The “Shed Light on Goodness with Your Idea” Project Workshop was held by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Kızılay Club and Üsküdar Üniversitesi Health, Culture and Sports Department (SKS). Prof. Dr. Uğur Çevik, Science Advisor to the Vice President, attended the workshop. Çevik, who gave a presentation titled ‘Social Entrepreneurship Projects’, said: “A major transformation has occurred in Kızılay. We now know Kızılay not just as an organization supported by a handful of elderly donors who donate their homes, but as a community, an institution that stands strong with projects and ideas generated by young people like you, intervening in events at the zeroth second in every corner of the world, and making its presence felt everywhere.”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Rector's Advisor Prof. Dr. İsmail Barış, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Kızılay Club Advisor Dr. Lecturer Gamze Kağan, Young Kızılay Club Project and Fund Unit Head Yunus Altanhan, Young Kızılay Club President Ayşegül Tuncer, Young Kızılay Istanbul Provincial President Muhammet Özdemir, Young Kızılay President Ömer Faruk Çalışkan, Social Innovation Center Founder Suat Özçağdaş, Yeşilay Society Volunteer Management Manager Arif Muştu, Yozgat Bozok Üniversitesi faculty member Prof. Dr. Mustafa Böyükata, Turkish Kızılay Women Istanbul Organization President Nilhan Kösen Ayan, Turkish Kızılay Üsküdar Branch President Dr. Mustafa Karadeniz, KOSGEB Istanbul Regional Manager Ertuğrul Çetinkaya, Project Coordinator Medine Erek, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vocational School of Health Services Electroneurophysiology Program Head Lecturer Öznur Özge Özcan and SKS Department Head Özcan Demir attended the workshop held at the Çarşı Campus Emir Nebi Conference Hall.
Ayşegül Tuncer: “We are undertaking very successful initiatives”
Ayşegül Tuncer, a senior sociology student and President of the Young Kızılay Club, stated that they embarked on this path to help anyone in need, regardless of location. Tuncer said; “We are undertaking very successful initiatives. Necip Fazıl has a saying in his address to the youth: ‘Time is mine, and space belongs to me.’ We strive to be a youth with this consciousness. We set out to help anyone in need, without looking left or right. I extend my thanks to everyone.”
Dr. Lecturer Gamze Kağan: “We are gathering for an event that will benefit society in the long term”
Dr. Lecturer Gamze Kağan, Advisor to the Üsküdar Üniversitesi Kızılay Club, stated that she is honored and proud to be the club advisor. Kağan said; “We are gathered for an event that will benefit society not in the short term, but in the long term, representing a group of young people who truly serve their country and nation not just in words, but in deeds. I extend my gratitude to everyone who came here. I especially want to thank the university administration. The Turkish Kızılay is a 154-year-old, very large institution. I see it as a very important institution inherited from our ancestors. The beautiful work done by our ancestors is being carried out wonderfully by young people today. I am honored and proud to be their club advisor. Today, we will truly focus on generating ideas, and tomorrow, we will conduct serious project training with a small group that will generate ideas.”
Muhammet Özdemir: “You make sacrifices and dedicate time to social responsibility projects”
Young Kızılay Provincial President Muhammet Özdemir said; “I hope it will be a productive workshop where new ideas emerge. I want to thank my young brothers and sisters. Where we spend our time is entirely up to us. We can spend it on social responsibility projects if we wish. We can also spend it in cafes or any idle place, but you are making sacrifices and dedicating your time to social responsibility projects, thinking about how much benefit we can provide and what we can do. It is a productive, valuable time. I thank you for your participation.”
Ömer Faruk Çalışkan: “We will be partners in every mistake you make”
Ömer Faruk Çalışkan, President of Young Kızılay, stated his belief that those who achieve success will be brave enough not to fear making mistakes, but also wise enough not to repeat the same mistakes. Çalışkan said; “I did not expect a program with such rich content and so many distinguished speakers in such a short time. We are achieving great successes together. As a student whose academic life wasn't very successful, I had focused more on developing myself in social activities. I know very well what motivates you to be here and what sacrifices you have made to come here and take on responsibilities. I believe we have walked the same path. I thank each and every one of you not only for today but for all the contributions you have made so far. I believe that those who achieve success will be brave enough not to fear making mistakes, but also wise enough not to repeat the same mistakes. The mistakes you are afraid or hesitant to make have been made many times by your predecessors, who learned from them. Utilizing the experiences of those who came before you will also save you time. I believe that if we are to build a successful future, it will be achieved through the experiences of our predecessors and the objective contributions that the next generation will offer with their new worldviews. Do not hesitate to make mistakes, question, or research. On behalf of Young Kızılay volunteers, I can say that we will be partners in every mistake you make and plan to make.”
Arif Muştu: “They are doing very good work”
Arif Muştu, Volunteer Management Manager of the Yeşilay Society, said; “Until 6 months ago, I was also part of the Kızılay family. Now I am volunteering at Yeşilay. Thankfully, we already know our friends. They are doing very good work. We had also visited our esteemed instructor Ziya at Üsküdar Üniversitesi before. The essence of projects is actually volunteerism. You are here as individuals who live and promote volunteerism. I thank you very much for your participation.”
Suat Özçağdaş: “We need to find solutions to problems”
Suat Özçağdaş, Founder of the Social Innovation Center, gave a presentation titled ‘Making a Difference with Social Innovation’. Özçağdaş said; “It is very enjoyable to be with Kızılay members because I worked at Kızılay for a part of my career. What are the social problems we are facing? We have many problems. There is social violence, wars, housing problems, nutrition problems. We have health-related problems. 1 Million people die from mosquito bites annually. There are problems related to education and the environment. We have many problems, and we need to find solutions to them. Einstein says; ‘Significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them.’ Therefore, we need different perspectives when solving these problems.”
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Böyükata, a faculty member at Yozgat Bozok Üniversitesi, who attended the program online, gave a presentation titled “National and Moral Aspects of Social Projects”.
Prof. Dr. İsmail Barış: “Being a Kızılay officer is a privilege”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Rector's Advisor Prof. Dr. İsmail Barış stated that being a Kızılay officer is a privilege. Barış said; “Before the 2000s, in 1999, 1998, 1987, Kızılay Headquarters could not organize a workshop of the scale you are currently conducting. Therefore, I extend my thanks to each and every member of our university's Young Kızılay and to our dear instructor Gamze, who guides them with her consultancy. I say, 'It's good that you exist.' Üsküdar Üniversitesi, since its establishment, awards prizes every year related to national culture, moral values, and humanitarian values. It is an important foundation university that has embodied the universal good of science. Our education and teaching staff is quite good. I hope that we can continue this characteristic as we have maintained it until today. A Kızılay volunteer sheds tears from both sorrow and joy. Being a Kızılay officer is a privilege. It is not granted to everyone.”
Prof. Dr. Uğur Çevik: “A major transformation has occurred in Kızılay”
Prof. Dr. Uğur Çevik, Science Advisor to the Vice President at the Presidential Complex, emphasized that Kızılay is known as a community that makes its presence felt everywhere. Çevik said; “I extend my sincere thanks to the Üsküdar Üniversitesi Young Kızılay Club for organizing this invitation. A major transformation has occurred in Kızılay. We now know Kızılay not just as an organization supported by a handful of elderly donors who donate their homes, but as a community, an institution that stands strong with projects and ideas generated by young people like you, intervening in events at the zeroth second in every corner of the world, and making its presence felt everywhere. We actually see this in all institutions of our state.”
“The sustainability of entrepreneurship is among the indispensable”
Prof. Dr. Uğur Çevik gave a presentation titled ‘Social Entrepreneurship Projects’. Çevik said; “Today, we will focus on social entrepreneurship. While everyone might think of social entrepreneurship as a non-profit organization, profiting is also an option because there is the issue of sustainability. The sustainability of an endeavor can only be achieved with financial resources. If you cannot secure funding for a project you have in mind, its continuation is not very likely. The sustainability of entrepreneurship is among the most indispensable factors. Whatever your idea, you must secure its funding, whether you aim for profit or not. Otherwise, the sustainability of that project will not be possible in any way.”
Subsequently, Nilhan Kösen Ayan, President of the Turkish Kızılay Women Istanbul Organization, gave a presentation titled “An Example of Social Awareness in Turkish Kızılay”; Ertuğrul Çetinkaya, KOSGEB Istanbul Regional Manager, presented “Social Entrepreneur Example II KOSGEB Entrepreneurship Support and Other Supports”; Project Coordinator Medine Erek presented “Social Innovation Projects in the Field of Sustainability”; and Lecturer Öznur Özge Özcan, Head of the Electroneurophysiology Program at Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vocational School of Health Services, gave a presentation titled “Project Idea Generation and Innovative Ideas”.
The workshop concluded after the presentation of sapling certificates to the participants and a group photo session.
