. We are at the point of a mass extinction. We are losing species at an unprecedented way and size is there.

The latest Living Planet Index that we publish showed that we have lost 68% of species in the last 50 years, pretty much [all] since I was born. We ask for change. We put out the data.

Then, there are times we are activists. We collect signatures. We run awareness campaigns. But most importantly, we work with governments and with the private sector, to come up with solutions. We're an organization that partners in solutions.

Mills

Mehmet, could you share a little bit about how EY and WWF have joined forces?

Gulez

Sure, Meghan. So, as EY, it's our purpose to building a better working world and our ambition is focussed on creating long-term value, in everything we do. So, taking this motivation from our purpose and ambition, we've started working on several issues on the Future Cities agenda. And that's resulted in us working with the major municipalities in Turkey, such as Istanbul and Bursa to create sustaining strategies for their future cities resilience.

While we were working on these issues and trying to come up with long-lasting strategies that will create long-term value for the cities that we are living in, we had the chance, a great [opportunity], to get together with WWF and start discussing about the world issues which Asli just recently mentioned. To try to come up with some ideas that is going to create several values for the cities and for the economy that we live in.

We saw that there are there were great problems, especially around recycling and the business model around the recycling business in Turkey and especially in the large cities. And we've seen that problem is not only a matter of recycling, but it was also affecting the inclusiveness in the community, wealth distribution, economic sustainability, and so many other areas.

Most of the recycling should be happening within the within the residential areas. However, due to the lack of awareness in our communities and lack of the infrastructure, the households were chasing the problem of where to locate these recycling areas. [In addition], the recycling collection system was not able to capture and process enough recycling.

So, we decided to come together and form an unexpected alliance with [diverse] organizations such as the Union of Municipalities, universities and startups delivering mobility solutions in the market. We came together in one room to try to find out the solution to this problem. And we asked [ourselves] this: how might we go after this problem and come up with ideas to address this challenge? 

Mills

So Asli, coming back to you around this collaboration. Do you think this will see more ecosystems like this one to address these challenges?

Pasinli

Absolutely.

I think our partnership with EY has been probably one of the most fruitful projects we have done. I think that’s the way to go [in] the future and for NGOs as well. We cannot just do projects with sponsors and when the project ends, we have a nice small pilot that [isn’t] replicated. We have had so many of those in the past.

Mills

You know cities like to learn from one another. Do you think that we'll see further collaboration amongst cities as well? 

Pasinli

Absolutely, I think that's the strength of both WWF and EY, we’re both global organizations and our strength is to learn from each other. And in fact, we do have a city program called One Planet City Challenge with the exact purpose of learning from each other [so that we can] hopefully replicate the good work.

Mills

And when we think about implementing a new business model within a city. What's the biggest challenge with implementing a business model like that?

Pasinli

So, I would say getting the right people [around] the table and getting the support from the municipality. Then all the work that needs to be supported with laws, the right laws, we may [even] need some law changes.

Mills

These are huge challenges that the world is facing, related to the environment, social justice, inclusion, and equity. Yet, we have limited resources. So, Asli, I would ask you, what keeps you motivated and gives you hope relative to the work that you're doing?

Pasinli

Well, Meghan that's a very good question. You know I've been in this business for five years and reading reports every day, day and night. I am a much, more [of a] worrier than I used to be because the picture is not nice, and it’s not going well.

I would call this a perfect storm. When things get really, really tough, people start moving. When things get hit the bottom, I should say. And I think we are at the bottom. It is serious. I really think that, and I know that, from [research]. The awareness is there. The funds are there. And we are seeing more and more interest from different parties to become part of the solution. So, that gives me hope.

We are seeing pledges more than before at every level. You know, [on a] personal level, a company level and at the government level. I truly think we will get over this huge challenge that humanity is facing. Maybe, it's [our] biggest challenge. We're facing extinction, basically. And, of course, with the help of innovation and technology, these progresses give me hope. I'm happy I am a part of the puzzle.

Mills

I am happy you are part of the puzzle too. This conversation is giving me hope this conversation. So, Mehmet, the same question to you.

Gulez

Meghan, I mean of course, the challenges are big. There are many obstacles along the way. But, as you mentioned, there's always something to hold on. And this is life itself. And, and secondly you know as an innovation professional, innovation always needs urge to drive things with out of conventional thinking. So, I think as Asli mentioned, the clock is ticking for the world and it's not going in the right direction. It's going backwards. And we all, are all humans, with our awareness. We are all aware that our resources are not endless. We are damaged enough. That motivation [drives] me [alongside] my profession methodologies and the cultural aspects of innovation such as diversity, which are needed to come up with really unorthodox ideas. To utilise this [innovation to address] these kinds of challenges is the best way for humanity to create such transformation. Otherwise, any incremental innovation that human beings can create will not be enough to [reverse] this way of living.

Mills

And it's exciting to see cities taking these crises into something really positive. 

Asli, it’s really been wonderful to speak with you today. I appreciate all the work that you're doing. I'm grateful for the work that you're doing. And I really enjoyed our conversation.

And Mehmet, thank you so much for all the work that you're doing as well.

Pasinli

Thank you, Meghan. It's been a pleasure for me.

Gulez

Thank you, Meghan.

Mills

We hope you will join us again, to meet with more special guests discussing the future of cities building sustainable, resilient communities. Also, you can subscribe to this series, so you won't miss an episode. On behalf of myself, Asli and Mehmet, thanks for listening and goodbye.

The City Citizen, back soon. 

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