OSTİM Renewable Energy and Environmental Technologies Cluster (OSTİM ENERJİK), with the participation of its Board Member Dursun Çiçek, took part in the “COPilot the Future: Youth Summit in the lead-up to COP31” event held at METU on September 14, 2026.
The program, organized as part of the preparations for COP31, brought together various stakeholders including the COP31 Presidency, United Nations Turkey, METU, World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF, METU Climate and METU-GÜNAM.
The main technical session of the program was held under the title “WEFE Nexus, Climate Complexity and Technological Solutions”. The session evaluated the interrelationships between water, energy, food, and ecosystems, the impacts of climate change on these systems, and technological solutions for sustainability.
WEFE Nexus brings together different technology fields
The WEFE Nexus approach, which considers water, energy, food, and ecosystems not as independent but as interconnected systems, offers OSTİM ENERJİK the opportunity to evaluate different technology topics that intersect with its fields of activity within the same framework.
Considering different competencies such as renewable energy, energy management and storage, construction, automation, sensor and digital technologies, water efficiency, and engineering services from this perspective reveals potential areas that intersect with the existing technology and solution capabilities of the cluster members.
Among the examples of technological solutions shared within the scope of the panel was METU-GÜNAM's Agrivoltaics (AgriPV) studies. The panel discussed the opportunities offered by AgriPV applications, which combine agricultural production with solar energy production on the same land; these opportunities include energy production, land and water use efficiency, and the resilience of agricultural production to climatic conditions.
University-industry collaboration
As part of the event, OSTİM ENERJİK Board Member Dursun Çiçek met with the Vice Rector of METU to exchange views on potential areas of cooperation.
OSTİM ENERJİK considers contacts with research and technology stakeholders, primarily METU Climate and METU-GÜNAM, to be important for developing university-industry interaction and technology-oriented collaboration opportunities.
The contribution of young people to the COP31 agenda
In the subsequent session of the program, titled “Youth Access and Action at COP31”, the access of young people to the COP31 process, their priorities, and suggestions were discussed. Efforts were made to bring together the participants' views under a common Youth Communiqué.
OSTİM ENERJİK continues to monitor the areas where energy and environmental technologies intersect with water, food, agriculture, digitalization, and climate resilience in the period leading up to COP31, from the perspective of its members' existing competencies and the evolving technology agenda.
