The 3rd Türkiye National Workshop of the UI GreenMetric (https://greenmetric.ui.ac.id) platform, which evaluates world universities in the fields of environmental awareness, energy, waste, transportation management, and sustainability, was held at Hasan Kalyoncu University.
Rector Prof. Dr. Türkay Dereli, Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Mehmet Lütfi Yola and Prof. Dr. Gül Rengin Küçükerdoğan, UI GreenMetric Representative Dr. Ruki Harwahyu, HKU UI GreenMetric Campus Coordinator Assist. Prof. Dr. Şafak Tercan, ÇEVMER Director Assist. Prof. Dr. Nebile Kızıl, UI GreenMetric Representatives of universities, Sustainability, Quality, and International Relations Office Coordinators, academic staff, and students attended the opening of the two-day workshop held under the coordination of HKU Environmental Application and Research Center (ÇEVMER).
HKU has set a new target to enter the top 100 universities in the GreenMetric.
Addressing the participants at the opening of the workshop, Rector Prof. Dr. Türkay Dereli underlined that UI GreenMetric and sustainability were included among the university monitoring and evaluation criteria by the Higher Education Council (YÖK) this year and continued his speech as follows: “Last year, 81 or even 82 universities were included in the UI GreenMetric World Sustainable Universities List. The universities in our country, which have green campuses, show that they attach importance to sustainability and rise in the GreenMetric ranking. The first year we applied to Hasan Kalyoncu University, the previous year, we ranked 375th in GreenMetric. The following year, last year, with the efforts of our friends, we climbed 77 places and ranked 298th in the world. We ranked 4th among foundation universities in Türkiye. These good results make us both happy and even more hopeful for the future. Our goal, of course, is to always stay on this list and to enter the top 100 in GreenMetric. But we really want to deserve this, and we want it to take place in a fair competition. We have a lot to learn from each other, so we are very happy to organize this workshop at our university, where we will share good practices and examples from Türkiye and around the world and share our experiences with each other. Thank you for your participation.”
Turkish Universities Have Intense Interest in Greenmetric
In the workshop where the ‘Global Practices Course Guide on Sustainable Development Goals’ booklet and 2023 Turkish guide prepared by Dr. Junaidi M.A., Founder of World University Rankings Network, and a team of experts in the field were introduced, UI GreenMetric Representative Dr. Ruki Harwahyu gave information to the participants about the ‘UI GreenMetric Representative Network and 2023 Survey’ held in Türkiye. Speaking about the methodology to be used in the 2023 GreenMetric rankings and the innovations in the methodology, Dr. Ruki Harwahyu stated that Turkish universities’ interest in GreenMetric is intense, and this interest makes them happy, and that it would be beneficial to include more courses related to sustainability in the curricula and to provide more support to scientific studies on sustainability.
Experiences and Examples of Good Practices were Shared
UI GreenMetric Türkiye Coordinator Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Yıldırım, who participated in the workshop online, evaluated the criteria for participation in GreenMetric, its development in the historical process, the progress of universities in Turkey over the years, and the current information of the UI GreenMetric National Türkiye Network. Within the scope of the workshop, HKU UI GreenMetric Campus Coordinator Assist. Prof. Dr. Şafak Tercan and Environmental Engineer Erkan Başaran, Çukurova University Faculty of Engineering, Department of Environmental Engineering Prof. Dr. Zeynep Zaimoğlu, Dokuz Eylül University Foreign Affairs Coordinator Sustainability Office Coordinator Prof. Dr. Fatma Duygu Özel Demiralp, ITU Sustainability Office Coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Börte Köse Mutlu, IYTE International Relations Office Manager Assoc. Dr. Hatice Eser Ökten, Ege University GreenMetric Campus Coordinatorship Representative Dr. Sıdıka Tuğçe Dağlıoğlu, GAUN Quality Development Coordinator Lect. Dr. Derya Özçalışkan, YTÜ Environmental Engineer Fatma Zehra Şükür and Erciyes University Sustainability Coordinator Office Representative Melike Yazman gave seminars about Sustainability and GreenMetric activities at their universities and informed the participants.
During the two-day workshop, the participants, who did not neglect to experience the green campus of Hasan Kalyoncu University, examined the renewed bicycle path on the campus together with HKU Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees Haluk Kalyoncu, Prof. Dr. Türkay Dereli, and UI GreenMetric Representative Dr. Ruki Harwahyu.
