Turkey

Since May 2022, Yonca Erkan has held a full-time position as Professor in Heritage Studies at the Faculty of Design Sciences, University of Antwerp. Her research focuses on the intersection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century industrial heritage, World Heritage, and urban history.
Previously, she served as a member of the UNESCO National Commission and vice-chair of the Tangible Cultural Heritage (2011–2014). Between 2015 and 2024, she held the UNESCO Chair on Management and Promotion of World Heritage Sites: New Media and Community Involvement at Kadir Has University.

In 2018, she worked at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre as a senior consultant, coordinating the World Heritage Cities Programme and the Historic Urban Landscape Recommendation. She also coordinated the EU H2020 MSCA RISE CONSIDER Project on Sustainable Management of Industrial Heritage as a Resource for Urban Development (2021–2024).