METU CLIMATE was represented at the 27th Türkiye Disaster Risk Management Roundtable Meeting organized by METU Disaster Management Application and Research Center on February 21, 2025 at METU Culture and Congress Center with a presentation by METU CLIMATE Center Director Prof. Dr. Barış Salihoğlu and Project Development and Partnerships Coordinator Aslı Toksabay.

The presentation titled  "Potential to Provide Scientific Contributions to Resilience Against Climate-Related Disasters and the Mission of METU CLIMATE" addressed the observed and expected trends in climate change and projections regarding the frequency and severity of climate-related disasters in the 21 st and 22 nd centuries.

While the notion of disaster is inevitably associated with earthquakes in Türkiye, the presentation emphasized that readiness and resilience to climate-related disasters should find greater resonance in the national agenda, addressing the concepts of threat, risk and vulnerability related to climate-related disasters, as well as the definition and perception of disaster around the world and in Türkiye.

The presentation also referred to the 2024-2030 Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan published by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of the Republic of Türkiye. Other significant notions introduced included the institutional infrastructure and science- based policy development practices mandated by climate resilience, the steps to be taken for awareness and readiness, the components of green transformation and the role of digitalization in this process.

Against this background, the presentation provided a tour d'horizon on METU's potential to make scientific contribution to political, economic and social action against climate disasters, including the

university's research, projects and publications in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Finally, it illustrated the climate resilience projects by METU CLIMATE and its coordination role among METU's faculties, institutes and research centers.

The presentation garnered substantial interest from participants ranging from academics and researchers to disaster response teams and ended with a Q&A session.