Team
Güven Arif Sargın
Graduated from METU Department of Architecture in 1986 with Bachelor degree and then in 1989 with Masters’ of Architecture degree. Completed his PhD study in University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996 in the field of Urban and Environmental History and Theory. Since 1998 he has been working, teaching and researching in the same institution. He was the Chair of the Department of Architecture between 2007-2015 and between 2012-2014 he was elected as the Board Member and the vice-president of the TMMOB Chamber of Architects of Turkey. Between August 2015 – March 2020 he has been the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at METU. Along with his administrative works he has been running undergraduate studios at various levels and teaching graduate courses on politics and/or social contexts of space, critical urban theories and urban and environmental history and theories. He has books and numerous articles published in national and international journals. He has an open access online publication titled mekân_praxis where he posts his publications periodically.
Emin Dedeoğlu
Emin Dedeoğlu is a managing partner of Policy Analytics Lab (PAL), a consultancy and think tank based in Ankara. A political scientist educated in Middle East Technical University in Ankara, he completed an economics MA program at Northeastern University in Boston. Emin’s experience and professional interest lies broadly in public governance, mainly on public financial management, public sector reform, public administration, local and regional development and anti-corruption and capacity building. Previously Emin served as the Director of the Governance Studies Program in Turkish Economic Policy Research Foundation (TEPAV), the largest independent think tank of Turkey, since its commencement in 2004 up until April 2017. In this capacity he organized wide range of activities and research on various governance related topics, ranging from anti-corruption to decentralization, from fiscal policy to social integration. He also participated in numerous projects both as team leader and senior expert. Emin started his professional career in Undersecretariat of Treasury, where he served in different capacities for more than 25 years. Prior to being appointed to the Board of Directors of the World Bank Group as representative of Turkey (1999-2003), he served as Head of Department (1993-95), Deputy Director General (1995-1997) and Director General (1997-1999) of Public Finance Directorate of the Treasury. Between 1989-1991 he was seconded to Privatization Agency (then Public Participation Agency) as Privatization Head of Department.
.
Olgu Çalışkan
METU Coordinator
Having completed his doctoral degree on urbanism at TU Delft, the Netherlands in 2013, he has been lecturing at METU Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning as an assistant professor. His publications involve the guest editorial for the journal of Built Environment (2011), and several articles, including those in the Journal of Urban Design (2010), Journal of Architectural and Planning Research (2011), Urban Design International (2012, 2020) and Urban Morphology (2017). His main research interests are physical planning and design, urban morphology, urban design theory and methodology, and visualization in urbanism. Instructing at Master of Urban Design (MUD) Studio at METU, he currently teaches ‘Creative Thinking for Planners’, ‘Parametric Urban Design’ and ‘Collective Housing Planning and courses. In the body of TEPAV (The Economic Research Foundation of Turkey), he consulted for the strategic vision project for Gaza urban strip which was proposed both to the Israeli and Palestinian authorities in January 2016. Since 2014, he has been a jury member in a series of national and international design competitions. Within different design teams he has had award-winning projects within the recent national and international competitions including Konyaaltı Waterfront (2015), Antalya and Taksim, İstanbul (2020).
.
H. Emre Koyuncu
PAL Coordinator
Emre has more than 20 years of experience on development issues in various capacities in prominent non-governmental organizations in Turkey. He holds an Executive MBA degree from the Middle East Technical University and an Industrial Engineering Degree from the Galatasaray University in Istanbul. He was among the founders of Habitat Association in Istanbul. He served for 8 years as board member and held managerial positions in development projects focusing on local democratic governance. Between 2005-2017 he worked at TEPAV, as manager in governance program and finally as director of the cities program. During his career he was involved in various research and consultancy projects working with international, national and local partners such as European Commission, UNDP, World Bank, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Development, Ministry of Finance, regional development agencies, governorates and municipalities in key expert, project manager, trainer positions.Emre has been actively involved in introduction of three international best-practice public engagement tools to Turkey. He led or contributed the design and implementation these tools i.e. citizen scorecards, participatory budgeting, and deliberative polling in various contexts.
Esen Çağlar
Bringing a deep interest in multi-disciplinary approaches to economic development challenges, Esen Çağlar leads PAL’s engagements in industrial policy, competitiveness and regional economic development. Having worked with multilaterals such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), he has advised various governments, including those of Turkey, Oman, Kazakhstan, Palestine, Cyprus and Ethiopia. Previously, he worked as a Senior Advisor at the Supreme Council for Planning of the Sultanate of Oman and as a Strategic Planning Advisor to the President of TED University in Ankara. Between 2013 and March 2016 Esen was the Deputy Managing Director of the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), which he joined in 2005. At TEPAV he managed four different research programs on (i) industrial policy and competitiveness, (ii) local and regional economic development, (iii) economic integration and foreign economic relations, and (iv) special economic zones. Under these programs, Esen has managed over twenty projects in Turkey as well as the Balkans, Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Esen also serves as an adjunct lecturer at Bilkent University since 2006. He holds an MPA in international development (MPA-ID) from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and an A.B.in Politics and Political Economy from Princeton University.
Cansu Canaran
Cansu Canaran received his doctoral degrees from Middle East Technical University in 2009 as having position at Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, New York (2003-04) as a visiting scholar. He has been lecturing at TED University at graduate and undergraduate level as assistant professor since April, 2016. He has been working as the program director of the Master of Architecture and Urban Studies since May, 2021. As a part time instructor, he participated to the Urban Design Graduate Program at METU between 2005-2021. During this period, parallel to his academic studies, Canaran continued his professional work at the confluence of architecture and urbanism. Through his design practice, he has undertaken design projects and consultancies on both architectural & urban scales; and developed masterplans an urban design projects in various cities. In addition, he has prepared design briefs and been jury member of several international architectural & urban design competitions. His research interests include urban design theory and method; basic design; urban morphology; form theory and representation; design and creativity; adaptive reuse of industrial heritage; campus master planning; and film, photography & media representations of architecture and the city.