The Blue Economy and Marine Spatial Planning Training Program organized within the scope of the “Project for Capacity Development in Marine Environment Law Within the Framework of the Barcelona Convention and Other International Documents” started at Holiday Inn Çukurambar Ankara Hotel on 6 March 2024 with the opening speeches of Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Director General of Environmental Management Recep Akdeniz and DEHUKAM Board Member Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir. Subsequently, an Informative Presentation on Training was made by Head of Marine and Coastal Management Department, General Directorate of Environmental Management Dr. Vildan Bölükbaşı Atay. On the first day of the program, Director of Middle East Technical University Institute of Marine Sciences Prof. Dr. Barış Salihoğlu gave a lecture on “Blue Economy within the Scope of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”, Head of the Department of Marine Biology, Istanbul University Faculty of Aquatic Sciences and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Marine Research Foundation Prof. Dr. Bayram Öztürk, gave a lecture on”Blue Economy”.
Head of Natural Assets Protection Department of General Directorate of Natural Protected Areas Muhammed Aktaş gave a lecture on “The Importance of Marine Protected Areas in Blue Economy”, DEHUKAM Senior Researcher and Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali İbrahim Akkutay gave a lecture on “Defining Marine Areas within the Scope of National and International Legislation and Evaluation of Legislative Gaps”.
We would like to express our gratitude to all the valuable lecturers and participants who contributed to the training program.