Sustainable Landscapes of ITU Campus

ITU takes biodiversity into consideration in campus planning.

Principles and Guidelines

ITU Directive on The Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity and Ecosystems aims to:

·      To support the protection, improvement and sustainable use of natural and artificial ecosystems in ITU campuses

·      To prevent the loss of biological diversity in ITU campuses

·      To stop and reverse the land degradation in ITU campuses

·      To sustainably manage and protect the marine and coastal ecosystems that ITU campuses are associated with from pollution.

Natural and artificial ecosystems within the responsibility and jurisdiction of the ITU are managed in accordance with the following principles:

a)     In the decision-making processes, sustainable development principles are taken into account, as specified in paragraph c of the 3rd article of the Environmental Law No. 2872,

b)    Priority is given to the protection of wild animals that live or stay on campuses,

c)     In campus planning and activities carried out on campus, priority is given to biological diversity and the needs of ecosystems, and the opinion of the ITU Biological Diversity and Ecosystems Conservation and Sustainable Use Commission is sought,

d)    The ecosystems that are destroyed in the activities carried out on the campuses are immediately restored,

e)     Resources that are sustainably produced, grown or harvested are preferred for all activities carried out on campuses.

Regulations on sustainable landscape studies

Making designs with long-lasting, sustainable, user-friendly, ergonomic and disability-friendly materials and element choices in the foreground.

Sustainable landscaping studies were carried out with the joint cooperation of Istanbul Regional Directorate of Forestry, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and ITU Faculty of Architecture Landscape Department academicians. The purpose of these studies; to protect the green area in ITU Ayazağa Campus and to make it more qualified.

 A landscape approach has been adopted whereby projects and regular maintenance are conducted according to the principles of climate and landscape design on campus. An inventory of the natural life of the campus was performed and the trees in the inventory were classified. Diseased and unhealthy trees were diluted with the guidance of experts and moved to new areas where they could grow more comfortably. During the transportation process, special vehicles were preferred that would not damage the roots of the trees. After providing the appropriate distance between the trees with the thinning and thinning processes, the trees benefited more from the sun. Climate-appropriate trees such as redbud, sweetgum, plane tree, and linden have been planted inside the campus.