Critical perspectives on İSMEK (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Art and Vocational Training Courses) and its relation to creative production networks of Istanbul

Abstract

The research aimed to analyze the creative production networks of the metropolitan city of Istanbul through an empirical study in the context of urban creative education as a public service. İSMEK (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Art and Vocational Training Courses) was chosen as a single case, with the intent of exploring its potential, as a publicly funded institution, to become a powerful actor in social, economic and cultural development in the urban context through creative education and community building. Accordingly, a 2021 European Commission report, which underlines the importance of cultural and creative industries to form sustainable relations with regional and national authorities, institutions and other relevant stakeholders, and advises to set up platforms and courses for vocational training, was also utilized for this research in order to explore the relations between local stakeholders and creative and cultural economies (p. 38). The researcher examined İSMEK's role as an enabler in support of creative production and creative economies in the city, and whether the education, skill set and knowledge that the individual receives from İSMEK could become a new economic value-added asset for the city. She also questioned whether the course graduates could use their self-earned capital to participate in local economic development. Therefore, the researcher conducted a research to explore the transformative effect of İSMEK in detail through publications, exhibitions, surveys, interviews and online accessible data on İSMEK.