Istanbul Urbanism Conference from UNDP & UN-Habitat - MARUF Biennial - Eugene contributes

At the Urban Future conference in Stuttgart (June 2023), Eugene Quinn was approached by Hatice Çetinlerden, from Istanbul city government, because she wanted a more playful and contemporary approach at her development conference in Istanbul in 2025.

Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF) is a biennial international urban forum, held in the Istanbul Congress Center, with the theme: “Cities Developing Solutions”. The concept is to explore how to make cities more liveable, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive. MARUF brings together participants from cities, national, regional and local governments, private sector, NGOs, universities and other players. Amongst the experimental formats: roundtables, workshops, serious games, ideathons, networking events, exhibitions, field trips, cultural events, booths & film screenings, for 3 days. Eugene is specially fascinated by the booth format. Schauma mal.

UN-Habitat, the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization & Climate Change, Eurocities, Energy Cities, WWF, UNDP, many universities and think-tanks will be present in Istanbul as partners of MARUF. EQ will be moderating events, as well as making presentations, social-dining, unusual tours, DJ concepts and media engagement.

There are many contemporary problems in Turkiye, and we will be exploring all of them. At the same time, this is a young, dynamic, artistic and entrepreneurial land, one of the most diverse in Europe, and a bridge between three continents, with much to offer.