Derya Yüksek, PhD
Transformative Communication Specialist
I am a communication and media scholar, social imagination facilitator, and transformative learning designer working at the intersections of education, creativity, technology, and social transformation. Through interdisciplinary research and collaborative projects, I create learning experiences that nurture dialogue, critical reflection, and collective imagination.
Carried out in collaboration with experienced media makers, artists, and creatives, our activities at COMMON HORIZONS combine research-based knowledge with participatory practices to explore how emerging technologies and collective creativity can shape more just, connected, and life-affirming futures.
“The futures we can imagine and create are shaped through the ways we learn, communicate, relate, and collaborate.
Every present reality begins as a shared horizon of possibility.”
At a Glance
Dr. Derya Yüksek is a researcher, lecturer, facilitator, and interdisciplinary creative practitioner bridging media and communication studies with arts, technology, and peacebuilding. With a PhD in Communication and Media Studies from Vrije Universiteit Brussel and years of experience in developing and managing international cultural and educational projects, her work explores how media, emerging technologies, participatory methodologies and dialogue-based practices can contribute to more inclusive, innovative, and positively transformative futures.
She develops and facilitates workshops, trainings, and interdisciplinary learning experiences for schools, NGOs, cultural institutions, youth programs, and international organizations, focusing particularly on critical AI literacy, social imagination, conflict transformation, intercultural dialogue, and creative participation. Her approach combines academic research with embodied practices, integrating storytelling, role-play, collaborative media-making, movement-based reflection, and imaginative thinking into participatory learning environments.
PhD in Communication and Media Studies
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
MA in Political Science (University of Trieste, Italy)
BA in Business Administration
(Middle East Technical University, Turkey)
Areas of Specialisation (Academic)
Critical Communication and Media Research
Media and Participation
Media and Conflict Transformation
Youth Participation and Empowerment
Participatory Process Design
Participatory Research Methodologies
Areas of Specialisation (Transdisciplinary)
Project Development and Management
Project Communication
Inter-university Collaborations
Academia-Civil Society Partnerships
Selected Publications
