Cappadocia Economics Meetings VI

The agricultural sector holds vital importance for the continuity of human health and the enhancement of productivity in agricultural production and the establishment of a viable life in this sector (rural areas) significantly depend on the planning, implementation, and oversight of public investment, incentives, and regulatory policies. In this context, achieving sustainability is imperative by intelligently considering international practices and natural conditions.

In the sixth Cappadocia Economic Meetings, a tradition of the Cappadocia University’s Center for Data Processing, Innovation, Project-Based Application, and Research, I would like to express the significance of the subject we addressed through the following brief excerpt from the article by Deniz ATAÇ, the Chairman of the TEMA Foundation Board of Directors, about the “Ecopolitics Document”:

“As the election agenda, which has been at the center of the entire country, is left behind, we believe it is now time to discuss and implement ecology-based, nature-oriented politics.

With the Ecopolitics Document we have prepared, we aim to preserve our country’s soil, water, air, pastures, forests, and biological diversity, as well as to combat climate change that threatens all life. Given that ecological policies serving public and societal benefit are central to nature-human relations, we demand the development of protective, regulatory, and holistic approaches in the management of natural assets. Only in this way do we believe that the rights of future generations can be safeguarded and, in other words, sustainable living can be possible.” (Oksijen Newspaper, Sustainable Life, Now is the Time for Nature, June 2, 2023)

Aygül Akkuş (editor) received undergraduate education in Health Management and Public Administration. She completed her master’s degree in Ankara University, in the field of Political Science and Public Administration (Urban, Environment and Local Government Policies) with the thesis on neoliberal transformation in agricultural policies and its ecological reflections. She is currently continuing her doctorate education in the same field and works as a research assistant at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences of Cappadocia University. She took part in TÜBİTAK and national projects on rural development. She has published in various journals, book chapters and websites on agriculture, food and environmental policies.

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