Atatürk Üniversitesi acts as a coherent institutional body providing direct input into national and regional SDG-related policy development, through collaborative workshops, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, research modelling, monitoring and reporting frameworks, and adaptive management processes. The university’s engagement spans identification of regional challenges, co-creation of policy/strategy, modelling of interventions, and ongoing monitoring — thereby supporting government and non-government organisations in pursuit of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
From the outset, Atatürk Üniversitesi governance embeds SDG and policy-development participation in its strategic frameworks. The university’s Strategic Plan 2024–2028 emphasises “paydaş temelli yaklaşım, şeffaflık, sürdürülebilir kalkınma ve ölçülebilir hedefler” in the context of SDG alignment. sp.gov.tr In supporting policy processes, the university’s Research Policy and application research centres explicitly require collaboration with public, private and civil society stakeholders, including mapping of “kamu kurumları” and “dış paydaşlar”. For example, the Toplumsal Araştırmalar Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi delineates a mandate to conduct “resmî ve özel kurum ve kuruluşlarla iş-birliği halinde projeler yürütmek” and “kurum ve kuruluşlara akademik danışmanlık hizmetinde bulunmak”. Atatürk Üniversitesi
Strategic SDG-Workshop Example
A salient example of direct university input into SDG policy development is the “Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Amaçlarına Yönelik Strateji ve Eylem Planı Çalıştay Serisi” hosted by Atatürk Üniversitesi under its Çevre Sorunları Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi. The initiative brought together 165 internal stakeholders and 84 external stakeholders (public institutions, NGOs, regional agencies) over 16 separate workshops, each dedicated to a specific SDG. These workshops were explicitly framed to identify regional and national problems, develop strategy and action plans, and enable future-oriented modelling of intervention vs no-intervention scenarios. Atatürk Üniversitesi The event, organised by the university as an institution, underscores its role in facilitating the identification of challenges and the co-design of strategic responses with public stakeholders.
Conducting Monitoring, Reporting and Adaptive Management
The framework of these workshops built into an adaptive management cycle: the results feed into the university’s monitoring mechanisms via its Research University Monitoring and Evaluation Office, which tracks implementation, reports on outcomes and iterates strategy. The published details of the SDG-workshop series indicate the identification of key risk factors (e.g., climate change, water-ecosystem protection, sustainable consumption) and the planned discussion of “uygulama sürecini yönlendirmek için bir ortam” for implementation and monitoring. Atatürk Üniversitesi Further, the university’s public cooperation protocols list formal agreements with government and regional institutions (for example a “Paydaşlarla Arama Konferansı” involving municipality, provincial government, TEGV, UNDP, business chambers) demonstrating a long-term institutional structure for policy-development engagement. Atatürk Üniversitesi
Multi-Stakeholder Integration & Policy Modelling
By integrating academic research centres, strategic planning units and external stakeholders, the university models futures—“with and without intervention”—via the workshop process, generating scenarios and action strategies that feed into regional/local policy decision-making. The structuring of 16 separate SDG-goals workshops shows a systematic modelling approach rather than one-off events. Atatürk Üniversitesi Moreover, the university hosts prototypical “paydaş buluşmaları” which link multiple sectors (academia, government, civil society, private business) into co-design of policy and strategy. Atatürk Üniversitesi
Institutional Ownership & Sustainability
All these activities are coordinated by central institutional units (Strategy Development, Research University Monitoring & Evaluation, application-research centres) ensuring that this engagement is not ad-hoc but part of the university’s continuous operational frame. The list of cooperation protocols on the university website confirms formal partnerships with governmental and regional bodies (e.g., joint protocols with provincial police, ministry branches, industry). Atatürk Üniversitesi Additionally, the results of strategy workshops and stakeholder meetings are documented publicly, enhancing transparency and enabling external oversight.
