By Yaşar Selman Gültekin (Düzce University, MARGISTAR WG2 Co-Leader)
The 12th Annual International Conference on Ecology, Ecosystems, and Climate Change, held in Athens, Greece, on July 15-18, 2024, gave MARGISTAR’s Yaşar Selman Gültekin a special opportunity to disseminate preliminary results from case studies conducted on the Western Black Sea Region of Türkiye. Read on for more about this important opportunity to present MARGISTAR and some of its case studies to researchers, scientists, and students from around the world.
The 12th Annual International Conference on Ecology, Ecosystems, and Climate Change is an annual event that brings together knowledge, scholars, and researchers on broad topics such as ecology, ecosystems, and climate change.
The conference included presentations by researchers from different disciplines on various topics, including mountainous areas, nature-based solutions (NBS), climate change mitigation, forestry, agriculture, and environmental issues. Particularly interesting presentations discussed how human beings adapt to environmental changes, for example through migration to more resilient areas in response to climate change. As such, the conference in part touched on MARGISTAR’s research and policy approaches and connected the attending scientists to the missions of the COST Action in relation to mountainous areas.
Other captivating conference topics included the management of climate-resilient migration, apitourism (or tourism that promotes travel to green destinations) routes, stakeholder perceptions, environmental protection, climate-regulating ecosystem services, diversity mapping, sustainable mobility, quantitative sustainability, surveying pasture communities, green taxes, and an ecosystem service-based approach to assessing multifunctionality.
In particular, a presentation on apitourism routes highlighted how these might offer opportunities to promote and revitalise mountain areas by being planned in these areas. Another presentation was held on green taxes and their contribution to mitigating climate change. Environmental taxes were viewed as an important instrument of environmental policy within the category of economic instruments for environmental protection, pollution control, and natural resource management. As such, energy taxes, transport taxes, pollution taxes, and resource taxes could be repurposed for environmental protection and climate change mitigation.
Participation in the International Conference on Ecology, Ecosystems, and Climate Change
The conference provided an important avenue to disseminate MARGISTAR’s research outcomes amongst a diverse audience of scientists, researchers, and academics. During the conference, I delivered a speech on how MARGISTAR pinches policymakers and nudges citizens who struggle against periphery traps.
During my presentation, I evaluated ecosystem services and social innovation definitions, emphasising their significance for the mountainous areas of the Western Black Sea Region (WBSR). This topic is crucial as it sheds light on revitalising mountainous regions and achieving sustainability in their peripheries. As MARGISTAR’s case studies from Türkiye illustrate, mountainous areas and their vulnerable ecosystems provide critical services such as fresh water and air supply, climate change adaptation, erosion control, unique vegetation, and recreation spaces for urban residents. Unfortunately, these areas also face marginalisation challenges.
During my presentation, I discussed rural areas and their challenges (periphery traps) in both European and neighbouring countries. To address these issues, I presented results based on the MARGISTAR approach, aiming for rural revitalisation and sustainable development in the mountainous landscapes of WBSR. The presented case studies revealed numerous opportunities, particularly through multidisciplinary collaboration across different disciplines in Türkiye. Although there are opportunities for improvement, there remains a lack of coordination and cooperation between stakeholders in the mountainous WBSR of Türkiye. Therefore, prioritising and implementing a sustainable mountain management plan for these areas is essential.
My Takeaways from the International Conference on Ecology, Ecosystems, and Climate Change
Conferences are important methods of spreading research ideas and establishing personal contacts and networks. Participating in face-to-face conferences is a meaningful way to socialise with new researchers, scientists, and even students.
Nonetheless, it is very difficult to travel to another country without financial support. I gathered most of these experiences through COST support. MARGISTAR’s Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC) Conference Grant and the Dissemination Conference Grant (DCG) provide opportunities for COST Action members, especially from ITC countries. These funding opportunities give young researchers and Early Career Investigators (ECIs) the motivation and chance to get to know new countries, gather enriching experiences, and meet new people from different backgrounds and cultures, sharing stories, making meaningful connections, and creating lasting memories with locals. In addition to all these opportunities, scientific activities that deepen a visiting researcher’s understanding of specific disciplines, as was also the case for me.
From a research perspective, the conference visit prompted me to delve deeper into my own research practices and examine them more critically. Future research prompts originating from the conference could include a study investigating the extraction of ecosystem services and social innovation opportunities in mountainous areas of Türkiye using a participatory approach.
Lastly, attending the conference made it possible for me to meet new colleagues such as Jeng-Wei Tsai from Taiwan, Carmelia Mariana Balanica Dragomir from Romania, Daniel Soto from Chile, Weihua Zhang from Canada, Wesley Mathis, PhD student from USA, and Deniz Gerçek from Türkiye.
