Özyeğin University is pleased to announce the completion of the 8th Local and Rural Development Expertise Training Certificate Program this year. For access to this year's program content, which has been prepared with innovations that allow for active participation of the attendees, please click for more information.

Within the framework of the collaboration established between the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Regional Development Administration, one of the largest development institutions in the public sector of the country, the Hüsnü M. Özyeğin Foundation, and Özyeğin University, investment plans have been prepared for three settlements including Mardin/Ömerli, Adıyaman/Besni districts, and Kilis/Ravanda Basin. These district investment plans, which prioritize holistic and sustainable local development, exemplify efficient multi-sector collaboration with active participation from universities, civil society, and public institutions.

Since 2014, the Local and Rural Development Expertise Training Certificate Program, organized annually by Özyeğin University in collaboration with the Hüsnü M. Özyeğin Foundation, has benefited over 300 professionals to date.

The certificate program, designed to provide participants with a vision of the fundamental paradigms, practices, and thematic areas of sustainable local and rural development, has primarily attracted the attention of public sector and non-governmental organization employees.

Our certificate program, unique in its field, has received contributions from academics from various universities, managers of civil society organizations, and representatives of producer organizations as instructors in collaboration with Özyeğin University (ÖzÜ). The continuous participation and teaching by these individuals over the past four years strengthen our university's claim to be a center of excellence in sustainable development.

Faculty members from our university such as Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deniz Şenol Sert, Dr. Beyza Polat, Prof. Dr. Ümit Özlale, Dr. Faik Gür, Dr. Alper Yağcı, Prof. Dr. Alpay Er, Dr. Murat Fiş, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özge Samancı, Tangör Tan as an instructor, Dr. Ebru Tekin, Dr. Candan Türkkan, and Dr. Meriç Bıçakçıoğlu have participated in these certificate programs.

The book "Local and Rural Development through the Lens of Sustainable Life", which is composed of articles by academics participating as instructors in local and rural development certificate programs, has been published by Özyeğin University. Offering readers a rich resource blending theory with practice, the book contains 24 articles and interviews organized under four main headings. The book has filled an important gap in the Turkish literature on local and rural development.

As a platform where necessary operational knowledge on local and rural development is generated and compiled, the editors of the book "Local and Rural Development through the Lens of Sustainable Life", Özyeğin University faculty member Faik Gür and the Rural Development Officer of the Sustainability Platform and Field Studies Specialist Murat Bayramoğlu summarize their expectations as follows: "We need a rights-based, sustainable, and fair development philosophy and practice. The common point of the scientists, representatives of producer organizations, and practitioners on the field who have brought this book into existence with their actions and writings is the effort to discuss a new development paradigm that we need with the readers. We hope that this book will be useful for academics, students, practitioners, policy makers, civil society organizations, and public sector workers who are interested in and work in the field of local and rural development."

Our university believes that rural life, being one of the fundamental pillars of ecological sustainability, should be embraced in all its components, including agriculture. In this context, our students and academics are provided with opportunities to experience sustainable rural development practices firsthand. Within this framework, villages where the Hüsnü M. Özyeğin Foundation has implemented rural development programs in Bitlis and Kilis are visited. During these visits, support is provided to meet the material needs of village schools. In the forums organized during these trips, our university students discuss career planning with the children and youth attending these village schools.