Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU) has recorded an important achievement by broadening its range of activity under the Erasmus+ program. The project titled "SHAPE: Youth Shaping Their Future through Local Dialogue on Skills" has been awarded funding by the Turkish National Agency under Erasmus+ KA-154 Youth Participation. With the project, IGU will serve as a coordinating institution under KA-154 for the first time.Istanbul Gelisim University, which is diversifying its work in internationalization and European Union projects, has stepped into a new project field under Erasmus+. The SHAPE project, found worthy of support by the Turkish National Agency, will be carried out in partnership with Avcılar Municipality and the Avcılar Guidance and Research Center (RAM).
The project, a first for Istanbul Gelisim University in Erasmus+ Youth Participation, aims to support young people in having a greater say in matters concerning their own futures, sharing their needs and expectations directly with the relevant stakeholders, and taking an active part in local decision-making.
Young People Will Be Active Stakeholders in the Process
Under SHAPE, the aim is for young people to become not just participants in project activities, but active stakeholders who help shape processes with their views and suggestions.Through the local dialogue activities to be held over the course of the project, the goal is to build a sustainable channel through which young people can share their skill needs, their expectations regarding education and employment, and their proposed solutions with the relevant institutions and decision-makers. The process also aims to build young people's knowledge and skills in democratic participation, dialogue, and decision-making mechanisms.
A Cooperation Model Bringing Together the University, Local Government, and Guidance Services
The project brings together Istanbul Gelisim University's project management and academic-methodological capacity, Avcılar Municipality's local decision-making mechanisms and stakeholder network, and Avcılar RAM's experience in reaching young people, inclusion, and guidance.IGU International Exchange and Cooperation Coordinator Alisa Usubova, who developed and coordinates the project, said that real and sustainable participation by young people in decision-making was placed at the center of SHAPE's design. Usubova said the project aims for young people's skill and career needs to be identified directly through their own experience, and for the views that emerge to be turned into a concrete dialogue mechanism with local institutions.
IGU's Erasmus+ Project Portfolio Is Growing
With SHAPE winning funding, Istanbul Gelisim University will begin running projects as a coordinating institution in youth participation, alongside its Erasmus+ higher education mobility work.With this development, IGU's activities under Erasmus+ will extend beyond student and staff mobility to cover project work focused on youth participation, local dialogue, skill development, and social impact.
The SHAPE project also aims to strengthen Istanbul Gelisim University's approach to internationalization in the dimensions of empowering young people, supporting participatory processes, and developing university-community interaction, alongside academic mobility and institutional partnerships.
IGU keeps building its institutional capacity in new project fields under Erasmus+ and European Union programs, strengthening its partnerships with different stakeholders, and producing projects that support young people's more active participation in the processes shaping their own futures.
