IZMIR BUYUKSEHIR BELEDIYESI

Their core work

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) is one of Turkey's largest city administrations, governing a metropolitan area of over 4 million people. In H2020, they serve as a real-world testbed for urban sustainability interventions — deploying nature-based solutions, running citizen engagement campaigns on climate action, and piloting innovative public procurement in emergency services. Their value lies in providing large-scale urban infrastructure, regulatory authority, and a diverse citizen base for demonstrating and validating research outputs in a real municipal setting.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IBB's early H2020 work (2017–2018) centred on physical urban interventions — deploying nature-based solutions and heritage-led rural regeneration, with emphasis on demonstration and replicability. From 2020 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward behavioural and digital approaches: citizen science apps, behavioural modelling, lifestyle transformation campaigns, and smart procurement. This mirrors a broader municipal trend from infrastructure-first to citizen-engagement-first climate strategies.

IBB is moving from physical urban demonstration sites toward digitally-enabled citizen engagement and behavioural interventions for climate goals — expect future interest in smart city platforms and participatory governance tools.

How they like to work

IBB operates exclusively as a participant, never coordinating — consistent with a municipality that provides urban testbed infrastructure rather than driving research agendas. With 116 unique partners across 28 countries, they plug into large, diverse consortia (typical for IA and RIA projects). This wide network and non-leading role make them an accessible partner: they bring a major metropolitan context without competing for scientific leadership.

IBB has collaborated with 116 distinct partners across 28 countries, giving them one of the broader networks for a Turkish municipal body. Their partnerships span Western European research institutions and fellow Mediterranean cities, reflecting their role as a demonstration site in pan-European consortia.

What sets them apart

IBB stands out as a large Mediterranean metropolitan municipality with hands-on experience deploying EU research outputs at city scale — from green infrastructure to emergency triage systems. Few Turkish public bodies combine this breadth of H2020 experience (5 projects, 3 pillars) with the administrative capacity to pilot interventions across a 4-million-person urban area. For consortium builders, IBB offers a non-EU demonstration site with genuine municipal authority to implement and scale results.

Highlights from their portfolio

• URBAN GreenUP
  Their flagship project at EUR 2.3M — a large-scale Innovation Action demonstrating nature-based solutions across multiple cities, with Izmir as a key follower city.
• iProcureSecurity PCP
  A rare Pre-Commercial Procurement project, showing IBB's willingness to act as an innovation buyer for emergency medical services — unusual for a municipal partner.
• CAMPAIGNers
  Represents their newest direction: combining behavioural modelling, citizen science apps, and climate pathway tools to drive lifestyle transformation at city level.