THEQC President Prof. Muhsin Kar gives a speech titled “Sustainable Development and Quality” at the 10th Dialectical Accounting Camp in Artvin

ARTVIN – The Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC) President Prof. Muhsin Kar, gave a speech about “Sustainable Development and Quality” in the special session of the ”10th Dialectical Accounting Camp,” organised by Artvin Çoruh University and the Turkish Accounting Academicians’ Collaboration and Research Foundation (MODAV). Muhasebe Düşünce Kampı” adlı programın özel oturumunda “Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma ve Kalite” konulu bir sunum yaptı.

Stating that the sustainable development approach was adopted at the end of the 1970s, Kar said that the concept of development has been discussed in the context of human development in recent years. Stating that pre-industrial civilizations such as the Babylon, Mesopotamia and the Maya Empire in Central America could not survive because of excessive population growth and thus, scarcity of resources, Kar said that with the Industrial Revolution and Colonialism, people’s desire to establish unlimited dominance over nature increased and accordingly, environmental pollution and the increase in the rate of depletion of natural resources brought the concept of sustainability to the fore.

Expressing that universities have come to the fore again for a sustainable future as a solution to the world’s crises, Prof. Muhsin Kar noted that sustainable development was determined as the main theme in this direction at the 2022 UNESCO World Higher Education Conference held in Spain. President Kar said, “There are parameters such as the increase in green areas and the budget allocated for the sustainable campus, smart buildings, renewable energy sources, green buildings, carbon footprint, recycling programs, digitalization, water protection areas, water recycling, efficient water use, zero emission vehicles, parking spaces, reducing vehicle density, sustainability courses, sustainability projects, and sustainability publications. In this context, it is necessary to include sustainability in the curriculum in universities, to realize the digital transformation, to establish an energy management system, to increase the amount of green spaces and to establish a waste management system. Thus, a livable world can be left to future generations, international responsibilities can be contributed to, educational institutions can be encouraged and contribution to the economy can be made.”

Noting that THEQC deals with sustainable development goals under the title of “Service to Society” within its service to society performance criteria, Prof. Kar said, “According to this criterion, higher education institutions are expected to demonstrate service to society activities that can respond to the needs of society and the environment and create value in accordance with sustainable development goals, and also to monitor and improve these activities by considering stakeholder involvement. In this context, it is noteworthy that higher education institutions develop their strategic goals in line with sustainable development goals within the criteria of THEQC”.

Before his speech, President Muhsin Kar, also delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the program titled “10th Dialectical Accounting Camp” that took place at the Nihat Gökyiğit Congress and Culture Center at 30 June 2022. Kar talked about the history of accounting and gave examples of past accounting practices by pointing out the program’s importance in discussing accounting science’s current and future positions.