Environmental and Public Health
Many people in Africa have to walk for miles to reach clean water and meet their water needs from ponds where muddy or dirty water formed by rainwater accumulates. Many health problems occur due to the consumption of this dirty water.
In order to provide African people with access to clean water, the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation has opened 3 water wells in Niger in the names of Halit Aydın, Sabire Aydın and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın.
A tree planting event was organized in collaboration with the Green Homeland Platform, Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV), and Istanbul Aydın University (IAU), where disabled individuals from the Bağcılar Municipality Feyzullah Kıyıklık Disabled People’s Palace and students from IAU’s Eco-recreation Club worked together to plant trees in the İhsaniye region.
National Afforestation Day aims to raise awareness about protecting and sustainably managing our forests and making our country healthier and more livable for future generations. This special day is vital for bringing saplings to the soil and contributing to the protection of nature. Turkey, with its forests, green spaces, and natural beauties, is a true earthly paradise. We are working hard to protect this paradise and leave a healthy legacy for the future.
Inspired by the words of our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, “A homeland without forests is not a homeland,” the Green Homeland Platform, AKEV, IAU, and IAU Eco-recreation Club will continue their efforts with a sense of national awareness and collective responsibility to plant more saplings every year and leave a green legacy.
In this event, disabled individuals from Bağcılar Municipality Feyzullah Kıyıklık Disabled People’s Palace and students from IAU Eco-recreation Club planted trees in the area designated by the Istanbul Regional Forestry Directorate in the İhsaniye region.
We hope that the trees planted on National Afforestation Day contribute to a greener Turkey and Istanbul.
Nature Walk with Individuals with Special Needs
As part of World Environment Day, a nature walk and clean-up event was organized at Kemerburgaz City Forest with the support of Istanbul Aydın University’s Center for Human and Environmental Health and individuals benefiting from Bağcılar Disabled People’s Palace. Volunteer students from Istanbul Aydın University accompanied individuals with special needs, providing them with the opportunity to spend quality time in nature.
Panel on “The Role and Importance of Universities in Disaster Management” with the Support of Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV)
The 8th Eurasian Higher Education Summit, organized annually by the Eurasian Universities Union, took place from March 1-3, 2023. During the summit, a panel titled “The Role and Importance of Universities in Disaster Management” was held with the support of Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV). The panel was moderated by Prof. Dr. Sezer Komsuoğlu, Prof. Dr. Şerif Barış, and Prof. Dr. Ahmet Tamer Aker. In the panel, which saw participation from academics across various disciplines, the discussed topics and the proposals presented were compiled into a report and shared with the public.
Hosted by Istanbul Aydın University, the International Climate and Energy Forum-2022 was held online on March 11, 2022, with the collaboration of Istanbul Aydın University’s Center for Environment and Human Health, TESPAM, and ITU, and supported by Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV), the Green Homeland Platform, and the UNESCO Chair.
Throughout the day, the forum featured five different sessions on topics such as COP26 and Climate Change with Global Challenges, Carbon Emission Limits and Environmental Risks, Carbon Economy and Green Trade, Financial and Technological Capacities, and Turkey’s Green Goals. The forum was attended by 29 national and international speakers from universities, the private sector, as well as esteemed institutions such as the Climate Change Presidency, TÜBİTAK MAM, and other valuable organizations of the Turkish government. A total of 300 national and international participants followed the event throughout the day.
The ‘Independent Living Area’ project is being organized in collaboration with the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV), Istanbul Aydın University, the Turkish Anti-Smoking Association and the Turkish National Agency.
The project, organized to emphasize the fight against addiction, will be attended by volunteers between the ages of 18-30 from 6 countries, namely Algeria, Croatia, Spain, Morocco, Poland and Turkey. In addition to their work with the Civil Society Organizations (NGOs) they are members of in their countries, the volunteers, who will also take part in the “Independent Living Area” project to be held in Turkey, will discuss cigarettes, alcohol, technology and other addictions.
The project, which is about combating addiction and solution suggestions, was held at the Istanbul Aydın University Tepekent Social Facilities.
In the project, which includes cultural and educational programs, Istanbul trips will be organized for students and our historical and cultural values will be explained. During the trainings, the “Culture Sharing” night will be held to provide students with the opportunity for local promotions, contributing to intercultural communication.
Students who will stay for 8 nights at the Istanbul Aydin University Tepekent Social Facilities, which are prepared in the comfort of a hotel, will be able to benefit from all kinds of social areas such as swimming, fitness, sauna, basketball and volleyball.
The activities of the project, where expert trainers and speakers will participate, will include information seminars, sports and animation activities, workshops, conversations with people who have experienced addiction through their own experiences and campaign design.
In the project, where all young people participate voluntarily, young people will use common and informal education methods while building new ideas with active sharing. In addition to its social purpose, the project, which also leads to cultural friendships, will provide access to more people and enable the project to be widespread.
The “Faces of Cigarette Addicts” Photograph Exhibition and panel organized by the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV) in collaboration with Istanbul Aydın University and the Turkish Anti-Smoking Association was held at the Istanbul Aydın University Faculty of Fine Arts.
The exhibition opened by AKEV Board of Trustees Chairman and Turkish Anti-Smoking Association Chairman Dr. Mustafa Aydın met with its audience as a photographic document of the threat of cigarette addiction on human life. The panel event, which was about protecting humanity and completely eradicating cigarettes from the world, which is one of the most important problems faced by humanity today and seriously threatens human life and health, was held with intense participation. The importance of completely removing cigarettes from human society by using all legal means was emphasized in the panel.
The seminar program on healthy nutrition, organized in collaboration with the Anatolian Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV) and Istanbul Aydın University, was held at the Florya Halit Aydın Campus with the participation of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muazzez Garipağaoğlu.
Gariağaoğlu, who has been working on child nutrition, obesity, diabetes and public health for many years, emphasized that young people should pay attention to their eating habits, stay away from foods with high salt and fat content and acidic drinks, and ensure that bran bread and fibrous foods are consumed. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muazzez Garipağaoğlu touched on the importance of staying away from excessively salty and fatty foods in nutrition. She stated that healthy nutrition is the most important requirement for achieving a healthy life, beyond meeting daily energy and nutritional needs.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Garipağaoğlu gave seminars to the participants on topics such as nutrition of babies in the 0-6 month period, the importance of breast milk, and healthy nutrition. Especially touching on the importance of breast milk, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Garipağaoğlu emphasized that babies should definitely be breastfed for the first two years and stated that breast milk acts as a natural vaccine.
The seminar titled “Skin and body health in all aspects” organized by the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV) and Istanbul Aydın University in collaboration was held with the presentation of Dr. Sinan İbiş.
Dr. İbiş, who said that the biggest problem of Turkish people is excess weight, regional fat and cellulite, reported that cellulite occurs not only in women but also in men in terms of aesthetics and beauty. He stated that cellulite is intertwined with obesity and regional fat. Dr. İbiş also touched on issues related to skin health in his presentation and advised young people to “Protect your skin from the cold”. It was suggested that special care is required for the skin in the winter months and that serums containing plenty of vitamin C and protein and lotions containing glycolic acid should be used to accelerate skin renewal.
The seminar titled “Excessive thinness and obesity” organized by the Anatolian Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV) and Istanbul Aydın University in collaboration was organized with the presentation of Ender Saraç. Mr. Saraç touched upon the relationship between the rapidly increasing obesity in the world and changing eating habits. Drawing attention to the fact that excessive thinness is also among the threats as much as obesity, Saraç emphasized that obesity is generally caused by excessive and improper nutrition and lack of physical activity. He also stated that in addition to these factors, many factors such as genetic, environmental, neurological, physiological, biochemical, socio-cultural and psychological factors can cause obesity in relation to each other. He reported that the increase in childhood obesity in particular is so high that it cannot be explained only by changes in genetic structure and that the role of environmental factors in the formation of obesity is accepted to be at the forefront. He emphasized that a type of extreme thinness that occurs due to low calories and protein deficiency as a result of malnutrition is Kwashiorkor syndrome and that children with this syndrome are very thin, but they may have swelling (edema) in their bodies due to low albumin in the blood and darkening of the skin due to vitamin deficiency, and that the mortality rate may be high due to decreased resistance to infections. He reported that although thinness can be seen in children who are fed with insufficient protein in our country, the presence of yogurt and buttermilk, which are common means of nutrition in villages, prevents the occurrence of Kwashiorkor syndrome.
The seminar program titled “Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis” organized by the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV) and Istanbul Aydın University in collaboration at the Florya Halit Aydın Campus was held with the participation of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Binyamin BİRKAN, Director of the Tohum Autism Foundation. It was emphasized that early diagnosis and special education play a very important role in integrating children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders into society. According to studies, it has been stated that one in every 150 children exhibits autistic behaviors and the need for labor force working in the field of special education is increasing day by day. General information was presented on the treatment of autism and severe developmental disabilities, developing individualized education programs, social interaction, and teaching language and speech skills.
The “Global Warming and Environmental Problems” panel organized by the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV) and Istanbul Aydın University in collaboration was held at Istanbul Aydın University Florya Halit Aydın Campus. In the opening speech made by AKEV Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Mustafa Aydın, it was stated that the effects of global warming, which causes changes in the world’s climate system, are felt everywhere in the world, from the highest peaks to the depths of the ocean, from the equator to the poles.
It was emphasized that energy use in the world is constantly increasing, and that although the technology used changes in the short term, it is unlikely that the increase in carbon dioxide emissions will stop. It was stated that air circulation in urbanized areas, increased construction, and the disruption of the natural climate environment lead to local warming, and that such local warming also has an increasing effect on global warming.
The panel event, which was held with the participation of environmental activists and representatives of civil society organizations, ended with a tree sapling planting activity with children.
The conference titled “Harmful Effects of Addictive Substances on Human Intelligence and Social Life” organized by the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV), Anadolu BİL Vocational School and the Association of Those Fighting Against Smoking was held at the Anadolu Bil Vocational School Conference Hall.
The conference opened by AKEV Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Mustafa Aydın with the emphasis that addictive substances are a human problem that harms humanity in today’s world without making any distinctions of religion, language, race, strong or weak, and the participation and interest of young people was intense.
Mr. Aydın examined the situation and reasons that we encounter by considering substance addiction from an individual perspective and in small expansions, and especially focused on how and where young people encounter the concept of addiction, how they become addicted and how we can reveal the ways to get rid of it. Dr. Mustafa Aydın emphasized the importance of starting a social fight against addictive substances.
The panel titled “Methods for Combating Smoking and Drugs” organized in collaboration with the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV), Anadolu BİL Vocational School and the Association of Fighters Against Smoking was held at the foundation center. The panel opened by AKEV Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Mustafa Aydın was attended by many anti-smoking individuals from the business, press, art and academic circles. The importance of completely eliminating smoking, drug and substance addiction from human society was emphasized in the panel.
Mr. Dr. Mustafa Aydın emphasized that substance addiction in today’s world is a human problem that should be examined from a very broad perspective, where both societies and individuals are injured and harmed. One of the panelists, Prof. Dr. Arif Verimli, provided information about the important and general reasons for substance use and the precautions that should be taken.
The conference titled “Negative effects of narcotic substances on human health”, organized in cooperation with the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV), Anadolu BİL Vocational School and Anti-Smoking Association, was held at Anadolu Bil Vocational School.
The conference titled “Harmful Effects of Addictive Substances on Human Intelligence and Social Life” organized by Bahçelievler Municipality, Anatolian Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV), and the Association of Those Fighting Against Smoking was held at the Bahçelievler Municipality Conference Hall.
Bahçelievler Mayor Mr. Osman Develioğlu gave a speech on how and where our youth encounter the concept of addiction, how they become addicted and how to get rid of them, the important and general reasons for substance use and the precautions that need to be taken within the scope of the fight against the devastating health, social, environmental and economic problems caused by addictive substances.
AKEV Board of Trustees Chairman Mr. Dr. Mustafa Aydın emphasized that substance addiction is a human problem that should be examined from a very broad perspective in today’s world, where both societies and individuals are harmed without making any distinctions on the basis of religion, language, race, strong or weak.
The conference and panel titled “Increasing Awareness of Smoking, Drugs and Addictive Substances” was held at the Foundation Center with the collaboration of the Anatolian Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV) and the Association of Those Fighting Against Smoking.
The conference emphasized that the age of starting to smoke, drink and use drugs has decreased to the level of primary school, the rapid increase in indiscipline, the use of violence, some of which results in permanent injuries and some in death, and even the increase to levels that make school administrators and teachers hesitate, are indicators of a serious problem in our education.
The conference titled “Negativities of Cigarettes and Drugs in Social Life” organized by the Anadolu Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV), BİL Private Schools and the Association of Those Fighting Against Smoking was held at the Foundation Center.
The importance of completely eliminating cigarette, drug and substance addiction from human society by using all legal means was emphasized in these conference presentations. In his opening speech, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Mustafa Aydın emphasized that substance addiction in today’s world is a human problem that should be examined from a very broad perspective, where both societies and individuals are injured and harmed.
It was held at the Foundation Center with the organization of the Anatolian Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV). In this seminar program, information was given to the participants on many topics such as obesity, diabetes and public health, especially child nutrition. It was recommended that young people should pay attention to their eating habits and stay away from foods with high salt and fat content and acidic drinks, while it was emphasized that bran bread and fibrous foods should be consumed.
It was emphasized that beyond meeting daily energy and nutrients in nutrition, healthy nutrition is the most important requirement for achieving a healthy life and that healthy societies can only be formed with healthy individuals.
A seminar was held in which Mr. Ender Saraç participated as a speaker, organized by the Anatolian Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV). The seminar drew attention to the relationship between obesity, which is rapidly increasing in the world, and changing eating habits, and how excessive thinness, as well as obesity, is among the factors that threaten human health.
It was emphasized that obesity is generally caused by excessive and improper nutrition and lack of physical activity, and it was also stated that many genetic, environmental, neurological, physiological, biochemical, socio-cultural and psychological factors can cause obesity in relation to each other.
The “Harms of Smoking” panel and session organized by the Anatolian Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV) and the Association of Fighters Against Smoking took place at the Foundation Center.
The panel event, which was about protecting humanity and completely eradicating smoking in the world against smoking, which is one of the most important problems faced by humanity today and seriously threatens human life and health, was held with intense participation.
The seminar titled “Environment and Public Health” organized by the Anatolian Education and Culture Foundation (AKEV) was held at the Foundation Center. The seminar opened by AKEV Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Mustafa Aydın received support from many participants from the business, press, art and academic circles.
In his speech, Mr. Aydın emphasized that all segments of society should be informed about the environment, made aware, positive and permanent behavioral changes should be achieved and individuals should be actively involved in solving problems and training should be provided on environmental and health issues.