Kick-off Meeting Held for EmpowerED, an Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships in Higher Education (KA220-HED) Project!
The online kick-off meeting for the project "EmpowerED: Engaging Students for Sustainable Development and Green Transition" (Project No: 2025-1-TR01-KA220-HED-000365167), coordinated by Manisa Celal Bayar University, was held with the participation of the project partners.
The project, supported by the Turkish National Agency with a budget of 250,000 Euros under the Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships in Higher Education (KA220-HED), aims to develop innovative learning models in sustainable development, green transition, and digital skills in higher education.
Representatives from the project partners attended the meeting:
Technische Hochschule Würzburg-Schweinfurt (Germany)
University of Thessaly (Greece)
Polytechnic Institute of Porto (Portugal)
Ekopotencjał – Przestrzeń Możliwości Foundation (Poland)
Manisa Industrial Zone (MIP-MOSB) (Türkiye)
At the meeting, topics such as the project management structure, work packages, financial details, and the dissemination and quality plan were discussed, and the partners' division of tasks, communication plan, and project timeline were determined. Additionally, implementation steps were planned for the e-learning platform, the Green University Matrix, and the sustainability-focused training modules to be developed within the project.
Project Coordinator Lect. İpek Yeniay Hatipoğlu, who moderated the meeting, stated that the EmpowerED project aims "to support the green transition in higher education with next-generation learning tools, enabling students to become active actors in a sustainable future, and strengthening university-industry cooperation."
The EmpowerED Project team consists of Manisa Celal Bayar University academic staff members: Lect. İpek Yeniay Hatipoğlu (Project Coordinator), Lect. Dr. Ümit Hasan Gözkonan, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tuna Can Güleç, Asst. Prof. Dr. Tuğçe Yağcı, Res. Asst. Dr. Erdi Bayram, and Asst. Prof. Dr. Tülay Öncü Öner.
The EmpowerED project officially started on October 21, 2025, and will last for 28 months. Its project outputs, including the open-access e-learning platform, sustainability training modules, and the Green University Matrix, will be shared with higher education institutions in Europe.