Things -

The goal of the community program for Turkey was to deliver an innovative, practical learning experience aimed at inspiring, enabling, and promoting tech for social change through responsible initiatives by and for Turkish youth. Building upon the NetSquared Istanbul (Net2Ist) experience, the program’s online and offline activities provided an encouraging ecosystem where youth could design and launch social startups. Through a competitive process, the program sourced and refined new tech-driven ideas, facilitated an online debate on technology’s role in civil society and youth opportunity creation, and supported winning projects to grow and develop within Turkey.

This approach, based on similar processes TechSoup previously developed with local partners, was an effective tool to engage youth in entrepreneurial methods for creating new opportunities, building skills, and preparing participants to take on leadership roles as potential employers and leaders, rather than simply future employees. The methodology created peer-to-peer communities that formed through shared experiential learning, proving successful at sourcing and supporting innovative, tech-based solutions across Central and Southeastern Europe, notably in the Balkans with community boost_r. The process flowed through specific stages:

Regular meet-ups: These meetings, already in operation through Net2Ist, focused on promoting social change, new technologies, social entrepreneurship, and networking for potential participants, typically as hands-on workshops or discussions with topical experts.
Community website: This provided a platform for online community building, allowing members and stakeholders to connect, learn, and engage through social media campaigns, expert content, interviews, and case studies.
Challenge: A competitive process that crowd-sourced web or mobile ideas for social projects, encouraging the refinement of ideas with potential users, culminating in finalist selection through voting rounds.
Code sprint: Finalists were paired with programmers to develop technical solutions, culminating in a 48-hour sprint to build projects to a beta phase.
Camp: An un-conference event where community members and national and international experts came together to learn and collaborate. At the camp, Challenge winners were announced.
Incubation: Beyond financial support, finalists received mentorship to aid in project development.

The process’s overall success was measured by two primary outcomes: first, fostering a participatory public discussion on issues the platforms addressed, and second, assessing the finalist platforms’ ability to engage youth in addressing their concerns. Partners tracked online discussions and offline events, recording various indicators to gauge engagement and impact. At a minimum, the program aimed to build seven prototype projects and support three to launch, engaging thousands online and offline through camps, challenges, code sprints, and more. Many participants and organizations remained active through the community website and social media, responding to new initiatives. Programmers involved in the process also proved supportive of new socially relevant project ideas vetted through the community website, which allowed them to test and expand their skills.

Timeline:

June 2014: Website launch (end of June) and first meet-up.
July 2014: Planning meeting (7-11 July).
August 2014: Completion and testing of the website and challenge modules (end of August), followed by a meet-up.
September 2014: Challenge brand awareness phase (8 September), with a meet-up.
October 2014: Challenge kick-off event and submission phase start (9 October), with a meet-up.
November 2014: Challenge voting phase (10-17 November), jury selection of finalists (18 November), pre-camp event (22-23 November), and a meet-up.
December 2014: Challenge hackathon (13-14 December) and a meet-up.
January 2015: Monthly meet-up.
February/March 2015: Camp and meet-up.
March 2015: Incubation phase and meet-up.

(*Note: Monthly meet-ups were held every last Thursday of the month.)

Things Designs

Things Events

NetSquared Istanbul / Things Meetups

Net Tuesday gatherings, part of the NetSquared initiative, were monthly meetups designed to connect nonprofit professionals, tech enthusiasts, and activists to explore ways technology could support social change. Originating as grassroots gatherings, these events fostered a collaborative environment where participants shared insights, discussed challenges, and experimented with new digital tools and strategies for community impact. Net Tuesdays served as hubs for innovation and networking in various cities worldwide, contributing to the growth of socially driven tech solutions and cross-sector partnerships.

Things Izmir: Social Change Story Visualization Gathering

An event was organized to bring together individuals working in social change and those specializing in visualization tools to help visualize stories of social transformation. Participants, including activists, NGO members, and social entrepreneurs, worked on shaping and presenting their stories using various tools such as infographics, maps, videos, and posters. The event consisted of two parts: the first focused on storytelling, while the second involved practical work with selected visualization platforms. This gathering provided participants with new skills, ideas, and a supportive community, enabling them to effectively communicate their social change narratives.

Things Eskişehir: Visualization and Access to Information for Social Change Gathering

The «Things» event in Eskişehir brought together individuals interested in social change, visualization tools, and design activism. The program included workshops on visualization and social media, information design, and internet safety for activists. Facilitators with expertise in civil society media, design, and community work led these sessions, emphasizing collaboration and skill-building. «Things» continues to foster connections among social change enthusiasts, aiming to expand its events across Turkey and provide spaces for exploring visualization tools and creating robust community networks.

Things Adana: Visualization and Visualization and Social Media Tools for NGOs

The «Things» project organizes gatherings focused on social change and social technology, bringing together individuals to strengthen community bonds. Following its events in Istanbul, it hosted a session in Adana on «Visualization and Social Media Tools for NGOs,» introducing tools like Canva, Prezi, and Hootsuite for impactful communication.

Things Camp

«Things Project» worked to develop and support relationships among activists, hackers, NGOs, and individuals from various disciplines who were interested in exploring the tools that social technology offers for social change. A one-day camp was organized to bring together speakers from Turkey and around the world to engage with the Things community and those interested in social technology. The camp provided a unique opportunity for attendees to connect, learn, and collaborate on innovative solutions for social change.

Things Challange & Hackathon

The Things Challenge was launched to foster relationships between NGOs, activists, and individuals from various disciplines by providing a platform for exploring social technologies that support social change. As part of the challenge, individuals, NGOs, or informal organizations were invited to submit project ideas that use technology to make a positive impact. From the 108 project submissions, a panel of experts selected six finalists. These teams, alongside designers and coders, worked during a two-day Hackathon to transform their ideas into demos.

The selected projects tackled various social issues, including reviving traditional crafts with a mobile app, creating a platform to connect blood donors and recipients, and developing a tool to help visually impaired individuals get real-time visual assistance. Other projects included a platform for whistleblowers to share information safely, an app to facilitate communication among miners, and a local platform where communities could solve their own neighborhood issues. After the Hackathon, the top three projects, based on public voting, received $5000 in funding and three months of incubation to finalize their prototypes.

NetSquared Global Leadership Council Member

As a participant in the Global Leadership Council of NetSquared, I contributed to shaping NetSquared’s community-driven initiatives by collaborating with other global leaders to support and enhance local groups. Through monthly virtual meetings, mentorship, and peer engagement, I helped identify challenges, share innovative solutions, and foster connections that empowered local organizers. My involvement allowed me to support tech-driven social change, promote community development, and inspire new strategies for effectively addressing social issues within the NetSquared network.