Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ), with the mission of transforming universal knowledge into societal contribution, is preparing to undertake an important project called "Burdur Welfare Map". The aim of the project is to analyze the current situation of the city, determine its needs, deficiencies, and welfare level, and share this information with policymakers to develop city-specific projects. When the project is completed, the welfare level of a province in Turkey will be mapped in such a comprehensive manner.
The project will be carried out in collaboration with various coordinators and centers of MAKÜ with the support of the Burdur Development Center. Additionally, a field study will be conducted on societal contribution, happiness, sustainability, disability, and combating addiction through a survey to be conducted by undergraduate students. It is planned to reach at least 5,000 people within the scope of this study. This comprehensive study, which is unprecedented in Turkey, will create the welfare map of the province and provide an important data source for policymakers and local actors.
Providing information about the project, Social Contribution Coordinator Dr. Lecturer Mehmet Öçal stated that the project of mapping Burdur's Welfare Map is a study coordinated and designed by the Social Contribution Coordination with the Burdur Development Center, and said; “As the Social Contribution Coordination, we have designed a project called Burdur welfare map to realize our university's mission of transforming universal knowledge into societal contribution. We will conduct our study by reaching at least 5,000 people in Burdur center with the questions we have designed. In Burdur's welfare, we will examine Burdur's income, poverty status, health status, social exclusion, addiction, is there violence in Burdur? Are the people in Burdur happy? What does the public expect from the university? What kind of social policies can we produce in line with the needs of the public? This is actually a framework where we can reveal Burdur's needs. What are the points the city needs? What are the deficiencies we can identify in the city? We will research these. Universities are the biggest actors in the motto of transforming universal knowledge into societal contribution, and one of them is the Social Contribution Coordination. That is, the university that touches its city, is beneficial to its city, increases the welfare of the city, and enhances the function of contributing to society by distilling science. Our main goal is for the university to touch the city more, increase the welfare of the city, support its livability, and this study is a guide for the projects we will do. Actually, this is a lighthouse, it will guide us, we will design our projects accordingly. We will intensify our projects according to the statistics that emerge. These projects will also be a research that guides us. That's why we attach great importance to it. We will identify real problems with the resources provided to us by the public and address them with strong social policies and strong social projects, reducing and eliminating the problem. So this study will show us the right thing.” He said.
The project will be the first welfare map of a province made in Turkey
Öçal, stating that the project will be one of the first studies in terms of the welfare map of a province made in Turkey in this scope, said; “Our welfare map study will initially be implemented as a pilot in Burdur center. In the coming years, we plan to map the welfare of the entire province with the support and coordination of our coordinators and vocational schools in the districts of Burdur. We will send 20 part-time students, whom we have specially trained, to the field. They will start immediately after obtaining the permissions for the field research. We plan for our field research to last approximately 2-2.5 months. Then, with the analyses, we will present Burdur's welfare map around July. We will report and present this to our management and Burdur. Because there are very few studies that measure the welfare of a population, the welfare of a city, in such a wide scope.” He spoke in this way.” şeklinde konuştu.
https://www.mehmetakif.edu.tr/haber/1463/maku-burdurun-refah-haritasini-cikaracak
