The fourth workshop related to the activities from the third work package of Erasmus+ project "Trifold approach to circular economy: perspectives of academia, business, and wider society," project number: 2022-1-BG01-KA220-HED-000085464, a contractor of which is D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics – Svishtov, was held in Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye. Partners under the project are four universities from four Balkan countries: D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics – Svishtov, Bulgaria; Artifex University of Bucharest, Romania; Nish University, Nish, Serbia; and Istanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Türkiye.
During the workshop, the team of D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics – Svishtov was led by Prof. Dr. Andrey Zahariev, Dean of the Faculty of Finance and project manager. Participation in the workshop also took Prof. Dr. Stoyan Prodanov, content reviewer within the project, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petko Angelov, project coordinator, and Sen. Lect. Dr. Margarita Mikhailova, international secretary of the project.
The Romanian and the Serbian partners were represented in the seminar by: Prof. Dr. Alexandru Lucian Manole – Rector of Artifex University of Bucharest, Romania; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cătălin Deatcu – Artifex University of Bucharest, Romania; Dr. Maria Valeria Popescu – Artifex University of Bucharest, Romania; Prof. Dr. Suzana Stefanovic – Nish University, Nish, Serbia; Prof. Dr. Bojan Krstic – Nish University, Nish, Serbia; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tamara Radjenovic – Nish University, Nish, Serbia; PhD Researcher Miljana Talic – Nish University, Nish, Serbia
The hosts from Turkey were represented at the seminar by the full team engaged in the project, including researchers and administrators from the university and led by Prof. Dr. Selman Öğöt, Rector of İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi, as follows: Prof. Dr. İsmail Dalay, İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Türkiye – project leader on behalf of Turkish partner; Dr. Ahmet Münir Gökmen, İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Türkiye, project coordinator on behalf of Turkish partner; Dr. Şaban Onur Viga, İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Türkiye; Dr. Yasemin Sarıcı, İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Türkiye; Dr. Ekrem Erdinç Gülbas, İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Türkiye; Arş. Gör. Merve Sevinç Sakar, İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Türkiye and Arş. Gör. Elif Nur Eken, İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Türkiye.
From the Bulgarian partner participation in the discussions also took: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Galina Zaharieva, D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics – Svishtov, Dr. Dimitrina Prodanova, LAG Belene-Nikopol, Slaveyko Slavkov – BorisovStudios Ltd. / Interactive content developer, Yana Ninova – teacher, PhD Researcher Elitsa Nenova, Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski.
The seminar was conducted according to its agenda and included all planned activities. The participants arrived between January 9-11, the delegations from Serbia and Romania by plane and the Bulgarian delegation and discussants arriving by car. On the first day, January 11 (Thursday), there was held an opening work meeting of the project partners. During this meeting, the achievements of the first three seminars (held in Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia) were summarized. The goals of the fourth workshop were discussed, along with the participants' expectations. The task was set to intensify the promotion of the project on social media, using the Facebook portal at: https://www.facebook.com/CRCLEcon/
The main work session was held on January 12 (Friday), in the Senate Hall of Istanbul Esenyurt University, Istanbul. During the session, the progress of the work on the content of the Repertory on Circular Economy for students was discussed. There were delivered presentations and exposés of the developed educational content, organized into four chapters as follows: Chapter 1. Challenges posed by circular economy (Artifex University of Bucharest); Chapter 2. Solutions towards transition to circular economy per areas (D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics); Chapter 3. Implication of circular economy to disadvantaged or discouraged students (İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi), and Chapter 4. Circular economy future specialists (Nish University).
Participation in the meeting also took the new rector of Istanbul Esenyurt University, Prof. Dr. Selman Öğöt, who shared his views on the circular economy and the challenges associated with its achievement. Towards the end of the discussion, the project manager, Prof. Zahariev, confirmed the requirements for including self-study elements in the educational content, including calculation assignments and sample solutions in the field of circular economy.
On the last day of the seminar (January 13), a concluding discussion was held on the practical aspects of using the developed educational content to form specific skills of students related to dealing with circular economy challenges. The discussion also covered the tasks and commitments of the selected consultants, in terms of extracting educational content for preparation of interactive sessions. Various technical aspects related to the editing and the preparation of the final versions of the content to be published in a multilingual environment were also discussed. The certificates of attendance of the participants were signed by the rector of the Turkish university and presented by Prof. Dr. İsmail Dalay, the project leader of the team from Istanbul Esenyurt University.
On the final day, Saturday, the hosts organized a visit to the Miniatürk exhibition of the rich architectural heritage of the civilizations that ruled and left their marks on the lands of present-day Republic of Turkey, from the ancient Roman Empire, Byzantium, Seljuk Empire, and the Ottoman Empire to the present day.
Upon the initiative of the project team of "D. A. Tsenov" Academy of Economics and with the assistance of Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne Charalampos Nichev, Spiritual Head of the Bulgarian Churches in Istanbul, alumni of the Svishtov Academy of Economics, a meeting with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on January 13 was organized and conducted. The meeting also included a visit to the renovated Iron Church "St. Stephen" in Istanbul. The Ecumenical Patriarch blessed the visiting scholars and their Balkan university partners involved in the CRCLEcon project. With its ecological focus, the CRCLEcon project fully supports the initiatives of His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew to organize numerous international symposiums and seminars on environmental issues, for which he is also known as the "Green Patriarch."
At the conclusion of the fruitful visit to Turkey, the project partners agreed on the schedule of the events to be organised until October 31, 2024. This schedule includes two workshops, two concluding conferences, and two meetings of the project administration teams. The specified dates and periods are in the months of May, June, September, and October 2024, and include:
First. The project partners agreed regarding project management and reporting the final two project administration meeting to be held as follow: Third transnational partner meeting on project administration (23-25.05.2024, Bucharest); Fourth transnational partner meeting on project administration (17-19.10.2024, Nis).
Second. The project partners agreed regarding work package four “Circular Economy, Business and Society” last two workshops to be held as follow: Workshop 5 on main challenges to business and society (Târgu Jiu, Romania, 9-11.05.2024); Workshop 6 on competitive advantages to business and benefits to society (Nis, Serbia, 24-26.06.2024).
Third. The project partners agreed joint final conferences to be held in Istanbul and Svishtov as follows: First joint final conference hosted by D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics (20.09.2024 in Svishtov) with travel of partners from Serbia, Romania and Turkye for period 19-21.09.2024); Second joint final conference hosted by Istanbul Esenyurt University (4.10.2024 in Istanbul) with travel of partners from Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania for period 3-5.10.2024).
On the Sunday, January 14, 2024, all visiting delegations departed from Istanbul, giving excellent feedback on the hospitality of Istanbul Esenyurt University and the outcomes of the fourth working seminar on the CRCLEcon project.
