Training the Young Turkish Leaders of Tomorrow: Social and Regional Policy in the Turkish Accession Process was awarded to the Center for European Studies and Graduate School of Social Sciences of the Middle East Technical University (METU) under the European Commission’s Civil Society Dialogue: Europa – Bridges of Knowledge Programme (Budget Line: DG ELARG/MEDTQ/12-02/010). The project is implemented under the leadership of METU for the 12-month period from January to December 2007. Our institutional partners include the Foundation for European Studies – European Institute at Lodz (Poland), Humboldt University (Germany) and University of Oxford (UK). The project comprises a series of activities aiming at enhancing the relations between the European Union (EU) and Turkey in the fields of social and regional policy.

The overall objectives of the project are to facilitate the implementation of the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA) and the Accession Partnership (AP) in Turkey and to assist Turkish policy-makers in improving their capacity and expertise in the fields of Social/Employment and Regional Policy. In the Social Policy/Employment Chapter, the emphasis is on (a) employment policy, (b) equal treatment of men and women, and (c) health and safety at work. As for the Regional Policy Chapter, the focus is on (a) the institutional framework of regional development, and (b) the administrative capacity of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). Other objectives are to include equal opportunities and sustainable development as overarching dimensions of both Chapters; to enhance the research capacity of METU on social/employment and regional policy to become a leading institute in this field in Turkey; and to facilitate the debate between state and civil society on Turkish membership and the EU integration process.

The target groups of the project are comprised of young civil servants from the EU Departments of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) and the State Planning Organisation (SPO), young professionals from business and NGOs, and RDA representatives.

As part of the project, two Workshops, one on Social Policy/Employment and the other on Regional Policy, were organised in Ankara in June 2007, with the participation of METU staff, representatives of our partner institutions, and 20 trainees including young civil servants from MLSS and SPO, as well as business, NGO and RDA representatives. This was followed by the flagship event of our project, namely, the Berlin Conference, which was held at the premises of and the German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Germany between 3 and 6 October 2007 (please see the link to ‘Events’ for the programme of the Conference and presentations). The Conference brought together all project stakeholders (academics, policy experts, professionals, businessmen), and constituted an important platform for exchange of information and know-how on the two policy areas. In December 2007, an edited book volume has been published bringing together various contributions to the Berlin Conference and the results of our project (please see ‘Publications’).

Our project aims to contribute to the consolidation of an enhanced expertise among Turkish young civil servants on social/employment and regional policy acquis chapters, the sustainability of institutional collaboration between international policy experts and their Turkish counterparts; and the formation of academic expertise on the two policy areas at the Middle East Technical University.