World Water Day on 22 March was celebrated with a webinar organized by Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) Environmental Problems Research and Application Center (ÇEVSAM), the Department of Environmental Engineering and the Environmental Society. At the event, Özlem İritaş, Head of the External Relations Department at the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ), delivered a presentation titled “Innovative Practices in Water Resources Projects,” in which she emphasized that Turkey is located in the Mediterranean belt where the impacts of global climate change will be felt intensely, and is therefore considered among the high-risk countries in terms of its negative effects. She discussed the efforts carried out to reduce the impacts on water resources as an important component of climate change adaptation strategies, and the water efficiency approach adopted to ensure the sustainability of water resources in the face of increasing population and meteorological drought; she also provided information on the goals, expected outcomes and concrete outputs of the National Water Efficiency Campaign, launched to promote a culture of water efficiency and to reach all stakeholders quickly and effectively. Academics and students from various units of OMU attended the event, which concluded with a question-and-answer session. World Water Day, celebrated every year on 22 March, aims to draw attention to the importance of freshwater resources and to focus on their sustainable management; the first proposal for World Water Day was made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, and following its official adoption by the United Nations General Assembly on 22 March 1993 it has been celebrated worldwide under a different theme each year, with the 2024 theme designated as “Leveraging Water for Peace.”
