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Consultants

Ahmet Cemal DRAHOR

Engineer, Geoim Geophysics & Engineering

Dr. Ayşe Ege Yıldırım

Heritage Planner

Dr. Elif DENEL

Archaeologist, ARIT American Research Institute

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deniz Çalış KURAL

Architect, Bilgi University

Gözde Demirel

Journalist, Writer

Koray Günyaşar

Writer, Scenarist

Funda KÖK FİLİZ

Marine Area Project Director, Mediterranean Conservation Society

Engin KILIÇ

Videographer

Dr. A. Ege Yildirim is an urban planner and heritage conservation specialist with 20+ years of experience working in Turkey and internationally. Her work focuses on heritage policy and governance, UNESCO World Heritage, and sustainable development. Based in Istanbul since 2013, she is an independent consultant and scholar. Her previous work includes positions of conservation planner at KA-BA Architecture Ltd (Ankara, 2000-06); conservation coordinator at Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (2008-12); consultant and Site Manager of the Historic Guild Town of Mudurnu (2014-20); and Key Expert in the EU-Turkey Anatolian Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Institute project, Gaziantep (2019). Ege was a Fulbright Scholar at Pratt Institute, New York (2006-07), a J.M. Kaplan Fellow at Koç University, Istanbul (2013), and ICOMOS Focal Point for the SDGs (2016-20). She also has voluntary roles in the Salzburg Global Seminar, Our World Heritage Initiative, Europa Nostra,  and Istanbul Citizens Assembly, among others. See also: www.aegeyildirim.com  

Deniz Çalış Kural received her Bachelor’s Degree from Middle East Technical University (METU) in 1995; Master’s Degree from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY in 1998; and her Ph.D. in Architecture from METU in 2004. For her graduate studies, she was granted TUBİTAK NATO Scholarship (1996-2004) and Harvard University Dumbarton Oaks Fellowship (2003-2004). She has taught courses on Ottoman landscape culture; arts and architecture of the Islamic world and the history of urbanism in Istanbul at the University of Virginia (UVA) in the School of Architecture, Department of Architectural History in 2010-2011; has been a full-time faculty in Bahçeşehir University (2007-2011) and Yeditepe University (2005-2007). Currently, she is also preparing a book on the deviant Sufi practices in the Ottoman public gardens. Her research topics include Ottoman space culture (16th c.- 18th c.) including Ottoman garden and landscape traditions, urban culture, as well as, the arts and architecture of the Islamic world. Her research and works are published by Harvard University Dumbarton Oaks Press, TOPOS and others.

Funda Kök Filiz works as the Conservation Director at the Mediterranean Conservation Society. She is primarily responsible with development and management of projects on marine conservation and monitoring, organizational management of the association, fundraising and capacity building. Prior to her current role in MCS, she worked in finance sector for about ten years, specialised in commercial loans and portfolio management. Hoping to transfer her skills and experience to contribute to society at large, she left corporate sector and worked in national and international non governmental organisations carrying out rights-based social projects. She has a B.Sc in Public Administration from Hacettepe University and currently working on her master thesis on effective management of special environmental protected areas focusing on marine ecosystems and conservation at Ege University Environmental Research Center

Engin Kılıç Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Güzel Sanatlar Fakültesi Fotoğraf Bölümünü bitirdikten sonra aynı üniversitede Sanat ve Tasarım bölümünde yüksek lisans eğitimine başlamıştır. Reklam fotoğrafı ve fotoğraf eğitmenliği konusunda çalışmalarıyla birlikte 2005 yılında Bazıları Onlara Levanten Diyor, 2006 yılında Köy Enstitüleri, 2009 yılında da God is Not Dead isimli belgesellerde hem kameraman olarak yer almış hem de motion grafik animasyon tasarımını gerçekleştirmiştir. 2013 yılında Culture Lab isimli programın görüntü yönetmenliğini yapan Kılıç, halen RxmediaPharma firmasında görsel tasarım direktörü olarak görev yapmaktadır.