ABOUT US
Dr. Candan Türkkan
Dr. Candan Turkkan is a political scientist with a specialization in agro-food systems, urban food politics, political economy of agriculture and rural development. Her previous work explores political economy of urban provisioning practices in Istanbul, food banks in Istanbul and changes in social aid policies, and alternative food networks and various social movements calling for food sovereignty and eco-conscious agricultural practices.
Currently, Dr. Turkkan is working on 2 different research projects. First one, funded by Scientific and Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), explores the recent urban to rural migrations and the consequent rise of a new generation of farmers who are highly educated, upper and/or upper-middle class, and are able to bring their extensive business, finance and marketing knowledge and connections into farming and agriculture and change the course agriculture in Turkey.
Her second project KIRKEP, funded by The Ministry of Industry and Technology, aims to identify patterns of urban and rural integration at the level of towns, classify them according to their rate of integration, and make policy recommendations for an integration-focused sustainable development. To LOAF_LAB, Dr. Turkkan brings in her expertise in agro-food systems, supply chains and food politics as well as interpretive methods of inquiry and qualitative methods of analysis.
Murat Bayramoğlu
Murat Bayramoğlu holds a BA in communication studies and audio-visual production from London Metropolitan University (1999). He worked as the project manager and coordinator of rural development programs in the most disadvantaged areas of Turkey for 15 years in partnership with the EU, national and international NGOs, local municipalities, and the Turkish state. An award-winning documentary director and a short story writer, Bayramoğlu also has co-edited a volume, Local and Rural Development from the Sustainability Perspective, that brings together field insights from various development projects, theoretical discussions on Turkey’s rocky history vis-à-vis development and impact analysis of some of the ongoing (at the time) local development projects. Currently, Bayramoğlu is working as a researcher for the Yerkure Local Studies Research Cooperative and is running Rural and Local Development Expert Training Program, which he founded, at OzU.
To the LOAF_LAB, he brings in his unique field experience of local development programs and insider knowledge of Turkey’s development agenda with access to key partners, local shareholders, and public officials.