Climate and Environment Association Europe

We strive for healthy environments and a fair future for all living beings

Climate crisis

The climate crisis is happening on a global scale right now. We support EU climate efforts for the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius according to the Paris Agreement.

Environmental protection

What we do has an impact on the planet. We carry out training and develop projects to reduce our ecological footprint and encourage nature-friendly practices.

Ecosystem and biodiversity

The rich ecosystem and biodiversity make life on earth possible. We produce projects to protect natural ecosystems and carry out awareness activities.

About CERA Europe

Climate and Environment Association Europe (CERA Europe ASBL) is a Brussels-based NGO operating on a European scale to tackle environmental issues and the climate crisis.

CERA Europe aims to prevent climate crisis, environmental pollution and habitat loss, to support efforts to protect ecosystems, to work on food safety and agricultural sustainability in an impartial and non-profit manner. In the face of these problems, CERA Europe carries out projects, research and training and develops local, national and international collaborations in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and EU Green DEAL targets.

Team

Bilgesu Tutal
MSc

President

Bilgesu has a B.Sc. in Biology and a M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences. She has worked for environmental NGOs both voluntarily and professionally for many years. At the beginning of her career, she worked as a biology teacher. She wrote and carried out EU projects to improve skills and raise awareness of teachers and students on environmental education, ecological literacy and bird-watching. She was also a part of various scientific research projects and wrote her master thesis in the field of biogas. She worked in an environmental consultancy firm and coordinated relations with the stakeholders. She designed and developed environmental education content for several organizations and public institutions, conducted workshops and delivered ToT. She continues to develop environmental projects and produce content.

Elif Kalan
MA, MSc

Vice president

Elif is a conflict resolution and community-based peacebuilding expert and consultant having more than 10 years of experience. She supports social groups in improving skills and knowledge to engage with social problems and challenges. She has worked with refugee women, young people, professional staff of local and international organizations where she designed and implemented social programs together with. Her areas of interest are designing programs targeting social issues, conducting trainings to build capacity among groups and developing social impact assessment tools to measure in social development. Some of the organizations she works with are GIZ, UNICEF, UNWOMEN, UNHCR, the European Commission, and Ret International. She is a founding member of Antenna of Turkey and Mediterranean Women Mediators Network.

Tora Benzeyen
MA

General secretary

Tora carried out his academic studies in the field of International Relations. He completed his master’s thesis on the Green 10 coalition formed by 10 leading environmental NGOs in Europe and the environmental policies of the European Union. He took part in voluntary work and projects on youth rights and participation for many years. During his professional career, he worked in various NGOs focused on nature conservation, environment and climate change. In particular, he specialized in the development and implementation of digital communication strategies on the mentioned issues. Currently, he works for a European-based NGO working on climate communication. He is also an active birdwatcher and wildlife artist. He develops conservation projects for raptors and prepares illustrations for various publications.

External experts

Find out more about our experts who provide us scientific and technical support.
Oğuz Tutal
PhD

Climate and environmental economics, EU projects

Yeliz Yılmaz
PhD

Climate modeling, remote sensing, climate data analysis

Christos Georgiadis
MSc

Rural development, nature conservation

Bence Cseke
MA

Circular economy, rural development, urban resilience, international relations