Oğuz - Climate for Change Project - Turkey
What three things do you do differently after your program at the East-West Center (SUSI/YSEALI)?
Thanks to the program I've chosen climate change as a career path. It helped me think what I want and don’t want in future. I know now I’ll work on climate change and energy. I'm determining now the subsection of this - I'm an environmental engineer by training by policy interest me as well. I was not sure before program, it helped me to find the motivation. The program helped me to find the answers.
My background was in NGO sector, but we met with diverse representatives from different institutions – government, NGO and business. And I really made a point to partner with private sector during the program. After SUSI I thought "I can be creative in private business sector internationally as well". So now I am going to be working with a consultancy center, one of the best in Turkey.
My background is based on European education models. It was kind of a single way of thinking to act in my county but SUSI was the best thing for me. I started to think about my studies by using different education models you showed us. It helped me to create Change for Climate Project (C4C). It’s a unique education model. For example I met Jeff Mikulina at Hawaii Blue Planet foundation. After returned I contacted climate leaders such as him and I adopted several education models in Turkish. All this was very useful to C4C - we have educational programs based on systems thinking. I didn’t even know what systems thinking was before I met with Jeff.
What impact did the program have on your career?
SUSI has opened different doors to find and build my dream project. If I didn’t do SUSI I wouldn't have applied for the U.S. State Department's Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund grants. We were finalists but not winners. But because of this, the U.S. Embassy approached us and wanted to support us. After that I started to work with U.S. Embassy and other business partners that the Embassy connected me with. It gave me different financial opportunities. This is important and exceptional if you are working in Turkey in the environment field.
What issues are you most passionate about in your daily life?
The first most passionate thing in my life is peace - sustainable peace in Anatolia and the Middle East. On the last day of the program in Hawaii there was an explosion in Turkey and I lost a friend of mine. These were the guys who lifted their voice for Anatolia. After that day I was in America, Turkey changed a lot. We had a kind of democracy that was not working regularly. But that democracy has now stopped – if you follow the news. So yes, the most passionate thing in my life is to reach sustainable peace in this region.
Next my passion is climate action, which is linked to peace and democracy. If we don’t act for climate all of these passionate factors will be nothing. If you search stats there will be more than 3 million climate refugees by 2050 if we don’t take action in Middle East. Let’s imagine we have democracy so we have sustainable peace, but no climate action – it will be the same in just 10-12 years. I feel turkey has to be one of the countries who takes climate leadership responsibility. Many Middle East countries are seeing turkey as a role model. If we take action on climate change then they will start to take action. I hope America will also.
I see US as a role model and I am now adapting all the climate change things I learned there in Turkey. I know if we take action then the Middle East youth and people will also start to work on climate change. Only problem discussed currently is the refugee problem, but it’s not only that's happening. Science is saying there's more to pay attention to. The worst problem is getting a healthy climate, if we don’t want another 2 million refugees in 40 years.
How have you come to see leadership?
I believe leadership and its meaning vary from culture to culture. For example, if you have leadership in Europe then you need to regularly improve your life and actions within this context. If you asked me how leadership is satisfied in Middle East, it’s the ability to direct people around by showing them their potential and their success. Because my people lack seeing their potential, can you imagine the history in these lands? But now they are stuck in different political and religious conflicts for many years. They are emotional and they can be manipulated by authorities and incedents. We need to show them how they can be affected by issues. This is how I organize my mates around me. After SUSI, I see several people that can be very creative in my department in environmental engineering. There’s lots of students who want to act for environment but their action is not working as the sector is not that developed. There are lots of people ready to be organized. Who are waiting to be organized and Change for Climate Project can organize them. I just manage to show their skills to them so they can take action against climate change. They started to believe in me and we started to have weekly meetings, just discussions as first. No office and no money, we got nothing in the beginning. But then we discover new financial opportunities and new education models and local activists and lecturers who helped us to find effective ways to reach people. To organize the local community. It was not discovered in America. It existed before I took action but I just show my mates a way to meet a common point so we can take action. So we can do something.
Thanks to the program I've chosen climate change as a career path. It helped me think what I want and don’t want in future. I know now I’ll work on climate change and energy. I'm determining now the subsection of this - I'm an environmental engineer by training by policy interest me as well. I was not sure before program, it helped me to find the motivation. The program helped me to find the answers.
My background was in NGO sector, but we met with diverse representatives from different institutions – government, NGO and business. And I really made a point to partner with private sector during the program. After SUSI I thought "I can be creative in private business sector internationally as well". So now I am going to be working with a consultancy center, one of the best in Turkey.
My background is based on European education models. It was kind of a single way of thinking to act in my county but SUSI was the best thing for me. I started to think about my studies by using different education models you showed us. It helped me to create Change for Climate Project (C4C). It’s a unique education model. For example I met Jeff Mikulina at Hawaii Blue Planet foundation. After returned I contacted climate leaders such as him and I adopted several education models in Turkish. All this was very useful to C4C - we have educational programs based on systems thinking. I didn’t even know what systems thinking was before I met with Jeff.
What impact did the program have on your career?
SUSI has opened different doors to find and build my dream project. If I didn’t do SUSI I wouldn't have applied for the U.S. State Department's Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund grants. We were finalists but not winners. But because of this, the U.S. Embassy approached us and wanted to support us. After that I started to work with U.S. Embassy and other business partners that the Embassy connected me with. It gave me different financial opportunities. This is important and exceptional if you are working in Turkey in the environment field.
What issues are you most passionate about in your daily life?
The first most passionate thing in my life is peace - sustainable peace in Anatolia and the Middle East. On the last day of the program in Hawaii there was an explosion in Turkey and I lost a friend of mine. These were the guys who lifted their voice for Anatolia. After that day I was in America, Turkey changed a lot. We had a kind of democracy that was not working regularly. But that democracy has now stopped – if you follow the news. So yes, the most passionate thing in my life is to reach sustainable peace in this region.
Next my passion is climate action, which is linked to peace and democracy. If we don’t act for climate all of these passionate factors will be nothing. If you search stats there will be more than 3 million climate refugees by 2050 if we don’t take action in Middle East. Let’s imagine we have democracy so we have sustainable peace, but no climate action – it will be the same in just 10-12 years. I feel turkey has to be one of the countries who takes climate leadership responsibility. Many Middle East countries are seeing turkey as a role model. If we take action on climate change then they will start to take action. I hope America will also.
I see US as a role model and I am now adapting all the climate change things I learned there in Turkey. I know if we take action then the Middle East youth and people will also start to work on climate change. Only problem discussed currently is the refugee problem, but it’s not only that's happening. Science is saying there's more to pay attention to. The worst problem is getting a healthy climate, if we don’t want another 2 million refugees in 40 years.
How have you come to see leadership?
I believe leadership and its meaning vary from culture to culture. For example, if you have leadership in Europe then you need to regularly improve your life and actions within this context. If you asked me how leadership is satisfied in Middle East, it’s the ability to direct people around by showing them their potential and their success. Because my people lack seeing their potential, can you imagine the history in these lands? But now they are stuck in different political and religious conflicts for many years. They are emotional and they can be manipulated by authorities and incedents. We need to show them how they can be affected by issues. This is how I organize my mates around me. After SUSI, I see several people that can be very creative in my department in environmental engineering. There’s lots of students who want to act for environment but their action is not working as the sector is not that developed. There are lots of people ready to be organized. Who are waiting to be organized and Change for Climate Project can organize them. I just manage to show their skills to them so they can take action against climate change. They started to believe in me and we started to have weekly meetings, just discussions as first. No office and no money, we got nothing in the beginning. But then we discover new financial opportunities and new education models and local activists and lecturers who helped us to find effective ways to reach people. To organize the local community. It was not discovered in America. It existed before I took action but I just show my mates a way to meet a common point so we can take action. So we can do something.
