Our Princible, Our Vision, Our Mission

For ÇEKÜL, ‘getting organized’ stands at the heart of its activities. The Foundation leads organizational networks around "public-local-civil-private" initiatives by facilitating the cooperation of local actors and helping local organizations to pool and mobilize resources to implement small-scale projects. ÇEKÜL - with hundreds of representatives, volunteers from 100 different localities, 700 professionals of The ÇEKÜL Advisory Board and an on-going dialogue with the local public and non-governmental actors around Turkey - is building the social network and increasing social capital for environmental and cultural goals.

Getting organized at all levels: A cultural and environmental movement from homes to streets, from streets to neighborhoods, from neighborhoods to cities, from cities to basins, from basins to regions, from regions throughout the country...

Association of Historic Towns and Regions
The Association was formed in 2000 under the guidance and secretariat of ÇEKÜL. The Association provides a social venue for cooperation, coordination and communication among 115 municipal governments about environmental and cultural activities. Colloquiums are held regularly every two months. Training sessions for formulating, implementing and funding cultural protection projects are provided to the staff of municipalities and governorships where renovation and restoration projects take place. A periodical journal, named 'Local Identity' is published and disseminated quarterly.

Kelkit Basin Development Association
In 5 provinces and 16 towns of Kelkit Basin, ÇEKÜL facilitates the social network among public and private actors of each locality to implement a basin-level development program with a focus on sustainable natural resource management, rural development and cultural preservation. Workshops and meetings involving all local actors to ensure participatory planning are held to also identify the problems in need of resolving. Special projects are developed in partnership with the local universities and are based on the views of the advisory board of the Association and the meeting outcomes.

Wholeness of Cultural and Natural Resources
Akseki – İbradı Basin – an initiative to protect the natural beauty of the basin while encouraging archeological and historical research on this ancient land; From Basins to the Region: Combining Küçük Menderes Basin- Bakırçay Basin – Büyük Menderes Basin – Gediz Basin in West Anatolia for culture and environment; Cultural Initiative at Lakes Basin in South Anatolia; Protecting Van Lake Basin.