The 1st Awareness Visit planned under the “Project for Enhancing Awareness of Female Labour force for Agricultural System in a Changing Climate” carried out by Boğaziçi University and with the participation of Rize Municipality, and supported within the scope of the “Grant Program of Capacity Development in the Field of Climate Change in Turkey”, was held on January 25, 2018 in Rize. Prior to the event at the Rize İsmail Kahraman Cultural Centre, the project leader, Boğaziçi University project team, and the project partner Rize Municipality, visited Prof. Dr. Reşat KASAP, the Mayor of Rize, in his office, informed them about the project and discussed the sustainability of the project.

   

More than 150 participants, most of whom were women as the target audience, showed interest in the awareness visit event. Menduha KASAP, who is the wife of Prof. Dr. Reşat KASAP, Mayor of Rize, made the opening speech of the event. Having emphasized the social value of women in her speech, Menduha KASAP said “We will work hand in hand with our women and take measures against the risks of climate change and strengthen all the steps to improve the female labour force.”

Then, Mustafa BALTACI, Head of Plan and Project Department of Rize Municipality, talked about the activities of Rize Municipality on environment and climate change and mentioned the content and the importance of the project.

After these two speeches, Prof. Dr. Levent KURNAZ, the main speaker of the event and the project coordinator, firstly mentioned the importance of organizing such a meeting in Rize, which is the first in the agricultural female labour force. Prof. Dr. Levent KURNAZ made an interactive presentation for women working in the agricultural sector, which is one of the sectors that will be affected most by climate change, to have knowledge, become aware and build capacity about climate change, its effects and the actions required to fight against climate change, and stated that there will be two awareness visits in Rize and in Çanakkale within the scope of the project.

  

The event ended after the project coordinator Prof. Dr. Levent KURNAZ and project specialists Nazan AN and Tufan TURP received certificates of appreciation and gifts from Menduha KASAP, who is the wife of Prof. Dr. Reşat KASAP, Mayor of Rize.