Zeynep Güneş, July 14, 2026, İzmir, Türkiye

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN GREEN TRANSITION: HOW WILL THE JOBS OF TOMORROW BE GREEN?

YouthGreen 5.0 Project · Green Awareness Campaign

Our world is in danger. We are facing the climate crisis and its consequences more than ever before. Resources are running out or becoming unusable. Famine, drought, migration, and disasters have begun knocking on our door. If we don't put a stop to this, we will be forced to look for a new planet…

According to World Bank estimates, by 2050, approximately 216 million people will be forced to leave their homes due to climate change. According to reports by the United Nations (UN) and the World Water Council (WWC), the per capita water supply — which stood at 7,300 m³ in 2000 — is projected to drop to approximately 4,800 m³ by 2025.

As emphasized in the 2022 Climate Change Action Plan prepared by the Ministry of National Education, it is noted that Türkiye's growing population will not have access to sufficient water resources. According to analyses by the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ), the annual amount of available water per capita is projected to decline to approximately 1,300 m³¹ by 2026, placing our country in the category of nations experiencing “water stress.” When the effects of the climate crisis are taken into account, it is foreseeable that this amount will fall below the 1,000 m³ threshold in the near future, putting our country at risk of chronic water scarcity.

Upon reviewing the Ministry of National Education's “2026–2030 Climate Change Action Plan,” recently prepared², it is notable that, compared to the initial plan from 2022, it adopts a more “measurable, transformative, digital, and crisis-resilient holistic approach” rather than an “awareness-focused” one.³

THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM: EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Countries aware of the danger have sought solutions by organizing conferences and signing treaties. For example, the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. Turkey is one of the 195 signatory countries to this agreement. The goal of this agreement is to limit the global average temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius — and, if possible, to 1.5 degrees Celsius — by the end of this century. Since governments view EDUCATION as a key step toward achieving this goal, they have turned to reforms in their education systems and awareness-raising initiatives. The Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Türkiye has also organized numerous workshops and conferences within the scope of these goals and discussed new projects.

Some of the resulting projects include: Zero Waste (Sıfır Atık)⁴ — a project promoting recycling (Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change); Green Homeland (Yeşil Vatan)⁵ (Ministry of National Education) — a project addressing climate crises and environmental pollution; Water Efficiency Mobilization (Su Verimliliği)⁶ (a collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of National Education (MEB)) — as the name suggests, this project was launched to protect water resources. It stands out as an important project because its website — named after the initiative itself — offers critical information about water as well as the ability to calculate everything from water-related facts to the average amount of water we consume daily. Finally, Green Step Youth Programme (Yeşil Adım)⁷ (supported by the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in collaboration with universities) is another project launched — similar to Green Homeland — to encourage students to protect nature and raise their awareness.

Although the objectives of the current projects are commendable, building measurable objectives should be set to fully achieve their long-term vision. The lack of sufficient, measurable data on the impacts and development processes of some past projects, as found on institutional websites, suggests that these efforts have not yet become part of society's way of life. It can also be said that projects that started to be implemented recently have not yet entered a maturation phase. The Ministry of National Education's transition to a “measurable” model under its 2026–2030 climate change action plan should be the result of the lessons learned from the past projects. On the other hand, it is foreseeable that the limited class hours and physical resources available for some projects implemented in schools will make it difficult to achieve the expected outcomes from these projects.

To address these issues, educational programs must first and foremost be provided to all segments of society. These programs should be planned as both formal and informal education. This is because the key to transforming the knowledge gained in school into a way of life at home lies in families being aware of this crisis and adjusting their behavior accordingly. For this reason, as outlined in the Ministry of National Education's “2026–2030 Climate Change Action Plan,” a comprehensive educational campaign must be launched and supported by all institutions.

Our goal should be to reach the maximum number of people in the shortest possible time. To this end, mass media should be utilized. Awareness campaigns on this topic should be featured on television, social media, and all forms of advertising platforms. Green skills training courses targeting all age groups should be offered through community education centers.

Courses on sustainability and a green future should be added to existing educational programs at all levels. In universities and vocational high schools, a separate course should be added alongside core vocational courses, where students learn what they can do to help prevent the climate crisis while pursuing their chosen profession. In high school and middle school curricula, this topic should be transformed into a separate course — ensuring it is not limited to project-based work — and linked to topics in other courses. In elementary and preschool, appropriate educational environments should be established to provide students with opportunities to learn about “sustainability” through hands-on experience, and green skills should be established as a new subject area. In these courses, students should be able to experience growing plants, making compost, and — where possible — generating energy through biogas methods.

These changes should not be limited to the curriculum alone; the school's infrastructure must also be designed to support sustainability. Examples include insulating school walls, using green energy sources instead of fossil fuels for heating, and designing the schoolyard to support sustainable agriculture.

Beginning to offer education in new, future-oriented career fields at vocational and technical high schools and universities⁸ is also a swift and necessary step toward a green future.

These future jobs could include:

• Firstly, Urban Ecology Engineering and Technician: Professionals in this new field are expected to design and implement green infrastructure projects within cities, such as parks, gardens, green roofs, and vertical gardens. This field works to make our cities more livable.
• When it comes to circular economy design specialists, it is clear that their primary goal (Stahel, 2019) is to shift away from the “take-make-dispose” model and aim to keep resources in use for as long as possible. This allows us to use systems that keep resources in the economic cycle for extended periods, thereby minimizing waste and pollution.
• Recycling system design, as the name suggests, involves developing systems that maximize efficiency and ensure the recyclability of every product.
• Sustainability analysts are professionals who measure and analyze companies' environmental, social, and governance impacts and guide the development of more sustainable business models by mitigating these impacts. Their primary objectives are to ensure that companies use natural resources efficiently, reduce their carbon footprint, and prepare regulatory compliance reports.
• A smart ecosystem engineer or technician is someone who uses modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), sensor technologies, and data analytics to design, develop, and manage complex systems that can make autonomous decisions, adapt to their environment, and operate optimally (Vassallo & McKinsey, 2025). Their responsibilities include building the software and hardware infrastructure for systems such as smart greenhouses, smart energy grids, or autonomous vehicles.
• Designing by drawing inspiration from nature — that is, biological mimicry (biomimicry) — is a design discipline applicable across all fields. Through this approach, by mimicking the structures and characteristics of living organisms in nature, products are optimized to achieve their best possible versions. For example, the design of Japan's Shinkansen bullet trains — which travel at speeds of 300 km/h and cause intense sonic booms as they exit tunnels — was inspired by the beak of the kingfisher, a bird that makes no sound when diving into water.⁹
• Our final recommendation is for energy engineers to focus more on green energy. These engineers and technicians play a crucial role both in determining the appropriate levels of energy production and in developing new methods of energy generation — methods that are scalable and affordable enough to be implemented in homes, schools, and other settings. In other words, they bear a great responsibility.

In conclusion: This world is our shared heritage; protecting this heritage is possible through proper education!

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