The kick-off meeting of the Language Tree Project, supported by the European Union and the Turkish National Agency under Erasmus+ KA220-YOU, took place on October 13-14, 2022, at the Ilgaz Conference Hall in the Kastamonu Technopark Building. This two-day event aimed to bring together project partners, introduce the project, and strengthen future collaborations.
The opening meeting of the project, which will be coordinated by Kastamonu University, included partners from Turkey such as Sakarya University and the Association for Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language (YADOT), the Ruhr Teachers Association from Germany, the Turkish Language Institute Integration-Research Center from Belgium, and Sapienza University from Italy. This diverse partnership structure reflects the international dimension of the project and its extensive collaboration network.
Project Coordinator Lecturer Harun İlçioğlu delivered the opening speech, informing the participants about the partnership structure, work packages, and the expected widespread impact of the project. İlçioğlu emphasized that the project aims to develop innovative methods in language teaching and support the professional development of language teachers. He also noted that the project would benefit not only the academic community but also a broad student audience.
Kastamonu University Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Kasım Yenigün, in his opening remarks, stressed the importance of the project and stated that Kastamonu University fully supports it. Yenigün expressed that the project would strengthen international collaborations and open new horizons in language teaching. Following the speeches, the project team, meeting face-to-face for the first time, expressed their happiness to be in Kastamonu and shared their hopes for the project.
On the second day of the meeting, the project partners discussed the topics determined for the management of the project in detail. This included the monitoring of the project process, distribution of work packages, reporting procedures, and communication strategies. The partners planned the necessary steps to achieve the project goals and developed strategies to enhance cooperation effectively. Additionally, they exchanged ideas on the sustainability and long-term impacts of the project.
In conclusion, the kick-off meeting of the Language Tree Project provided a rich experience both academically and culturally. The participants reaffirmed their commitment to developing innovative approaches in language teaching and disseminating these approaches to a broad audience. This meeting laid a solid foundation for the successful execution of the project and marked a promising start for future collaborations.