CuBuFoundation with participation in a training course and group mobility in Izmir, Turkey – Konak HEM
Our visit to Izmir, Turkey – for staff training and group mobility for adult learners in connection with our Erasmus+ accreditation for adult education (No. 2025-1-BG01-KA121-ADU-000310340) – from 2 to 8 April 2026, hosted by KONAK HEM (Konak Halk Eğitimi Merkezi), began with a visit to the center run by KONAK HEM, where more than 3,000 courses of various kinds are held for hundreds of thousands of adults on an annual basis (session 1). We were welcomed by its director Hüseyin Akpınar and the other members of the management.
After a short welcome, the activity leader Eylem Aközek made a presentation about the center’s activities. The training continued with a presentation and discussion of a video on the topic of exclusion. The main questions we pondered were what the characters in the clip did and did not do, who witnessed the exclusion, how the different participants in the clip felt. We continued the discussion by discussing the concepts of inclusion and exclusion and the effects the latter has on the individual.
The last minutes of this first session were spent in the cooking class, where the kind hosts and course participants had prepared culinary delights for our welcome.
Session 2 started with a short ice-breaker game, discussion of the program for the next days and continued with a tour of the center and a visit to the various courses that were being held there at that time. We visited an accounting course, in which there was a student with special educational needs – successfully integrated using an individually configured tablet with which she could enlarge and see the data on the monitor. We visited a make-up course, as well as an applied arts course, where we spent the most time. There we looked at the works of the participants and the materials they work with. Finally, we visited the administrative office, which serves people who are learning in an individual form – about 5 million people throughout the country.
The next training session 3, which our colleagues offered, involved developing skills in handling various digital tools that successfully engage the attention and improve the competencies of potential learners of different ages with whom they would be used.
Training session 4 at KONAK NEM was dedicated to creating successful projects under the Erasmus+ programme. It was led by Nilgün Avçi Engudar, who, in addition to being a project developer, is also a science teacher for children from grades 5-8. In this seminar, we learned about the history of the programme. We discussed the idea that Erasmus+ should not be seen as an opportunity for travel, but as an invaluable chance to support individual and professional development and active citizenship. Nilgün emphasized that the main goal of Erasmus+ is to create a sense of belonging to European citizenship and for the common European good.
We discussed the values of the programme and the EU. Then we continued with a discussion that in order to be successful and meaningful, the project must be a useful tool for change, for the achievement of positive transformation in relation to a specific problem. Change is achieved through a chain of activities with results and activities. The results we pursue should lead to learning, whether individually, as an organization or as a school. We also looked at the individual project stages from idea to development, as well as examples of good and bad definitions of a project idea. In conclusion, project development is a valuable journey and is very educational for the people who do it, because you have to read and make sense of a lot of information.
Before the end of the session, we also discussed the place of AI and technology in the project writing process. We agreed that they have a place as auxiliary tools, but they cannot replace human thinking and should not be relied upon entirely in writing a project.
The next activity 5 was a visit to Konak Engelsiz Yaşam Köyü – a center for young people and adults with intellectual disabilities, where we became part of the celebration they organized on the occasion of World Autism Awareness Day. Our communication with the teachers at this center – music and rhythm therapy, sports, applied arts – who introduced us to their working environment and explained to us how the process of working with the center’s clients works in their place was extremely interesting and fulfilling. The group from Bulgaria was extremely moved by what was achieved with this target group in Izmir.
Impactful was also attending a dance course for adult ladies, which introduced us to both their artistic achievements and the personal growth that participation in this type of activity had led to.
The agenda continued with activity 6, a visit to the İleri Yaş Sağlıklı Yaşam Merkezi – a day center for seniors over 60 years old, where various courses were held – knitting, sewing, various types of drawing, working with ceramics, making various objects from the field of applied arts, information technology. The hosts of the center had organized a workshop for us on working with clay. Each of us had the opportunity to work with clay and give space to our imagination by transforming it. The experience was inspiring and challenging for the blind participants in our group. This was followed by a tour of the center and an introduction to the various courses, as well as the participants in them. We enjoyed their works – paintings, tablecloths, knitting, sculptures, painted porcelain and ceramic vessels, clay works. The explanation given to us about the meaning and great importance of these activities for the elderly clients of the center was extremely useful and interesting, namely to help them postpone degenerative conditions and age-related diseases by supporting fine motor skills, flexibility, especially where there are fine blood vessels (hands, fingers), and eye-sight. The center is also invaluable with its activities in terms of the socialization of the elderly, who in Konak, Izmir feel satisfied, happy, inspired and have a desire for life and creativity. The center is a vivid example of care and support for senior citizens for their physical and mental well-being and socialization.
At the end (activity 7) we were introduced to the teachings of Akhilism, also known as Akhism. We followed its history, the life of its founder Ahi Evran and how its principles are transmitted from antiquity to the present day. We drew parallels and discovered points of contact with today’s society and European values. The visit ended with the presentation of certificates and a sharing of gratitude for the experience and the activities organized for the group from Bulgaria.
How wonderful the experience was, even in the moments outside the official work program, can be seen from these few happy shots.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC). Neither the European Union nor HRDC can be held responsible for them.
