The Black Sea coasts of Turkey have important examples of geological heritage with coastal cliffs in terms of geological formations and features. The Güzelcehisar Basalt Columns (GBCs) formation and its coast have been chosen as a research area in this article in terms of its basalt columns, rare coastal geological diversity and coastal geotourism potential. This paper presents the results of a visitor survey undertaken at the GBCs formation and its coast, located in the rural coastal part of Bartın province in the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey. This survey was conducted in 2020 to assess the tourism shoulder season visitors to the Güzelcehisar village. With the survey, its aim was to determine the awareness of the visitors on geoconservation and geodiversity and to evaluate the understanding of geological heritage and geotourism. In addition, it was desired to set visitor expectations to improve the geotourism experience. It was found that visitors had a high level of understanding and awareness of the terms “geodiversity”, “geoheritage”, “geotourism” and “geoconservation”. However, this survey also shows that there is less emphasis on the need to protect the geodiversity in Güzelcehisar. Guided walking is preferred in order to improve visitor understanding and improve experiences. These survey findings contain guiding explanations for studies that could provide a wider interpretation of the perceptions, experiences and expectations of visitors regarding the sustainable development of areas with similar coastal geotourism potential in Turkey.

The main objective of this study is to determine the knowledge and awareness levels of climate change among preparatory class students at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University in the Western Black Sea Region of Türkiye using an unsupervised clustering approach. Within this scope, a survey was administered to university students (n = 280). Participant scores for the survey sections containing five-point Likert-type questions on climate change awareness were calculated using min–max normalization. The normalized data was then processed using the k-means algorithm, a well-known technique in unsupervised machine learning. This resulted in a classification (clustering) related to climate change awareness. The number of clusters was determined using the Silhouette index. Three clusters identified using k-means and Silhouette index ($S\approx 0.55)$ revealed the knowledge and application levels of student groups regarding climate change awareness. As a result of clustering, it was determined that Cluster-3 students (n = 134, 47.9%), defined as having a high level of knowledge and application, had a higher impact value in their overall assessments of green space-focused issues related to climate change awareness compared to the overall assessments of students in other clusters. Some notable findings concerning the attitudes of Cluster-3 students highlight climate change awareness-related practices. These include minimizing water consumption to levels necessary for ecosystem water management (mean = 95.7, std. deviation = 10.9) and exercising controlled, sustainable daily energy use to alleviate pressure on green spaces (mean = 94.4, std. deviation = 12.5). This study offers practical insights for policymakers, educators, and institutions, emphasizing the need to enhance climate education and to promote the active involvement of younger generations in shaping sustainable environments.

The researchers utilized a participatory approach based on expert opinion, which was used to assess the environmental, social, economic, and visual value and accessibility benefits of the Güzelcehisar Beach Boardwalk (GBB) application in the province of Bartın in Turkey’s Western Black Sea Region. The questionnaire was administered face-to-face and online to 120 professionals from various subject area fields. According to field specialists, the benefits of the GBB are as follows: social benefit, visual value and accessibility, economic benefit, and environmental benefit. The GBB was evaluated as an example of infrastructure within the scope of effective solutions for tourism and recreation activities and resilience within sustainable development of rural coastal landscapes using a participatory approach, so the results will guide Integrated Coastal Zone Management planning for the area.

This study aims to identify agricultural land suitability in Mardin province, located in the semi-arid Southeastern Anatolia Region of Türkiye. Within this framework, eight ecological criteria were selected to assess agricultural land suitability. Criterion weights were derived from expert judgments using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) method. The criteria were evaluated within the framework of the five classes used in agricultural land-use suitability, in accordance with the guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Based on this classification, maps of the determined criteria were prepared using Geographic Information Systems (GISs), and an agricultural land-use suitability map was produced using a weighted overlay approach. The results indicate that 31.3% of the total land area in Mardin province falls within the highly and moderately suitable classes. For validation, the suitability map was overlaid with the Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) Land Cover (CLC) 2018 data, revealing that 98.8% of highly suitable (S1) areas and 94.6% of moderately suitable (S2) areas correspond to existing agricultural lands. Furthermore, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis yielded an Area Under the Curve (AUC) value of 0.815, indicating an acceptable-to-good discrimination ability and confirming the robustness of the model.

Tr en Yüzyıllar boyunca birçok medeniyete ev sahipliği yapmış olan Anadolu sahip olduğu peyzaj çeşitliliği ile günümüzde kültürel peyzajlar açısından önemli örneklere sahiptir. Bu örnekler içerisinde ülkemizde Batı Karadeniz Bölgesi’ndeki kültürel turizm tur güzergahında yer alan araştırma alanları olarak seçilen Bartın, Amasra ve Safranbolu kentleri kendilerine özgü kültürel peyzaj karakterleri ile dikkat çekmektedir. Günümüzdeki hızlı kentleşme, kültürel peyzajlar üzerinde baskılar oluşturmaktadır ve beraberinde değişimi getirmektedir. Bu kapsamda, seçilen alanlarda kentsel kültürel peyzaj karakterindeki değişim algısı Bartın Üniversitesi Peyzaj Mimarlığı Bölümü 3. ve 4. sınıf lisans öğrencileri ile lisansüstü öğrencilerine anket uygulanarak ortaya konulmuştur. Anket sonuçlarına göre öğrencilerinin seçilen kentler bütününde kültürel peyzajlardaki karakter değişimindeki farkındalıklarının yüksek olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Gerek bakımsızlık gerek peyzaj onarım çalışmalarının eksikliği gerekse tarihi dokuyla uyumsuz planlamalar ve tasarımlar açısından kentsel kültürel peyzaj karakterinin geçmişten günümüze olumsuz bir değişim süreci sergilediği katılımcı değerlendirmeleri sonucunda elde edilmiştir. Anket sonucunda, katılımcılar genel olarak Bartın Çayı’nın Bartın Kenti için önemli bir karakter ögesi olduğunu ama sel ve taşkın riski açısından Bartın Çayı ve çevresinin yeniden planlanması gerektiğini ve tarihi Bartın evlerinin mevcut haliyle terkedilmiş bir görünüme sahip olduğunu ifade etmişlerdir. Amasra içinse Amasra’nın tarihi arkeolojik antik liman karakterini yansıttığı ve kentin yarımada özelliğinin görsel ve estetik çeşitlilik sunduğu ifade edilirken, kentsel sit alanı içerisindeki yeni yapıların geleneksel konut dokusu ile uyumlu olmadığı katılımcılar tarafından ortaya konulan sonuçlar arasındadır. Son olarak Safranbolu için Safranbolu evlerinin Safranbolu Kenti için önemli bir karakter ögesi olduğunu, safranın Safranbolu için karakteristik bir bitki olduğunu ve geleneksel kent dokusunun mevcut haliyle kente kültürel ve estetik bir görünüm kazandırdığını ifade ederken, kent dokusundaki mevcut açık ve yeşil alanların nitelik ve nicelik yönünden yeterli olmadığını belirtmişlerdir. Üniversite öğrencilerinin algıları ve tercihleri göz önünde bulundurulduğunda, kent kimliğine ve karakterine uygun gelecekte yapılacak planlama ve tasarım çalışmalarının kentsel kültürel peyzajların miras alanı olarak sürdürülebilirliği açısından önem taşıdığı söylenebilmektedir. Sonuçta, çalışma, Bartın, Amasra ve Safranbolu için yapı ölçeğinden kent ölçeğine kadarki kentsel tasarım stratejilerinin geliştirilmesi açısından önemli bir yol gösterici özelliğe sahiptir. Anatolia had hosted many civilizations. It has important examples of cultural landscape diversity. Of them, the cities of Bartın, Amasra and Safranbolu were selected as research areas because of the character of their unique cultural landscapes, and because they are located on the cultural tourism itineraries in Turkey’s Western Black Sea Region. Today's rapid urbanization pits pressure on cultural landscapes. Perceptions of changes in the character of the urban cultural landscape in the selected cities were determined by administering a questionnaire to Bartın University’s Department of Landscape Architecture third year, fourth year and postgraduate students. The participants stated that the Bartın River was an important element of Bartın’s character, but that the Bartın River and its environment need to be re-planned for flood risk, and that the historical Bartın houses have a desolate view. The participants revealed that Amasra showed historical and archaeological antique dock characteristics and had visual variety due to its location on a peninsula. However, they said that new buildings in an urban protected area are not compatible with the traditional ones. Finally, their opinions about Safranbolu were presented by the participants as Safranbolu houses were important elements of Safranbolu’s character, that saffron was a characteristic plant of Safranbolu and that the current state of the traditional urban pattern gave the city a cultural distinctiveness and an aesthetic appearance. However, they stated that there was not enough open green space in the urban pattern. The perceptions and preferences of university students indicate that the planning and design work appropriate to the urban identity and character are important for the sustainability of urban...