Erhan’s Reflection on International Masters Summer School 2022 of the University of Bradford

Thanks to the GLLS program, I had the chance to attend the International Masters Summer School 2022 of the University of Bradford. And before I start, I can say that it was truly an experience I will never forget. Although it is a short program, I am very happy to be a part of a program that is really beneficial in every sense. I had to go 2 days late due to visa problems to the program that will last a week. There were some seminars and activities that I missed during this process. But every event I attended after I arrived made up for all the activities, I was late for. The University of Bradford and the city of Bradford take sustainability seriously. There are quite a lot of projects on this subject and the fact that the projects are implemented quickly shows how result-oriented they are. Being a very old and historical city, Bradford also tries to catch up with the sustainability understanding of the age. This is admirable because even modern cities that are not so old today have a hard time doing their part in terms of sustainability. The driving force of the city of Bradford in its adventure of sustainability is the University of Bradford. University officials and students are thinking about how they can be more respectful to the world we live in and working on it.

During the summer school, many academics from various universities in Europe, who are famous for their sustainability studies, gave training. In these training, they made very qualified presentations about what sustainability actually means, what the world understands from it, what level we are at in the current situation, and how far we need to go to reach the optimal level. Thanks to these trainings, I learned how much further I can go even with small steps, leaving the perception of sustainability in my head aside. This is not only my problem, but the whole world’s problem, because in the 21st century when heavy industry and consumption reached their peak, the idea that what we have could be presented to all humanity in a sustainable way was unrealistic. But I’ve actually learned that even small initiatives can change this pattern. Apart from this, many projects related to sustainability are carried out in various parts of the world. I got various information about the contents and realization times of these projects. This gave me a hopeful experience about sustainability. All these achievements showed me that we are not alone in the adventure of sustainability, that there are already many projects in this direction in the world, and that there are many people who look at the world from the same window as me. I think this is important because changing a stereotype is not easy. The most effective way to do this is to act together to accelerate change. The information I learned in summer school will undoubtedly show me the right path both in my student life and in my business life. I really care about being sustainable in everything I do because I see being sustainable as respecting the life we ​​live and keeping the culture of giving back alive. It is my priority to process the limited resources we have for us and those who will come after us, without wasting, without contempt, and to draw a conclusion in everything I do. With the training I received, I had the chance to expand my sustainability vision and look at it from a wider perspective. The opinions of very successful researchers and academics who are experts in this field guided me.

I think the most valuable feature of the summer school was the people. The academics working at the University of Bradford and the staff who took care of us were extraordinarily caring and courteous. It is a great honor for me to meet them. They did everything they could to ensure that we had a good experience from the moment we arrived at the school. They always stated that they were sorry about the problems we had with the visa. I think much of the success of summer school is due to the effort of the family of the University of Bradford. I will never forget how Turkish academics at the University of Bradford made us feel at home and helped us in every way. It was a program where I met very valuable people and left extraordinarily happy.