In the “ISBS 2019 Sustainability Award”, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality won four grand prizes with four environmental projects.

“Izmir Deniz”, “Portakal Vadisi” “Gürçeşme Doğa Keşif Parkı ve Kuşaklar Arası Etkileşim Merkezi” and “Sasalı İklim Duyarlı Tarım Eğitim ve Araştırma Enstitüsü” projects of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality won the first place in different categories. The award ceremony will be in July in the United States of America.

Urban specialists from Ankara University, Gazi University, Texas Tech University, Texas A & M Commerce University, American Institute of Architects and US Green Buildings Council are on the award jury and this jury gave the grand prizes to the following projects in the following categories: “Izmirdeniz – Refreshing relationship between People of Izmir and the Sea” project in “Sustainable City” category, “Portakal Vadisi” project in “Sustainable Environment” category, "Gürçeşme Doğa Keşif Parkı ve Kuşaklar Arası Etkileşim Merkezi" project in “Sustainable Social Responsibility category and , "Sasalı İklim Duyarlı Tarım Eğitim ve Araştırma Enstitüsü" project in “Sustainable Agriculture” category. The award ceremony will be held during the 4^th International Sustainable Buildings Symposium and these four projects shall receive their awards on July 19 in Dallas.

Portakal Vadisi (Valley of Oranges)
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality is to implement this project in Busa on an area of 200 thousand m2 and a city park including the Valley of Oranges will be created with this project.

İzmirdeniz (Izmir Sea) Project
Izmir Sea project, designed with an innovative and participatory approach, rehabilitated the 40-kilometer coast between Mavişehir and Inciraltı City Forest. In this project designed for refreshing the relationship between people of Izmir and sea, almost 100 designers divided the coast area and planned it in 4 groups.

Gürçeşme Doğa Keşif Parkı ve Kuşaklar Arası Etkileşim Merkezi (Gürçeşme Wild Life Discovery Park and Intergenerational Interaction Center)
This project preserves the old retirement home land in Izmir city center and hopes to create an area where people can bond with nature as well as discovering and learning about nature and to create an “intergenerational interaction” by sustaining the retirement home function, as the land was previously used.

The area to be redesigned as the city park shall follow the zero waste and sustainability principles; there will be no excavation – landfill works and concreting works for the workshop buildings. The old containers to be obtained from Izmir Port shall be redesigned as workshop buildings. This will be a form of recycling and also a highlight of Izmir’s identity as a haven. Also, the gameplay equipment is only designed using wood, recycled materials and metals, as required by the sustainability principles.

Sasalı İklim Duyarlı Tarım Eğitim ve Araştırma Enstitüsü (Sasalı Climate Sensitive Agricultural Training and Research Institute)
Sasalı Climate Sensitive Agricultural Training and Research Institute will be located on an area of 15 thousand square meters in the East section of Izmir Wild Life Park and this institute will have a training hall, laboratory and library for informing the public and children. There will be model indoor applications in greenhouses built here since outdoor agricultural activities will not be possible in the future due to drought. This area will have 10 bug hotels so that bees and bugs might have a rest when flying long distances.