TMMOB Natural Resources Symposium News

25 Nisan - 26 Nisan 2025

TMMOB Natural Resources Symposium was held with the theme of “Nature and Natural Resources” on February 25-26, 2025 at the TMMOB Chamber of Mechanical Engineers Education and Culture Center in Ankara. Symposium Topics; Atmosphere (Atmospheric natural processes, Atmospheric pollution and its effects), Water (Our water potential, Problems encountered in water use, The future and protection of water), Soil, Agriculture and Forest Assets (Distribution of soil according to its intended use, The future of soils: Problems such as misuse, erosion, pollution etc. and solution proposals, Future of agricultural production areas and pastures: Non-agricultural utilization, erosion, pollution, production losses, The importance of soil assets in agricultural production, The future of forests:Problems such as misuse, erosion, pollution etc. and solution proposals, Agricultural production areas and the future of pastures: Non-agricultural use, erosion, pollution, production losses, The importance of soil assets in agricultural production, The future of forests: Problems such as misuse, erosion and solution proposals), Ecosystem and Biodiversity (Effects of mining activities on ecosystems such as agriculture, forest, pasture, wetlands, Nature's carrying capacity and ecosystem, Resource use and Climate change, Wetlands and problems, Environmental impacts of uncontrolled resource use, The curse of resources), Relationship between Natural Resources/Asset Potential and Economy (Relationship between economic growth, social development and natural resource utilization, Effects of natural resources on economic wealth, Potential and utilization policies of natural resources), Institutional Structures (Existing environmental legislation (EIA, pollution management, etc.),The role of institutional structures on environmental protection, distribution of authority and coordination between institutions), National and International Policies (The impact of international policies on national natural resources and assets), Production/Consumption Policies (Production and consumption policies, Impacts of production and consumption policies on ecosystems and biodiversity) and Awareness on Social and Administrative Problems (Social impacts of the processes experienced in the transformation of natural assets and resources into second products, Examples of events in the society, Affect and approach of the public, Government's approach to the use of natural resources, Use of natural assets, areas and evaluation of disasters).

At the symposium, mining was particularly emphasized under the heading “the impacts of mining activities on ecosystems such as agriculture, forests, pastures and wetlands”. It was observed that mineral resources were discussed in general among other natural resources.

The symposium was opened on 25 April 2025 with the speeches of Mr. Emin KORAMAZ, President of TMMOB and Mr. Ayhan YÜKSEL, President of the Chamber of Mining Engineers. The first session was the “Nature and Ethics” session chaired by Mr. İsmail KÜÇÜK. In the session, “The Relationship between Nature and Ethics” was presented by Dr. Yasemin YALIM, “Natural Assets and Agricultural Ethics” by Dr. Cemal TALUĞ, “Geoethics and the Importance of Geoethics in the Use of Natural Resources” by Dr. Yüksel ÖRGÜN TUTAV.

The second session, titled “Atmosphere and Water”, was chaired by Dr. Ece KUNDAK. According to the program, the presentations were; “Atmosphere, Climate and Climate Change” by Ms. Emel ÜNAL and Ms. Zeynep Feriha ÜNAL, “Paleoclimatic Evolution of Anatolia” by Dr. Mine Sezgül Kayseri ÖZER and Ms. Funda AKGÜN, “Water and Water Policies” by Mr. İsmail KÜÇÜK, "A Neglected Resource in Water Resources Management: Groundwater".

Ms. Mehtap ERCAN BİLGEN was the chair of the session on “Soil, Agriculture, Forestry, Pasture and Development”. In the session, Dr. Günay ERPUL presented “The Future of Soils”, Mr. Osman ÖZBAY presented “The Future of Pastures in Agricultural Production” and Dr. Yener ATASEVEN presented “The Relationship between Economic Growth, Social Development and Natural Resource Use”.

The last session of the first day of the symposium was held under the title of “Ecosystem and Biodiversity” under the chairmanship of Mr. Bülent BOZALİ, with presentations on “The Effects of Policy Preferences in Natural Asset Management on Ecosystem and Biodiversity” (Dr. Nihan YENİLMEZ ARPA), “Protection and Management of Natural Resources with Landscape Urbanism Approach” (Dr. E. Figen DİLEK), “Landscape Design with Native Plant Species” (Dr. Zühal DİLAVER).

The program on 26 April 2025 was focused on Earth Sciences and Mining. The Geothermal Session was chaired by Mr. Hüsnü MEYDAN and the speakers were Mr. Saffet DURAK (Geothermal Energy in Turkey), Dr. Mehmet ŞENER (Geothermal Sociology) and Mr. Ahmet ÜÇER (Geophysical Approach in Re-injection, Reservoir Protection and Environmental Pollution Studies in Geothermal Fields).

TheM Mining Session was chaired by Mr. Necmi ERGİN. Mr. Ayhan YÜKSEL presented “A Policy Framework for the Turkish Mining Sector,” Dr. Okay ÇİMEN discussed “Turkey's Critical Raw Material Potential, Needs, and Management,” and Dr. Cahit HELVACI spoke on “Turkey's Boron Potential, Industrial Applications, and Future.”

The topic of the 7th session was ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES, Session Chair: M. Erşat AKYAZILI, presentations “Reflections on the Mining Paradox” (Dr. İrfan Bayraktar, Kemal Can YILMAZ), “Spatial Analysis of Landscape Diversity” (Dr. Şükran ŞAHİN) “The Relationship Between Humans, Production, and the Environment in the Context of Natural Resources” (Dr. Mehmet KARADENİZ), “The Role of Institutional Structures in Environmental Protection” (Mehtap ERCAN BİLGEN).

The last session before the closing was on TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTION, AND CONSUMPTION. Burcu GÖRBİL chaired the session. The speakers were Sait UYSAL “Green and Digital Future: No Future Without Mining”, Mahir ULUTAŞ “Use of Natural Resources in Renewable Energy Production”, Ragıp KIZILTAŞ "The Role of Turkey's Strategic Boron Reserves in Clean Energy Technologies and Future Potential,“ and Mr. Şayende YILMAZ, Oğuz TÜRKYILMAZ, and Orhan AYTAÇ ”A New Justification for Transferring Public Resources to Private Companies in the Energy Sector: Exaggerated 2035 RES and GES Targets."

The symposium concluded with a closing session following 26 presentations across 9 sessions.

We participated in the symposium on behalf of the Mining and Earth Sciences Professionals Development Association (MAYEM) as the Board Chairman and Vice Chairman.