The İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mediterranean Academy continues to bring together academics and researchers working on urban and social issues with the public in İzmir. As part of its seminar series, Dr. Gökçe Sanul Diner delivered a talk on 1st April 2026 titled “From Urban to Rural in the Digital Age: Creative Practices and Experiences of Collective Living.” The seminar was based on a research project funded by the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme.
The presentation examined the growing post-pandemic movement from urban to rural areas, framing it not merely as a spatial relocation but as part of broader transformations in working patterns, modes of production, and forms of community-building.
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and digital research conducted in Akyaka (Muğla), the study focused on how creative professionals including designers, cultural producers, and performing artists form communities in rural settings. The findings highlighted the diversity of these processes, ranging from disconnection and limited interaction to the emergence of collaborative networks.
Particular attention was given to solidarity networks, local markets, and grassroots initiatives that became visible especially during times of crisis, pointing to new forms of community shaped through the intersection of digital and rural spaces. Overall, the seminar invited a rethinking of the rural not as a fixed and homogeneous space, but as a dynamic social landscape shaped by creative and digital practices.
