CIFAL City of London is part of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). It is the 25th international training and research centre of the CIFAL Global Network and is the only centre in the United Kingdom.
CIFAL City of London aspires to build capacity in the maritime sector to create a sustainable future whilst working towards the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015.
CIFAL City of London’s mission is to:
Professor Başak Akdemir, PhD FIMarEST
Professor Başak Akdemir is the Chief Executive of MLA College, Executive Director of CIFAL City of London and a Fellow of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. CIFAL City of London and MLA College work together to make positive change in the world of sustainability.
She has worked within the maritime industry and academia, served as the managing partner of a ship owning company and acted as a Board Member in the Turkish Chamber of Shipping and a member of the Board of Governors at Piri Reis University. She is a board of trustee member of Turkish Maritime Education Foundation.
Professor Akdemir was awarded a PhD from De Montfort University with the thesis “Improving Supply Forecasting within the Shipping Industry”; the forecasting model developed in this programme of study made use of neural networks and employed novel methods to identify sudden changes in the market. It provided a mechanism of corrective action for when the fluctuations in the market were considered excessive.
