Integration of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals into Architectural Education in Turkey

Abstract

The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Since its announcement, the SDGs have attracted significant interest from various disciplines and sectors globally. Partnerships from the private and public sectors have been established to play a role in this challenging and ambitious plan. However, organizational institutions in architectural practice and education in Turkey have not yet been sufficiently interested in the SDGs. This gap in architectural education in Turkey constitutes the study’s primary motivation and defines this paper’s main problem area. In order to close this gap in literature and architecture education, the paper aims to present a projection of how the Turkish architectural education system can be integrated with the SDGs. Accordingly, the main research question that the paper intends to answer is: If and how schools of architecture in Turkey deal with SDGs within their curriculum and educational system? The study process included in-depth interviews with the administrators/chairpersons of schools of architecture having been granted accreditation by MIAK (the national accreditation board for schools of architecture in Turkey) and a thorough analysis of graduation projects submitted to Archprix Turkey. Following this, the study clarifies the situation regarding SDGs’ involvement in curricula at different levels and proposes a Turkey-specific SDG-Architecture education integration framework in light of these ideas. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.