Yildiz Technical University (YTU), founded in 1911, is a leading public research university in Türkiye integrating urban and regional planning, architecture, social sciences and engineering to advance inclusive, climate-neutral and people-centred urban transformation.
With 11 faculties, more than 40,000 students and over 2,500 researchers, YTU hosts a strong interdisciplinary ecosystem spanning spatial planning, civil and environmental engineering, energy systems, digital technologies and governance studies. This enables transdisciplinary collaboration aligned with the New European Bauhaus vision of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics.
YTU has extensive experience in Horizon Europe and other European programmes, particularly in energy transition, urban governance, climate-neutral neighbourhoods, participatory planning and digital urban innovation.
YTU is the coordinator of the Horizon Europe ECHO project (2024–2028), which establishes cross-sectoral Excellence Hubs in Türkiye, Greece and Portugal to accelerate citizen-driven energy communities, reduce energy poverty and strengthen regional innovation ecosystems, contributing to a just and inclusive energy transition.
In parallel, YTU is involved in advancing AI-supported eco-mobility and peri-urban accessibility through the evolving AI4PEMSE consortium, and has prior ERANET experience through CODALoop (2016–2019), which explored behavioural change in urban energy consumption, interactive data-sharing platforms and policy pathways for scaling energy-efficient lifestyles.
At neighbourhood scale, YTU co-developed FABRICATE NEB proposal with Küçükçekmece Municipality as an ongoing transnational initiative to measure and govern the social fabric of green neighbourhoods through living labs, urban observatories, citizen participation and data-driven municipal decision-making.
Both FABRICATE and AI4PEMSE represent continuing collaborative project pathways that YTU aims to expand within the current NEB call cycle by engaging new European partners.
YTU also led a national TÜBİTAK project on urban refugee adaptation and inclusive city development, conducting multi-city fieldwork in Hatay, İzmir and İstanbul. The project established urban living labs, open digital interaction platforms and social innovation mechanisms, producing a multi-dimensional Inclusive City Index and policy roadmap for local governance and spatial planning. Complementary initiatives such as POTA further strengthened participatory urban transformation and community-based planning methodologies.
Beyond research, YTU contributes directly to strategic spatial planning and policy implementation, including active involvement in different SECAP processes of local governments and the Istanbul Provincial Environmental Plan, linking academic knowledge with metropolitan-scale planning practice.
Across these domains, YTU provides:
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Horizon Europe coordination and project management capacity
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Urban living labs and observatories in real metropolitan contexts
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Expertise in energy communities, Positive Energy Districts (PEDs), behavioural energy transition and just climate transition
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Integration of AI, GIS, citizen science and participatory governance into planning and policy
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Replicable neighbourhood-scale climate-neutral and socially inclusive transformation models
Within the New European Bauhaus Facility, YTU seeks collaboration in Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) where it can contribute as:
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scientific or work-package leader on governance, participation, migration and social inclusion
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living-lab coordinator and metropolitan pilot implementer
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partner integrating energy transition, spatial planning, mobility, behavioural change and local democracy
YTU is committed to co-creating inclusive, climate-neutral and socially grounded neighbourhood transformations with European partners, ensuring that green transition delivers tangible benefits for communities across diverse urban contexts.