Sezin Üskent

Sezin Üskent is an urban planner, development and governance expert having 22 years professional experience various international technical assistance projects operated/funded by EU, UN/UNDP/UNFPA, SIDA and Worldbank in Turkey. Her area of expertise covers decentralized development policy planning at national, regional and local levels, governance and participation, strategic planning, sector development, investment planning and project generation, local socio-economic regeneration, social policies and inclusive measures, community and grassroots empowerment and citizens’ involvement in decision-making processes at neighbourhood level. She also has various experiences in capacity building, institutional setting up and team building projects covering central, regional and local administrative levels in Turkey. She has been working in close cooperation with Turkish, Swedish and Dutch Union of Municipalities and UNDP Turkey Country Office. She was National Project Manager on Migration and Development at ICMPD and Inclusive Democratic Governance Portfolio Manager at UNDP Turkey Country Office. Since 2019, Ms. Üskent acts as Key Expert for RESLOG Turkey Programme. She has closely worked with long list of Turkish and other country ministries, governorships, municipalities, regional development agencies, public organizations, professional bodies, NGOs and universities in Turkey. She provides volunteer support to various Citizens Assemblies, neighbourhood organizations, citizen platforms and delivers lectures to universities in Turkey. She took part into preparation of various publications, toolkits and strategy papers on strategic planning, development policies, governance and participation. Sezin holds an MSc Degree on International Urban Planning from University of Wales, Cardiff and Bachelors Degree on City and Regional Planning from Middle East Technical University, Turkey.