The first meeting of the Erasmus+ Project titled "Strengthening Technical and Vocational Skills for the Implementation of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) in Combating Land Degradation" was held in Istanbul. 

The project, financed by the Turkish National Agency and coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change's General Directorate of Combating Desertification and Erosion, in which Kastamonu University is a partner, is being implemented in collaboration with Türkiye, Italy, Spain, and North Macedonia. The project is supported under the European Union Erasmus+ Program with the code 2025-1-TR01-KA220-VET-000357096 and has a total budget of 250,000 Euros. 

The meeting was attended by the Director General of the Combat Against Desertification and Erosion, Prof. Dr. Kasım Yenigün, our Rector, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hamdi Topal, our Vice Rector, Prof. Dr. Ömer Küçük, as well as our university's academics and project partners, including representatives from the Forestry and Rural Development Center (REFORD) from North Macedonia, the Fondazione European Research Institute ETS from Italy, Mixtura Ambiental from Spain, and the Ankara Intercultural Research Association. 

In his opening speech, Prof. Dr. Kasım Yenigün emphasized the importance of nature-based solutions in preventing land degradation and stated that technical and vocational training activities play a decisive role in popularizing these approaches. 

In the meeting, project objectives, work packages, partners' roles and responsibilities, and the implementation schedule were discussed. Additionally, evaluations were made regarding the training materials and capacity-building activities to be developed within the scope of the project. 

With a total duration of 24 months, the project aims to integrate nature-based solutions into vocational education systems, promote the widespread adoption of sustainable land management practices, and increase the sharing of knowledge and experience at the international level. 

The project, conducted through international cooperation, aims to contribute to the development of professional and technical competencies for combating land degradation.