University students from all over Turkey examined Bozkurt, where the flood disaster occurred.

As part of the “Future of Climate: Future Climate 2” project carried out in Kastamonu, university students from all over Turkey conducted investigations in the Bozkurt district, which experienced a flood disaster.

The project titled “Future of Climate: Future Climate 2”, prepared by Kastamonu University and supported by the TÜBİTAK 4004 Nature Education and Science Schools Support Program, organized a technical trip to the Bozkurt district, which experienced a flood disaster in 2021. Under the leadership of Lecturer Berkan Güngör from Kastamonu University, participants who came to Kastamonu from different cities in Turkey visited the areas where many lives were lost, dozens of houses and workplaces were destroyed, and many buildings were damaged due to the flood disaster. During the technical trip, which was also attended by teams from the Kastamonu Provincial Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), information was provided to the participants by the teams. Participants also examined the rehabilitation works carried out in the district after the flood disaster.

“The first measure to be taken against disasters is actually awareness and consciousness”

Stating that the project participants were observed regarding the disasters caused by climate change, Kastamonu University Lecturer Berkan Güngör said, “We have experienced almost all natural disasters related to climate change in Kastamonu. There are only 1-2 types of disasters that we have not experienced. Unfortunately, in 2021, we experienced a flood disaster in the Bozkurt district. As a province, we suffered great damages from this disaster. It was actually a flood event that deeply affected the Western Black Sea basin. However, because the most loss of life and property occurred in Bozkurt, it remains in our memories. In this context, we visited the field with our friends to see the traces of the flood that occurred in Bozkurt in 2021 and the rehabilitation works currently being carried out. You cannot fight nature; this is a fact. Nature has its own rules and laws. You can take precautions in advance for this. When precautions are taken, you can minimize the loss of life and property in disasters. The foremost of these precautions comes from awareness and consciousness. Indeed, if our people’s awareness and consciousness levels had been higher in many of the natural disasters occurring today, it would have been more likely that such loss of life would not have occurred. The fundamental aim of our project is to create awareness and consciousness about climate change. In this context, just as we previously visited the area where a forest fire occurred in Taşköprü, our main goal in Bozkurt was to ignite a movement of awareness and consciousness starting with our 30 friends in our project team. We expect our friends to spread this awareness like a snowball when they return to their hometowns after the project ends and to instill this awareness in their surroundings,” he said.

“We are experiencing major disasters due to climate change”

Ramazan Günsel, who came from Sakarya to participate in the project, said, “We received information about the flood disaster in Bozkurt and we could see it with our own eyes. We were able to experience this very beautifully. We encountered a house that was submerged halfway in mud. This conveyed to us very beautiful feelings; we knew about these abstractly, we felt them in many ways, but seeing with our own eyes led to more significant feelings. We understood very well how serious this issue is and how much it needs to be shared. We are experiencing major disasters due to climate change. This will only increase. Precautions definitely need to be taken. Currently, precautions have been taken in Bozkurt, but we saw that these precautions were not taken before the flood. When precautions are not taken, we saw what the consequences of the flood disaster were. We also saw how important these measures are. It is essential to take precautions, and we have understood very well how badly climate change can lead to such severe consequences and that we need to fight even more when we face results where many people lose their lives,” he said.

The project, which is supported by Kastamonu University, TÜBİTAK, three universities, four public institutions, and one private organization, includes four experts, 14 trainers, seven guides, and one health personnel.