The trainings of the “Young Women Protecting Their Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Development” project of the International Association of Women in Sustainable Development (USKD) started under the leadership of Art History Specialist Canan Çakmak.
As part of the field training, trainees visited the historical Agora archaeological site and the Izmir Culture and Art Factory Archaeology and Ethnography Museum, and received detailed information by examining historical structures and artifacts.
Providing information about the project, Canan Çakmak said, “We aim to provide information to young people about the historical development and cultural heritage of İzmir and have them produce information about İzmir on a digital platform. We want young people to share the experiences they have gained here and to carry a cultural heritage that will introduce İzmir to future generations. Today, we started our tour from Agora. Because this is the establishment area of the ancient port city. We know that İzmir was established in different areas before. İzmir offers us values since the Paleolithic period. This is a place where İzmir was established for the 3rd time. The first people came to the Bornova plain 8 years ago. These are the periods when agriculture has just started. Later, settlements Bayraklı continues in the mound. We have a multi-layered past extending from the Roman, Byzantine, principality period, Ottoman and today. Izmir has also hosted a multi-layered and cultured life. We experienced this in the archaeology and ethnography museum. Izmir is also very important as a port city in ancient times. It has been the gate of Anatolia opening to the West since ancient times. We will try to get to know this multi-layered and multi-cultural structure by visiting it today. I would like to thank everyone who contributed,” he said.
IT WILL PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT TO YOUNG WOMEN
USKD Board of Directors Chairwoman Ayla Alkan, who stated that they were pleased with the intense interest in the project and that they would increase the number of participants in the new period, provided the following information: “Our project, which was approved by the General Directorate of Civil Society Relations of the Ministry of Interior, attracted considerable attention. This project offers a platform that will enable young women to gain a stronger place in social life by taking an important step to protect and promote the unique cultural richness of İzmir. Our project is carried out with 19 female participants between the ages of 29 and 20 who are neither in education, training nor employment (NEET). Throughout the project, which will be completed in a period of 1 year, NEET young women will receive training from expert trainers in various areas such as social media use, content production, storytelling, editing, photography and video preparation. In this way, they will not only develop their personal skills, but will also effectively tell the cultural values of İzmir in the digital world and contribute to the protection of these values. Thus, they will also gain competence in the field of employment, and the training they receive in the project and the certificate we will issue at the end will also contribute significantly to their job search processes.”
