IZMIR IL MILLI EGITIM MUDURLUGU

Their core work

The Izmir Provincial Directorate of National Education is the Turkish government authority responsible for overseeing public primary and secondary schools across İzmir province, one of Turkey's largest urban education systems. In H2020, they participated exclusively as a local dissemination and community engagement partner in MSCA Coordination and Support Actions — projects designed to raise science awareness among the general public. Their practical value in EU projects is access: they can mobilize teachers, students, and school communities at scale across a major metropolitan province. They are not a research producer but a conduit between European research initiatives and grassroots educational communities.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (2016-2017), the focus was squarely on broad science literacy and social inclusion — reaching across generations, genders, and cultures through science awareness. By 2021-2022, the thematic content shifted noticeably toward green energy, waste management, and the EU Green Deal, reflecting the wider European policy turn toward climate and sustainability. The trajectory suggests this organization is responsive to EU funding priorities rather than driven by internal research agenda — they adapt their outreach platform to whichever science theme the funding cycle emphasizes.

They are moving from generic science awareness toward environment and climate themes, making them a plausible local partner for future MSCA or Horizon Europe outreach activities tied to the Green Deal or climate education.

How they like to work

They have never coordinated a project — both participations were as a consortium partner, and the small funding amounts (under EUR 25,000 per project) confirm a supporting rather than leading role. With only 8 unique partners across two projects and collaboration confined to a single country, their network is narrow. They function as a local anchor partner: organizations seeking a Turkish public-school gateway for dissemination activities would benefit from them, but they are unlikely to drive project design or technical work.

Their H2020 network comprises 8 unique partners, all from a single country, indicating limited European connectivity so far. They have not built the multi-country ties typical of organizations with deeper MSCA experience.

What sets them apart

Among H2020 participants, very few are provincial-level public education authorities — this makes Izmir MEM unusual as a partner type. For projects that need credible, institutionally backed access to Turkish schools, teachers, and students in a city of over four million people, they are one of the few organizations with both the mandate and the infrastructure to deliver that reach. Their limitation is the inverse: outside of school-based dissemination, they bring no research, technical, or industrial capacity to a consortium.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SCI-ALL
  Their first and largest-funded project (EUR 23,062), focused on science inclusion across social divides — an unusually broad societal mandate that positioned the directorate as a bridge between EU research culture and Turkish public education.
• GREEN NIGHT
  A Researchers' Night event that introduced green energy and waste management themes, marking the directorate's first engagement with climate-related science communication aligned with the EU Green Deal.