Notion, an ancient Greek city on the west coast of Turkey, is richly endowed with natural and cultural resources. It is also increasingly endangered by the twin challenges of human development and environmental degradation. Though the city and adjacent beach were declared protected archeological zones in the 1980s, they remain vulnerable to the effects of climate change and sea-level rise, nor have they been spared illegal development, pollution, and looting of the archeological site. 

U-M has sponsored an archeological research project at Notion since 2014. The archeological permit requires the implementation of a conservation program and the construction of a storage and research facility, which present unique opportunities to transform the site into a sustainable visitor destination in a way that both protects the site and benefits the local community. Taking a community-based archeology approach, the team has worked with Turkish partners to engage local residents and draft a preliminary proposal for the conservation of ancient buildings on the archeological site and for the development of the site as a tourist destination, exploring cost-effective, climate- and earthquake-resilient building and landscape design methods and site-planning strategies that could be adopted by local property owners. 

At this point, additional stakeholder engagement is crucial to the success of the site’s long-term management. The catalyst grant will enable the team to travel to Notion and to convene local architects, conservators, public officials, and residents to turn the proposal into actionable plans with the necessary grass-roots support. The research carried out at Notion will advance the development of collaborative and community-oriented strategies that can be scaled up, not only at the local level but also more widely at other sites around the Mediterranean confronted with similar challenges and opportunities. 

Project team: Christopher Ratté, PI (Classical Studies); Kathy Velikov, Co-I (Taubman); Suzanne Davis (Kelsey Museum of Archeology); Hazar Kaba (Sinop University); Metin Kılıç (M+D Mimarlık); Yaşar Selçuk Şener (Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University); Dürrin Süer (M+D Mimarlık)