The first briefing meeting of the Sustainability Commission, established within the Kütahya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KUTSO), was held at the Chamber’s service building.
The meeting was attended by KUTSO Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors Emin Yüce; Members of the Board of Directors Ahmet Saner Gönül and Semra Tozaraydın; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Hiçdurmaz and Dr Dilcu Gönül from Kütahya Dumlupınar University (DPÜ); Assoc. Prof. Dr. Durmuş Özdemir; Dr Murat Öztürk from DPÜ; Prof. Dr. Sultan Güçlü from Kütahya Health Sciences University (KSBÜ); Deputy Provincial Director of Family and Social Services İlknur Kızıltepe Karakaş; Employment and Vocational Counsellor at Kütahya İŞKUR Provincial Directorate Şaziye Çakır; Head of Strategic Planning and Project Development Unit at Kütahya Organized Industrial Zone (OSB) Baran Zafer Kaya; Chairman of the KUTSO 8th Professional Committee Mustafa Murat Aydın; Corporate Performance Manager at LAV Buket Tekler; Company Owner of Öz Doğanay İnşaat Mad. Tur. Gıda San. Tic. Ltd. Şti. Ayşe Doğanay; Company Owner of Demiraysoft Mustafa Demiray; R&D, Quality Assurance and Quality Control Manager at Kahramanmaraş Kütahya Entegre İlknur Kasımoğlu Dede; Company Owner of Cevizsoft A.Ş. Ahmet Özrenk; Sustainability Manager at GCA Başak Dik; Chairwoman of Frigg Women Women’s Initiative Production and Business Cooperative Seçil Söyleyici Kantar; KUTSO Deputy Secretaries General Ümran Kertiş and Ahmet Orhan Güngör; KUTSO Entrepreneurship Office Officer Tuğba Katırcı; and KUTSO Project Officer Şeyma Yılmaz Kuşçuoğlu.
The meeting commenced with the opening speech delivered by KUTSO Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors Emin Yüce. In his remarks, he emphasised the importance of addressing sustainability through its environmental, social, and governance dimensions, and outlined the Commission’s objectives of promoting a data-driven decision-making culture, enhancing project development capacity, and guiding the business community of Kütahya. He further noted that the working groups established under the themes of gender equality, social impact and societal resilience, as well as twin transformation (green and digital transformation), would generate outputs within a framework of collective wisdom and cooperation.
Following the opening, during the introductory session, participants introduced themselves in line with their institutional affiliations and areas of expertise, thereby contributing to the Commission’s multi-stakeholder structure.
As part of the meeting, a briefing presentation on the structure and function of the Sustainability Commission was delivered by KUTSO Academic Advisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Hiçdurmaz. The presentation covered the Commission’s organisational structure, working groups (Twin Transformation; Gender Equality, Social Impact and Societal Resilience), working methods, expected outputs, and the processes for establishing a sustainability data infrastructure. In addition, a framework was presented regarding the planned activities in the areas of green transformation, digital transformation, social impact measurement, and project development.
During the continuation of the meeting, evaluations were carried out in line with the agenda to identify the areas in which members could contribute. Participants expressed their willingness to actively engage in the Commission’s work by sharing their potential contributions in areas such as technical expertise, data and field input, project development, and institutional cooperation.
Under another key agenda item concerning the determination of priority activities, short-term actions were discussed within the framework of feasible and measurable steps. In this context, proposals related to awareness-raising activities, training programmes, preparation of guidance documents, and strengthening stakeholder cooperation were evaluated.
It was also decided to establish the Commission’s work schedule and to ensure the regular implementation of communication and coordination processes among the working groups.
The meeting concluded with general evaluations, the exchange of views and suggestions, and the determination of a roadmap for the upcoming period.
News: KUTSO Press
