In order to solve the mucilage problem and to control pollution in the Sea of Marmara, an effective and basin-specific environmental control system should be established and implemented in accordance with the recently stated action plan. In this respect, “Strengthening the Environmental Inspection Capacity of the Marmara Sea Basin Project” was launched in October 2021 by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of TR in order to increase the effectiveness of environmental inspection practices carried out and to determine the measures to be taken in order to ensure unity in practice in the "Marmara Sea Hydrological Basin", which constitutes the sub-basins of the Marmara and the Susurluk River Basins that discharge into the Marmara Sea.

You can find the detailed explanation about the project, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Erdem Görgün, below.

Project Title: Strengthening the Environmental Inspection Capacity of the Marmara Sea Basin Project
Project Type: The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change
Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Erdem Görgün

Abstract:  The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of TR announced a comprehensive Action Plan on 6 June 2021 in order to combat the mucilage problem observed in the Marmara Sea within the first half of 2021. The "Marmara Sea Action Plan", which consists of 22 articles, contains significant emphasis on controlling and supervising the wastewater resources discharged into the Marmara Sea. As of 5 November 2021, the "Marmara Sea and the Islands" has been declared as a "Special Environmental Protection Area". In order to solve the mucilage problem and to control pollution in the Sea of Marmara, an effective and basin-specific environmental control system should be established and implemented in accordance with the recently stated action plan. In this respect, “Strengthening the Environmental Inspection Capacity of the Marmara Sea Basin Project” was launched in October 2021 by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of TR in order to increase the effectiveness of environmental inspection practices carried out and to determine the measures to be taken in order to ensure unity in practice in the "Marmara Sea Hydrological Basin", which constitutes the sub-basins of the Marmara and the Susurluk River Basins that discharge into the Marmara Sea. Within the scope of the project, studies on revising the subject-based checklists currently used in the environmental audit practices, creating sectoral-based checklists, reviewing minimum criteria in environmental audits, preparing wastewater audit plans for Tekirdağ, İstanbul, Kocaeli, Yalova, Bursa, Balıkesir and Çanakkale provinces and on searching the utility of using remote sensing technologies in the audits are being carried out. The Project is conducted under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Erdem GÖRGÜN and under the management of Prof. Dr. Asude HANEDAR with researchers from 3 different universities and different disciplines, namely İTÜ, Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University (TNKÜ), Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University (BŞEÜ), and carried out in cooperation with senior experts from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, General Directorate of Environmental Impact Assessment, Permission and Inspection, and with experienced environmental auditors from relevant provinces. The project was also presented internationally with a side event promoting the project at the COP26 Climate Change summit held in Glasgow on November 10, 2021 and our University was represented successfully.