AESOP Quality Recognition is a mutual learning process initiated by AESOP, the Association of European Schools of Planning, to provide continuous quality support to member schools and to uphold quality in planning education.

Following the evaluation and feedback provided by Tijana Dabovic and Ana Peric, members of the Excellence in Education Board, within the framework of the Quality Recognition criteria for our department’s educational program, the ITU Department of Urban and Regional Planning Undergraduate Program has been granted Quality Recognition for the 2026–2032 period.

On 2 July 2026, at the AESOP General Assembly held as part of the World Planning Schools Congress in Helsinki, the award granted to the ITU Department of Urban and Regional Planning, together with six other planning schools that received Quality Recognition, was accepted by Prof. Dr. Ferhan Gezici Korten, ITU’s AESOP representative.

This year, the QR Catalogue was also prepared, featuring schools that had previously been granted Quality Recognition and presenting the distinctive qualities and experiences of different institutions. Our Regional Planning Master’s Program, which had previously been granted QR for the 2022–2028 period, is also included in this catalogue. The catalogue link is provided below:

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14235/3498

We would like to thank our faculty members who contributed to the preparations for the AESOP Quality Recognition process.