After a successful symposium, fruitful presentations, engaging discussions, and an exciting field trip since the beginning of the course in October, we have come to the last week of the Yazılıkaya Living Lab: Adaptive Futures for Rural Heritage Course.
At NIT Urban Heritage Lab this week, we leave the floor to our course participants. They will present their heritage-based strategies to promote sustainability, conservation, and the revitalization of the Phrygian Highlands, with a special focus on Yazılıkaya Village. The four projects developed by the course participants will be evaluated by Charlie Smid (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Dr. Işılay Gürsu (BIAA), Dr. Emine Çiğdem Asrav (Bilkent University), and Dr. Esra Ekşi Balcı (Kocaeli University).
Date: 12 December 2025, Friday
Time: 16:45 – 19:30 (Istanbul time)
The symposium will be online. Please register for the event in advance through the link below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the information to join the meeting.
Registration link: Go here
Program
16.45 – 17.00 Introduction
Fokke Gerritsen [NIT]
17.00 – 19.15 Participants’ Project Presentations
Moderators: Fokke Gerritsen [NIT], Aysel Arslan [NIT], Sander van Alphen [NIT], Özgün Özçakır [METU]
17.00 – 17.30 | A Memory Engine for Yazılıkaya: Reimagining the Excavation House of Emilie Haspels
Buse Gümüştürkmen, Kübra Yalçınkaya, Mara Elif Schön, Muhammed Ahmed Durgun
Discussant: Charlie Smid [Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam]
17.30 – 18.00 | Continuum – Yazılıkaya Heritage Maps: Interpreting and Communicating Multi-Layered Cultural and Environmental Heritage
Damla Barın, Ecem Coşan, İrem Arslantürk, Maria Christina Vibe, Seray Ulusoy
Discussant: Işılay Gürsu [BIAA]
18.00 – 18.15 Break
18.15 – 18.45 | Managing Water Scarcity in Changing Climate: Reviving Yazılıkaya as a Resilient Landscape
Ceren İlter Soy, Enni Lappela, Meryem Uyaver, Saleha Jamil Sundas, Tuğçe Halıcı
Discussant: Emine Çiğdem Asrav [Bilkent University]
18.45 – 19.15 | Rural Memory, Building the Future: An Integrated Rural Community Framework for Yazılıkaya
Bahar Çalışkan, Ceylan Sözer, Ekin Bakkalbaşı, Elif Lal Karacan, Max Navarro Ribera
Discussant: Esra Ekşi Balcı [Kocaeli University]
19.15 – 19.30 Questions and Comments
Moderator: Gülşah Günata [NIT]
NIT Urban Heritage Lab is an initiative of the Netherlands Institute in Turkey that investigates the role of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in achieving inclusive, circular, and sustainable cities. The fifth edition of the Urban Heritage Lab Autumn Course, Yazılıkaya Living Lab: Adaptive Futures for Rural Heritage, is organized by the Netherlands Institute in Turkey (NIT), in collaboration with Middle East Technical University (METU), and with the support of the Netherlands Consulate-General in Istanbul.