Atatürk University took its place among the members of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global network of scientific and technological expertise.

Atatürk University, which has made an important development for new collaborations and opportunities as a part of the network that will operate in the fields of education, awareness, cooperation and solution initiatives in fields related to sustainable development goals, has become one of the 28 institutions representing Turkey in the international network.

UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN-SDSN), a global network, since 2012, has been supporting worldwide activities under the auspices of the UN Secretariat, bringing together scientific and technical experts from academia, civil society and the private sector to support viable solutions for sustainable development on a local, national and global scale. The United Nations' global initiative, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, is defined as a global network of scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Atatürk University was involved in the process of making a detailed application in order to be a member of this structure, which includes national networks as well as the global network, in which many institutional competencies such as field expertise, competence, vision and mission are explained. This application was evaluated by the SDSN Network Strategy Council. Following the evaluation in question, the University became a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and SDSN Turkey National Network.

SDSN Offers Scientific Approaches and Solutions Infrastructure to Its Members

Stating that the UN-SDSN network, which constitutes the infrastructure of scientific approaches and solutions within the integrated approaches to support the Sustainable Development Goals, will make a great contribution to the increase of the recognition and internationalization of Atatürk University, Director of Atatürk University Environmental Problems Application and Research Center Prof. Dr. Zeynep Ceylan said that Atatürk University planned the education, research and social contribution missions that it carried out under its own responsibility, according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with the University Senate Decision dated 18.12.2019 and numbered 128.

Expressing the contributions of being included in the UN-SDSN Network to the University, Prof. Dr. Ceylan said: “Research, projects, articles, course contents and similar activities based on SDGs will be announced to the world through the network, thereby increasing the recognition of the University. Making a positive contribution to the GreenMetric Certification scoring, ensuring sustainable updates on behalf of the University by being instantly informed about international events (conferences, congresses, symposiums, workshops, etc.) this move, which will be instrumental in making a cumulative contribution to the overall score increase in Türkiye, is of great importance for Atatürk University. On this occasion, I would like to thank our Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı and those who had a share in the process.”

28 Institutions from Türkiye Are Included in the Network

UN-SDSN, which has 50 networks in 6 continents and includes 1778 institutions, was a member of UN-SDSN in 2021, 11 of which were state universities. There were 7 universities in total, including state and 4 foundation universities.