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PART OF NATURE, NOT ITS OWNER
Marmara Urban Forum
In October 2023, The Marmara Project was represented by Dahlia and Sadaqah at the Marmara Urban Forum, also known as MARUF, in Istanbul.
The four-day event brought together more than 5,000 participants to explore how cities around the Marmara region can become more resilient, sustainable, and responsive to the challenges facing both people and nature.
Photo Credit: MARUF
CITIES, COMMUNITIES AND THE SEA
Rethinking Resilience
With over 60 topics explored throughout the forum, MARUF created space for discussions on urban resilience, responsible production and consumption, nature-based solutions, policy, advocacy, storytelling, and community-led action.
For The Marmara Project, the event was an opportunity to engage with conversations directly tied to the future of the Marmara Sea and the coastal communities connected to it.
BUILDING A RESILIENT MARMARA
A Forum for Costal Communities
At MARUF, we were reminded that we are part of nature, not its owner. The sessions emphasized the importance of balancing human needs with the responsible use of natural resources, while also highlighting the need for accountability-based and inter-institutional management systems to help reach sustainable goals.
MARMARA PROJECT AND MARUF
How Resilience is Built
The forum offered important insight into how resilience is built: through collaboration, community voices, clear vision, and a willingness to redesign systems that no longer serve people or the planet.
As Louisa Vinton shared during the event, resilience requires a shift in mindset. It asks us to look back at how our systems were built so we can move forward with stronger, more inclusive solutions.
For our team, MARUF painted a brighter picture of what resilience could mean for the Marmara Sea and its coastal cities. The event strengthened our belief that protecting marine biodiversity requires more than awareness alone. It requires policy, advocacy, storytelling, community participation, and long-term cooperation across institutions and sectors.
Photo Credit: MARUF