The 3 rd International Environmental Conference IREMCON was held on 28-29 March 2019 in Istanbul Expo Center. Mohammed Saadie, UCLG-MEWA Co-President and President of the Union of Municipalities of Dannieh; and Mehmet Duman, UCLG-MEWA Secretary-General, participated in In the program, which brought together many representatives from public and private sectors, as well as nonprofit organizations. The previous edition the Conference, which was organized on 21-22 March under the theme“Circular Economy” on, focused on waste management and recycling for Balkan countries. The conference conducted this year convened experts under the theme “Struggle with Global Climate Change and Strengthening of International Collaborations in Waste Management”. Addressing the audience at the opening ceremony of the program, Mustafa Akalp, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the 3 rd IREMCON , stated that we have common culture and consumption habits with the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus that have similar environmental problems. In this sense, he also added that this program provided an important opportunity to gather investors with common cultures in the same platform. Mehmet Emin Birpınar, Deputy Minister of Environment and Urbanization, was also among the speakers of the opening session. In his speech, Deputy Minister Birpınar emphasized that environmental protection should be prioritized while the industrialists were supported.
On the second day of the program, UCLG-MEWA Co-President Mohamed Saadie contributed to the session on “The Importance of the International Collaborations for Sustainable Development”. Co-President Saadie noted the 2030 Agenda, and specifically Goal 16. He stated that localization of the Goal 16 on “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions” in the region will definitely contribute to the localization of other goals.