The İstanbul Medeniyet University (IMU) Sustainability Office, in collaboration with the Sustainability Office and the Corporate Communication Coordinatorship, organized a sustainable development training focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their relationship with universities, as well as a capacity-building session on how to report activities conducted at our university in relation to these goals. This training was open to students, part-time students, and members of the student community board who began their roles through the İŞKUR program. The training was delivered online on March 12, 2025, by our Sustainability Office staff, Lecturer Zehra SAVAN and Research Assistant Ayça ÇELİKBİLEK.
In the first part of the training, Lecturer Zehra SAVAN provided instruction on news gathering and writing techniques. After sharing insights on how to write accurate and engaging news, SAVAN gave guidance on improving the structure and content of news on our university’s webpages. She discussed the channels through which İstanbul Medeniyet University shares news and the associated writing rules, emphasizing the distinctions between announcements, events, and news, and illustrated these concepts with examples. The fundamental elements and common mistakes in news writing were analyzed through existing news examples. The participants interacted and discussed how the news could be improved under the title “How Could It Be Better If Written?”.
In the second part of the training, Research Assistant Ayça ÇELİKBİLEK presented the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and our university’s contributions toward these goals. ÇELİKBİLEK explained that the 17 SDGs, adopted following the 8 Millennium Development Goals announced by the United Nations in 2000 and targeted for achievement by 2030, are based on these earlier foundations. She emphasized that, in addition to the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs also address issues such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace, and justice.
ÇELİKBİLEK explained that universities contribute to the SDGs through the production of knowledge, dissemination of knowledge to society, generation of innovative solutions, and leadership roles. She also stated that these efforts should be supported by academic research, educational programs, management policies, and sectoral collaborations. She highlighted that universities can serve these goals in various ways, including conducting research projects, organizing courses and trainings on SDGs, developing sustainability-focused management strategies, and contributing to policy-making processes. ÇELİKBİLEK emphasized that İstanbul Medeniyet University contributes to all 17 goals through policies and research conducted by its faculties, offices, coordinatorships, research, and administrative units. She drew attention to the importance of the sdg.medeniyet.edu.tr website, where the activities related to SDGs are shared, which plays a crucial role in monitoring institutional development and sharing our university’s efforts and knowledge with society and other stakeholders.
ÇELİKBİLEK stated that Istanbul Medeniyet University was included in the THE Impact Rankings of Times Higher Education, one of the world’s leading university ranking organizations, for the first time in 2021 with its contributions to Sustainable Development Goals, and announced that applications were made in 11 fields in the 2024 ranking. He stated that our university has a very good place in the world, especially in Responsible Production and Consumption (201-300), Healthy and Quality Life (301-400), End Hunger (301-400), Decent Work and Economic Growth (401-600) and Partnerships for the Goals (601-800), and that studies are being carried out to further improve these rankings.
ÇELİKBİLEK concluded her presentation by listing the studies conducted by our university with a responsible institutional approach, contributing to the 17 SDGs, and the channels where the results of these studies are shared with researchers, stakeholders, and the public. She provided information about the necessary features and depth of the news that should be written to ensure both internal and external stakeholders receive adequate information about the studies.
In the final part of the training, Lecturer Zehra SAVAN discussed how artificial intelligence can be used to support news writing. SAVAN explained that the vast data source available on the SDGs offers opportunities not only for research but also for use in news writing. She emphasized that the directives given to artificial intelligence during the news-writing process should be as detailed as possible to accurately reflect the core objectives of corporate policies and studies in the news texts. The training concluded with SAVAN sharing various tips on how to select keywords for news related to the SDGs.
