SDG 11

KHAS integrates sustainability into urban life through research, education, and community engagement. Courses in architecture, urban studies, and cultural heritage preservation examine the dynamics of urban transformation and propose solutions for resilient cities. Student social responsibility projects engage with local neighborhoods through zero-waste workshops, children’s activities, and cultural events. The University also contributes to sustainable urban development through collaborations with municipalities and NGOs, emphasizing the preservation of cultural assets, inclusive urban design, and environmentally responsible practices.

11.1. Events

• Event / Talk: Talk on Eco-emotions

Speaker: Altan-Atalay, A.

Date: 2024

Context: Awareness talk delivered as part of the Kadir Has University Environment Club event.

11.2. Projects

• Service to External Users (2023): Contributed to meeting society’s need for information access.
• Service to External Users (2024): Continued contributions; 27 external users visited in 2024.
• Preservation of National Cultural Heritage: Ongoing work on resources such as the Reşat Ekrem Koçu Istanbul Encyclopaedia to preserve and provide access to cultural heritage.
• “The Economic Dimension of Earthquake and Disaster Management in Istanbul and the Marmara Region” – Alp Erinç Yeldan.
• “Turkey: Challenges and Strategies Towards Sustainable Development” (UNCTAD, 2024) – Alp Erinç Yeldan.
• Lecturer Müge Özbek participates in the project “Usable Past for Liveable Cities Today: Sustainable Urban Mobility, 1890–Present” (Global Research-Book-Web-Teaching programme). She will co-author Cycling Cities: The Istanbul Experience and related publications with the project team.
• Müge Özbek is the advisor for “Investigating E-Scooter Use among University Students in Istanbul in the Context of Sustainability and Micro-Mobility.”
• KHAS110 with Istanbul City Council: After receiving training on civic participation and participatory democracy, student groups designed projects (transport, cultural access, stray-animal feeding, volunteerism, disaster awareness) and submitted them to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Participatory Budget Programme.
• “Women and Earthquakes: Identification, Analysis, and Solution Proposals for Gender-Sensitive Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness Plans in Istanbul” – Lerna K. Yanık (30 November 2024).
• Sustainability & Green Campus Initiatives (ISG Projects)
  • KHAS is a green campus with ongoing projects in water management, energy efficiency, and waste management.
  • Water consumption is regularly monitored from on-campus reservoirs.
  • Rainwater is channeled separately to municipal reservoirs, reducing treatment costs and energy use.
  • The campus location, with proximity to public transport, minimizes private car use by staff and students.

• Faculty: Art and Design

• • Project Type: TÜBİTAK 1001
  • Project Title: Determining Visual Comfort Variables in Workspaces Based on Human-Centered Lighting and Energy Performance Requirements
  • Project Lead: Prof. Dr. Banu Manav (KHAS)
  • Duration: 10/12/2023 – 10/08/2026
  • Summary: This research focuses on the structure of lighting systems used in modern workspaces. It investigates visual comfort variables and the significance of human-centered lighting design in a 1:1 scale controlled environment. The study also aims to determine optimal energy performance levels across different lighting scenarios and to assess the improvement rate in energy efficiency achieved through dynamic LED luminaires combined with lighting control strategies.
• Faculty: Art and Design
  • Project Type: TÜBİTAK 1001
  • Project Title: Gender Dynamics of Skilled Migrant Women’s Labor Migration and Urban Life Experiences: The Case of Istanbul
  • Project Code/Number: 1001 / 221K001
  • Project Lead: Doç. Dr. Ezgi Tuncer
  • Duration: 01.04.2022 – 01.11.2023
  • Summary: This project examines how socio-spatial dynamics shape the migration and settlement processes, daily practices, and urban experiences of highly educated (skilled) migrant women living and working in Istanbul. It focuses on middle-class transnational communities from both the Global North and South, exploring their reasons for migration and experiences of urban life (housing, work, socialization) at the intersection of gender, nationality, and ethnicity. The study highlights that these migrants, often perceived as “privileged expats,” also face precarity and discriminatory practices, aiming to inform new urban and legal policies to improve their living conditions.
• Faculty: Art and Design
  • Role: Financial Manager, Turkey Management Committee Member
  • Researcher: A. Erek
  • Project: CA 18204 – Dynamics of Placemaking and Digitization in Europe’s Cities (EU COST Project)
  • Duration: 2019 – 2024
• Faculty: Art and Design
  • Program: Interior Architecture and Environmental Design (Undergraduate)
  • Course: IAR356 Sustainability and Built Environment – Project-Based Learning Collaboration
  • Partner: Horizon Strategic Management Consulting Ltd.
  • Semester: Fall 2023–24

• Faculty: Art and Design

• • Project: “Evaluation of the Adequacy of Turkey’s Urban Transformation Legislation in Combating Climate Change, through a Comparative Study of EU Legislation and the Case of France”

• Lead: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Gizem Arslan

• • Funding: TÜBİTAK 3005

11.3. Publications

• Evaluation of public transportation systems for sustainable cities using an integrated fuzzy multi-criteria group decision-making model
  Author(s): Kundu, P., Faruk Görçün, Ö., Garg, C., Kucukonder, H., and Çanakçioğlu, M.
  Year: 2024
• Becoming One with the Neighborhood: Collaborative Art, Space-Making, and Urban Change in Izmir Darağaç
  Author(s): Kilinç, K., Pasin, B., and Varinlioglu, G.
  Year: 2024
• Evaluation of shared micro-mobility systems for sustainable cities by using a consensus-based Fermatean fuzzy multiple objective optimization and full multiplicative form
  Author(s): Saha, A., Faruk Görçün, Ö., Pamucar, D., Arya, L., and Simic, V.
  Year: 2024
• Acceptable ‘expats’ versus unwanted ‘Arabs’: Tracing hierarchies through everyday urban practices of skilled migrant women in Istanbul
  Author(s): Tuncer, E.
  Year: 2024
• Prioritization of crowdsourcing models for last-mile delivery using fuzzy Sugeno–Weber framework
  Author(s): Pamucar, D., Lazarevic, D., Dobrodolac, M., Simic, V., and Faruk Görçün, Ö.
  Year: 2024
• Graph Theoretical Approach for Path Selection in Logistic Problems
  Author(s): Gökdağ, Z. and Bilge, A.
  Year: 2024
• Building Damage Assessment to Facilitate Post-Earthquake Search and Rescue Missions by Leveraging a Machine Learning Algorithm
  Author(s): Zaker, M., Alsan, H., and Arsan, T.
  Year: 2024
• EXPLORING THE ACOUSTIC IDENTITY OF DERINKUYU UNDERGROUND CITY
  Author(s): Nas, S., Şaher, K., Mıhçı, G., and Aytıs, S.
  Year: 2024
• A Comprehensive Review of Open Source Intelligence in Intelligent Transportation Systems
  Author(s): Uçar, B., Ecevit, M., Daǧ, H., and Creutzburg, R.
  Year: 2024
• Energy Performance Optimisation of a Single Dwelling Archetype Targeted to ZEB in the Earthquake Zone
  Author(s): Yılmaz, Y. and Yılmaz, B.
  Year: 2024
• İżnik Town and Its Rural Landscape: Decision Making, Socio-Demographic Profiling and Conservation Policy Development
  Author(s): Songülen, N., Alkan Reis, A., Güvenç, M., Erkan, Y., and Çavur, M.
  Year: 2024
• Identity, Cultural Heritage and the Politics of Sovereignty: Narrating Turkey and Greece Through Ayasofya
  Author(s): Hisarlıoğlu, F., Karagiannopoulou, C., and Yanik, L.
  Year: 2024
• Understanding the dynamics of compliance to smoke-free policy regulations: Exploring the perspectives of venue owners and staff in Türkiye
  Author(s): Baltacı, E., Çarkoğlu, A., Saraf, S., Ergüder, T., Ergor, G., Hayran, M., and Hoe, C.
  Year: 2024
• Investigation Procedure for the Diagnosis of Historical Minarets: Inclined Minaret of Sivas Ulu Cami (Mosque)
  Author(s): Inci, P., Halici, O., Demir, C., Cömert, M., Aldirmaz, B., Coban, S., Kiraz, F., Kuran, F., Berlucchi, N., Iyisan, R., and Ilki, A.
  Year: 2024
• Selection of tramcars for sustainable urban transportation by using the modified WASPAS approach based on Heronian operators
  Author(s): Faruk Görçün, Ö., Pamucar, D., and Kucukonder, H.
  Year: 2024
• Mega-events and placemaking: Place image construction between reality and imagination
  Author(s): Husukić, E., Zejnilović, E., Dimelli, D., Erek, A., and Duho, N.
  Year: 2023
• MCDM-Based Wildfire Risk Assessment: A Case Study on the State of Arizona
  Author(s): Pishahang, M., Jovčić, S., Hashemkhani Zolfani, S., Simic, V., and Faruk Görçün, Ö.
  Year: 2023
• A new QoS-aware method for production scheduling in the industrial internet of things using elephant herding optimization algorithm
  Author(s): Avval, D., Heris, P., Navimipour, N., Mohammadi, B., and Yalcin, Ş.
  Year: 2023
• Fresh food supplier selection for global retail chains via bipolar neutrosophic methodology
  Author(s): Faruk Görçün, Ö. and Aytekin, A.
  Year: 2023
• Mapping Vertical Greening on Urban Built Heritage Exposed to Environmental Stressors–A Case Study in Antwerp, Belgium
  Author(s): Kale, E., De Groeve, M., Pinnel, L., Erkan, Y., Hacıgüzeller, P., Orr, S., and De Kock, T.
  Year: 2023
• A Recursive Algorithm for the Generative Study of Seljuk Muqarnas in Kayseri and Sivas
  Author(s): Gökmen, S., Aykln, Y., Baslk, A., and Alaçam, S.
  Year: 2023
• Sustainability performance analysis of micro-mobility solutions in urban transportation with a novel IVFNN-Delphi-LOPCOW-CoCoSo framework
  Author(s): Ecer, F., Kucukonder, H., Kayapınar, S., and Faruk Görçün, Ö.
  Year: 2023
• Taming the wild: Attracting capital through populist mobilization in the urban landscapes of Istanbul
  Author(s): Kurt, F.
  Year: 2023
• Evaluation of the route selection in international freight transportation by using the CODAS technique based on interval-valued Atanassov intuitionistic sets
  Author(s): Pamucar, D., Faruk Görçün, Ö., and Kucukonder, H.
  Year: 2023
• Modulated relay based stable election protocol for large-scale wireless sensor networks
  Author(s): Hamad, L., Daǧ, T., and Güçlüoǧlu, T.
  Year: 2023
• Changing the identity of a place by changing street names: The process of renaming the streets of Üsküdar between 1927-1934
  Author(s): Dalgiç, E. and Yildirim Okta, B.
  Year: 2023

11.4. Courses

• KHAS1216 – The Nature of the City: A Political Ecology Perspective on the City
• LAW 335 – Anthropology and Law (Elective)

Course Description: This course examines law and the mechanisms of modern legal systems, including human rights, through an anthropological lens. It begins by introducing the field, purpose, and methods of anthropology as an independent discipline. The course then explores the inseparable relationship between legal anthropology and the fields of cultural and political anthropology, including their historical development. Special emphasis is placed on the works of anthropologists who study legal phenomena in simple societies.

Building on these foundations, the course critically analyzes contemporary approaches to international human rights law from the perspective of anthropology. Following these critical approaches, it investigates the Western roots of the universal human rights regime and highlights the role of anthropology in understanding local challenges to universal human rights. Ultimately, the course focuses on reconsidering the possibilities and limitations of international human rights law through anthropological engagement with rights.[1]

• KH 518 – Cultural Rights
• Course Description: This course first examines the emergence of minority rights and their application by various judicial bodies. Second, it analyzes Turkey’s position within the framework of the international minority rights regime.[2]
• Faculty: Faculty of Art and Design | Program: Interior Architecture and Environmental Design (Undergraduate) Course: IAR306 – Interior Architecture Design Systems IV: Installation | Semester: Spring 2022–23 / Spring 2023–24

Course Description: This course aims to provide students with fundamental knowledge and awareness of environmentally conscious and sustainable building practices. It addresses environmental design, passive and active design strategies, mechanical and sanitary systems, technical infrastructures, and fire safety. Students are encouraged to develop a professional vision that integrates environmental, economic, and social sustainability principles in architectural practice.

• Faculty: Faculty of Art and Design | Program: Interior Architecture and Environmental Design (Undergraduate) Course: IAR356 – Sustainability and Built Environment | Semester: Fall 2023–24 / Fall 2024–25

Course Description: This course introduces fundamental concepts of sustainability in the design of the built environment. Addressed through an interdisciplinary approach, sustainability is discussed in environmental, economic, and social dimensions and evaluated at building, façade, spatial, and material scales. The course aims to develop students’ awareness of long-term design impacts, optimization of resource use, and the enhancement of quality of life.

• Graduate School | Program: Design
  • Course: Design, Art and Urban Space
  • Instructor: Ayşe Erek
  • Semester: Spring 2023–24
  • Course Description: This seminar focuses on art and design in urban public spaces, emphasizing spatial politics and the interaction between creative practices and urban environments.
• Faculty: Faculty of Art and Design | Program: Industrial Design
  • Course: History of Industrial Design
  • Instructor: Ayşe Erek
  • Semester: Spring 2023–24
  • Course Description: A historical survey of industrial design from the 19th century to the present.
• Faculty: Faculty of Art and Design | Department of Architecture
  • Course: ARC302 – Architectures of Transiency: Impermanent Dwelling in Insecure Times
  • Semester: Fall 2024–25
• Graduate School | Department of Art and Design / Cultural Heritage Conservation (MA – Thesis & Non-Thesis)
  • KK502 – Legal Dimensions and Applications of Conservation: Provides advanced knowledge of international and national conservation regulations and organizational frameworks, fostering critical discussion skills.
  • KK501 – Concepts of Conservation: Examines the historical evolution, conceptual foundations, and theories of conservation; national and international legal frameworks; social responsibility; and ethical values.
• KK650 – Istanbul and Urban Transformations: Analyzes the historical and contemporary spatial transformations of Istanbul as a city of global importance, focusing on their social, economic, and cultural impacts and proposing strategies for preserving its cultural values.
• KK657 – Historical Anatolian Cities and Their Conservation: Aims to raise awareness of Anatolian cities and develop critical approaches for implementing appropriate methods in conservation processes.
• ARCH503 – Pre-Thesis Seminar (ARCH503-S01)
  • Instructors: Sabri Gökmen, Didem Kılıçkıran, Ufuk Soyoz, Doğu Durgun, Ezgi Tuncer, Gürbey Hız
  • Time & Room: Fri 19:00–19:40 / 19:50 | B-302
• ARCH504 – Architecture and Urban Studies Thesis (ARCH504)
  • Instructors: Ezgi Tuncer, Didem Kılıçkıran, Sabri Gökmen, Ufuk Soyoz, Doğu Durgun, Gürbey Hız
  • Time & Room: Sat 21:00–21:40 / 21:50 | B-201
• ARCH515 – Modern Architecture and the Transnational History of the City
  • Instructor: Bülent Tanju
  • Time & Room: Wed 10:30–13:20 | C-109
• ARCH522 – Istanbul: From Imperial Capital to Global City
  • Instructor: Gürbey Hız
  • Time & Room: Thu 10:30–13:20 | B-201.1
• ARCH511 – Readings on Space and Society
  • Instructor: Didem Kılıçkıran
  • Time & Room: Tue 10:30–13:20 | B-516
• ARCH518 – Space, Politics and Power (ARCH518-S01)
  • Instructor: Ezgi Tuncer
  • Time & Room: Fri 10:30–13:20 | B-502

[1] https://bologna.khas.edu.tr/ders/30004418/program/50000736

[2] https://bologna.khas.edu.tr/ders/30000436/program/50258384