A First from BAU: PPP and Mega Projects

Türkiye's experience in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is now being taught as an undergraduate course at Bahçeşehir University.

In the program, offered as an elective course for undergraduate departments at Bahçeşehir University in the 2017-2018 academic year in cooperation with PPPCoE and Dinamo Consulting, Türkiye's PPP experience and Mega Projects were presented to participants, 85% of whom were international students. The course, part of the CO-OP Branded Courses, an original application of the CO-OP Model run by Bahçeşehir University, attracted great interest from students.

The course "PPP and Mega Projects" is the first undergraduate course on PPP offered in Türkiye. In the classes, attended mostly by international students, especially from the MENA region, and through which the know-how Türkiye has developed in PPP is introduced to the world, experts from the 3rd Airport and the Eurasia Tunnel shared the features of their projects with students across a wide range, from design to construction and operation. Presentations on the Eurasia Tunnel project and the Istanbul New Airport project were also shared in the classes.

Dr. Eyüp Vural Aydın, Chair of Istanbul PPPCoE (Istanbul Public-Private Partnership Center of Excellence), taught the "PPP and Mega Projects" classes, while Fatih Kuran of Dinamo Consulting explained the financial framework of PPPs.

Dr. Eyüp Vural Aydın, Founding Chair of Istanbul PPPCoE, stated that the PPP and Mega Projects courses are among the few and most comprehensive programs bringing together the academic world and the business world on PPP projects and their financing.

Assist. Prof. Dr. İrem Şanal Özyurt, a faculty member of the Bahçeşehir University Department of Civil Engineering, noting that the PPP and Mega Projects course attracted great interest from Bahçeşehir University students, stated "that, with the case analyses and case studies examined throughout the semester, this course provides students with important experience regarding the successes, shortcomings and opportunities in PPP projects."

Fatih Kuran, Founder of Dinamo Consulting, who explained the financial framework of PPPs, said, "We were pleased by the great interest in the course, the first of its kind in its field. I talked about the financial framework of PPPs and the importance of the concept of project finance in this field. I think interest in these courses will continue to grow in the coming semesters."