Hacettepe University’s Land Ethic Research and Application Center (founded in 2014) organized the second Land Ethic Education Project (LEEP) on May 22-23, 2023. LEEP is taking place under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Ufuk Özdağ who is the founding director of the Land Ethic Research and Application Center.
This year LEEP hosted 32 participants (students and faculty members) from various departments of Hacettepe University. The program comprises lectures and hands-on activities led by a trainer staff of environmental literary scholars and biologists from Hacettepe University, an environmental educator from Bilkent University, and a forest engineer from Bartın University. In an interactive learning environment, the educators focus on the ways of developing an ethical relationship with the land. LEEP is modeled on Aldo Leopold Foundation’s Leopold Education Project (headquartered in Wisconsin, USA), with a focus on “creating an ecologically literate citizenry.” Through direct experience with nature in the outdoor class of the Land Ethic Research and Aplication Center, the goal of the project is to advance a scientific understanding of the land so that the participants may make informed decisions about their local lands.
At the end of the 2-day training program, certificates were awarded to the participants in front of the Atatürk Monument, a landmark at Hacettepe’s green Beytepe Campus. Now, the alumnies will be able to organize their own Land Ethic Education Project in the local lands, in collaboration with Hacettepe University’s Land Ethic Research and Application Center.
For further information on Hacettepe University’s Land Ethic Research and Application Center and for the Land Ethic Education Project, see
www.topraketigi.hacettepe.edu.tr/ , www.teep.hacettepe.edu.tr
