Sakarya University integrates environmental management, biodiversity conservation and responsible use of natural landscapes into its academic and community-oriented educational activities. In 2025, these programmes contributed knowledge relevant to sustainable nature-based tourism by highlighting the importance of protecting forests, wetlands, rural landscapes and other sensitive ecosystems. The university’s approach connects ecological understanding with responsible access to natural areas and the long-term protection of their environmental value.
Sakarya University’s Faculty of Science and Faculty of Engineering offer undergraduate and postgraduate learning opportunities that develop the scientific foundation needed for environmentally responsible tourism and protected-area management. Relevant academic courses include:
· Çevre Sorunları ve Çözümleri (Environmental Issues and Solutions)
· Ekoloji Uygulamaları (Ecology Applications)
· Doğa Koruma (Nature Conservation)
The programme content covers environmental pressures, ecosystem assessment, climate-related risks, ecological field methods and the conservation of natural habitats. In particular, Ecology Applications introduces students to techniques for assessing soil and climatic parameters and observing ecological populations, while Nature Conservation addresses protected-area categories and sustainable use of natural resources. This knowledge is relevant to visitor management, environmental interpretation and the protection of habitats in destinations used for hiking, camping and other nature-based activities.
The Science&Future – The Science for Stronger Societies programme, coordinated by Sakarya University with regional institutional partners under Horizon Europe MSCA & Citizens, continued its public-science activities throughout 2025. Through school visits, interactive sessions and scientific demonstrations, the programme helps younger audiences understand the environmental consequences of climate change, land-use pressures and ecosystem degradation. These topics are important foundations for responsible use of landscapes that support recreation and nature-based tourism.
On 29 April 2025, university researchers visited Mevlana Middle School to deliver presentations and workshops on climate change, natural disasters and environmental challenges. Later, on 18 November 2025, the programme reached students at TED Düzce College through climate-focused presentations and participatory scientific experiments. The activities strengthened environmental literacy and supported young people’s understanding of the need to preserve natural resources and ecologically sensitive places for future generations.
Figure 1. Environmental awareness and climate adaptation education under the Sakarya University-coordinated Science&Future project (29 April 2025).
Academic research on the ecology of protected landscapes provides a scientific basis for understanding how natural areas can accommodate recreation while conserving wildlife and habitat integrity. Sakarya University researchers Fehmi Yıldız and Prof. Dr. Ali Uzun investigated mammalian activity patterns in Sülüklü Lake Nature Park using camera-trap observations. Published in December 2024, the study offers an established scientific resource for understanding wildlife activity in a protected nature park visited for hiking, camping and other outdoor activities. Its findings are relevant to education on biodiversity-sensitive recreational use and the ecological considerations involved in managing visitor access.
The university’s wider academic experience also includes ecological research on Sorgun Plateau as a potential protected natural area and studies concerning nature conservation and ecosystem monitoring. Taken together with the continuing academic curriculum, this research background strengthens the university’s ability to communicate the ecological value of natural destinations and promote land-management approaches that respect habitat sensitivity and biodiversity.
In 2025, the university continued to communicate the importance of ecosystem protection through public-facing sustainability activities. The “Forests and Climate Change: Protection, Sustainability and Steps for the Future” seminar, organised through the Sustainable Future Meetings series, addressed forests as carbon sinks, their role in mitigating climate change and the importance of sustainable forest management. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mahnaz Gümrükçüoğlu Yiğit shared practical scientific perspectives, encouraging audiences to value forest ecosystems not only as accessible natural environments but also as habitats that require responsible stewardship.
By combining public science outreach, ecological training and university research on protected landscapes, Sakarya University promotes the knowledge needed for sustainable land use in areas with nature-based tourism potential. These activities support SDG 15: Life on Land through educational engagement, biodiversity awareness and environmentally responsible approaches to the use of forests, wetlands and recreational landscapes.
