Closing Conference of the “Active Participation of Civil Society in the Higher Education System” Project Held

The closing conference of the Active Participation of Civil Society in the Higher Education System Project, implemented by Academicians Association with the financial support of the European Union under the Civil Society Support Programme of the Directorate for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, was held at The Ankara Hotel.

The event brought together senior representatives from academia and civil society, including Gazi University Rector Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız, Director General of Libraries and Publications of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Ali Odabaş, Head of Project Implementation Department at the Directorate for EU Affairs Ahmet Hakan Atik, academics from various universities, and representatives of NGOs.

In his opening speech, Prof. Dr. İsmail Şahin, President of the Academicians Association, highlighted the association’s more than 30-year history in higher education and shared key achievements of the project, expressing appreciation to all partners and stakeholders.

Ahmet Hakan Atik underlined the importance of strengthening cooperation between civil society and higher education institutions in Türkiye and emphasized the need to ensure sustainability of such initiatives.

Prof. Dr. Musa Yıldız, Rector of Gazi University, stressed the vital role of university–civil society cooperation in the development of the higher education system and congratulated the project team.

Project outputs were presented by Dr. Tayfun Fındık, Project Coordinator at the Academicians Association, who noted that the project successfully strengthened civil society capacity in higher education and introduced the YÖKSİM Model as a strategic roadmap for future collaboration.

The conference concluded with presentations of policy and strategy documents and contributions from participants.