The final consortium meeting of the PED-ACT project — Auto Characterization of PEDs for Digital References Towards Iterative Process Optimisation — took place on May 26–27, 2025, hosted by Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH) in collaboration with Karşıyaka Municipality.
Partners from across Europe came together to review project results, share experiences from the demo sites in Schönbühel-Aggsbach (Austria), Borlänge (Sweden), and Karşıyaka (Türkiye), and discuss the future of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) beyond the project’s completion.
The two-day meeting included in-depth discussions on data architecture, energy modelling, governance, strategy, and replication, followed by visits to IZTECH’s Green Hydrogen Lab and Karşıyaka’s solar energy projects.
The second day featured a public event and exhibition at Zübeyde Hanım Nikah Sarayı, with opening remarks by Prof. Dr. Xingxing Zhang (Dalarna University, PED-ACT Project Coordinator), Meltem Korkmaz (Karşıyaka Municipality, Director of Climate and Zero Waste), and representatives from İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.
The workshop session, moderated by Bahanur Nasya (Wonderland Platform for Architecture), encouraged reflections on PED-ACT’s outcomes and the pathways to climate-neutral urban districts.
PED-ACT extends its sincere thanks to all partners for their collaboration and commitment:
Dalarna University, Borlänge Municipality, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Umeå University, Umeå Energi, Middle East Technical University (METU), Demir Energy, Wonderland Platform for Architecture, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, Umeå Municipality, AB Stora Tunabyggen, Die Energie-& Umweltagentur des Landes NÖ, Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH), and Karşıyaka Municipality.
The project, funded under the JPI Urban Europe framework, received support from Viable Cities (Vinnova, Swedish Energy Agency, and Formas), TÜBİTAK (Türkiye), and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action (BMK), and recognized within Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) partnerships.
In the PED-ACT project, we aim to make energy consumption and production sustainable in regional units. This project, which is carried out at an international level, carries out studies in five different prototype regions in three countries. It is investigating ways to transform these regions into Positive Energy Regions (PED).
Now, it is time to collaborate and think together about İzmir! PED-ACT’s WP6 “Co-learning Processes and Co-design Strategies” leader Wonderland is going to lead this workshop, hosted by Karşıyaka Municipality and facilitated by Izmir Institute of Technology (WP8 Leader).
The workshop will take place in Karşıyaka Municipality building Kal Kadoş Synagogue on 26th of March, Tuesday starting at 9:30.
Bahanur Nasya from the Wonderland Platform for European Architecture, moderated this session on behalf of our project. Our first guest was our stakeholder Turkish Cogeneration Association(KOJENTÜRK). Yavuz Aydın and Yağmur Bozkurt represented KOJENTÜRK for this webinar. We would also like to thank our partners from Karşıyaka Belediyesi, Özlem Şenyol and Yasemin Şentürk.
Our members from Karşıyaka Municipality, Izmir Institute of Technology and Middle East Technical University have been to the pilot area in Karsiyaka, Zübeyde Hanim District to investigate the current conditions of the neighbourhood for an energy transition. They have been gathering important data from the area as well as interacting with the locals throughout this process.
We want to thank this hardworking team; Onur Taylan, Hasan Burak Çavka, Didem Karaca, Yasemin Şentürk and Arzu Doğruyol for their contributions and incentives towards creating more sustainable, resilient and participatory communities.
PED-ACT Team visited ODTÜ-GÜNAM the Center for Solar Energy Research and Applications in Ankara. ODTÜ-GÜNAM was founded by an initiative from the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ/METU) in 2009 as a multi-discipliner research center. They explained their visions to strengthen society by creating fundamental knowledge through research that supports innovation in solar energy at national, EU and global levels; facilitating R&I at national, EU and global levels by providing scientific services and access to unique scientific facilities to researchers and industry; developing human capacities through training and education to strengthen R&I capacities and culture in Turkey specifically and at EU and global levels more generally; identifying and exploiting Intellectual Property (IP) created at ODTÜ-GUNAM; and supporting the market-uptake of solar energy technologies in Turkey by providing scientific consulting to ministries to craft appropriate regulations and policies (ODTÜ-GÜNAM, 2023). You can visit https://odtugunam.org for more information.
Today our team visited one of the prospective positive energy sites in Ankara. Orta Doğu Çamlık Housing Estate’s administrative board representatives Nedret Öztan and Günay Yeşildoruk informed us about the site and residents. Our researchers have discussed the innovative possibilities of a PED area.
