Within the scope of new generation university design and transformation project, under the presidency of the Rector Prof. Dr.Ömer Çomaklı,2-day long 19th search conference on “the Future of Erzurum” held with the participation of the representatives of public utilities active in  Erzurum, NGOs representatives  and entrepreneurs ended.

135 representatives in total from the Academicians of Ataturk University, public utilities active in Erzurum, entrepreneurs were attended to the to the conference in which how the brainpower of Ataturk university on education and research could be applied to the development of Turkey, the region and in particular of Erzurum was discussed. During the two-day search conference, brainstorming was held among participants on the city's potentials in areas such as agriculture, industry, health, tourism, education, arts, sports, transportation and logistics, and ways to activate these potentials were sought. In the conference, the subjects such as the advantages of high altitude  and cold climate, city planning, social problems, brain drain and loss of  capital because of migration were discussed too. In the search conference on  social impact system design which was made by participatory method, 35 projects  were produce among the topics discussed by the groups. In these projects, the  role that Ataturk University should undertake in connection to contribution and  the cooperation models to be established with the stakeholders were determined.

We put social  contribution in the centre of our university

Pointing out that Atatürk University has a responsibility towards  Erzurum in particular and its country in general in terms of social  contribution, the Rector Çomaklı indicated that new generation university design and transformation project conducted  within the framework of New CoHE vision was the  most important step taken in this direction.

Saying that they organized many conferences and workshop, Rektor  Çomaklı emphasized that they put social contribution in the centre of the  university. Rector Çomaklı continued his words as follows: “ As a result of two-day  intensive study, I think we have achieved important outputs for the content of  the Social Impact System Design of our University. As a result, 35 projects were produced in this search conference. These projects will be clarified with the subsequent studies and will be presented to decision makers in a report. Then, a decision conference will be held with the managers of the participating units in a scientific method and he projects will be ordered according to their priority. Road maps will be determined and action plans will be made based on the result of this prioritization. Our university will be a follower for the information and projects produced here to be turned into social benefits and be realized.”

The search conference on “the Future of Erzurum” ended after shooting “a family photo”.