FLAGSHIP PROGRAMMES
National Network
Turkiye
Address
Bahtılı Mh. 3366 Sk. No:44/1 KonyaaltıCountry
City
AntalyaMobile Phone
+905354548119Telephone
+905354548119E-Mail (2)
obadernegi@gmail.comE-Mail (3)
info@utopiaeduart.orgE-Mail (4)
hmtncl@gmail.comWebsite
Click HereYear of Establishment
2020Contact Person1
Bengü Ergin BaltaJob Title 1
Trainer, CoordinatorContact Person 2
Ahmet Öncel,Job Title 2
Association PresidentOrganisation Type
Non-Governmental OrganizationFields of Activity
Arts, Democracy and community development, Environment/Sustainable development, Human rights, International/Cultural relations, Youth and educationGeneral Information
Oba Nature and Education Organization serve in the field of nature, education, environmental sustainability, youth work, adult education and culture. Our main idea is using nature based learning and artistic tools as effective tools for teachers, adults, and youth in a non-formal education context. By following this objective, OBA is coordinating International exchange projects, International training courses, and workshops and nature activities. OBA’s specializations are nature based learning, green skills, farming, healthy lifestyle, sustainability, recycling, and artistic tools (creative drama, theatre, photography, video, animation, creative handcraft, and music). OBA believes the importance of non-formal education, sustainability, lifelong learning and our focus are on the following topics: Environmental problems, climate change, rural development, human rights, social exclusion, poverty, democracy, children rights, children violence, children labor, children in prisons and local social other problems. OBA is located in Antalya, Turkey in a field surrounded by orange trees with primarily local residents who supply us with their homemade food, locally farmed vegetables, fruits , jams and provide employment during our cultural programs to showcase local cuisines and traditional ways of making them. Our structures are mainly made out of locally sourced wood (as much as possible) to fit with our theme of nature and sustainability based activities.
Mission and Objectives
Mission:
To foster sustainable human and community development by bridging nature, art, and non-formal education. OBA is dedicated to creating inclusive learning environments, both locally in Antalya and internationally, that empower teachers, youth, and marginalised groups. Through nature-based learning, eco-pedagogy, and creative artistic tools, we aim to cultivate active citizenship, environmental responsibility, and social inclusion, transforming harmonious living with nature into a lifelong learning practice.
Objectives:
- To Promote Eco-Pedagogy and Nature-Based Learning: To develop and implement innovative outdoor education methodologies, green skills, and climate literacy for educators, youth, and children, reinforcing the vital bond between humans and the ecosystem.
- To Advance Social Inclusion and Human Rights: To ensure democratic access to quality education for disadvantaged groups, particularly focusing on seasonal workers' children, marginalised youth, and child-related social challenges through tailored alternative models like nomadic schools.
- To Integrate Art and Nature for Social Change: To utilise artistic tools (such as creative drama, theater, and digital media) as cross-cutting methods to address critical societal and environmental issues, from climate change to social exclusion.
- To Foster Intercultural Dialogue and Global Partnerships: To bridge local Anatolian heritage and sustainable community practices with Euro-Mediterranean sivil society networks through international exchanges, training courses, and strategic partnerships.
- To Cultivate Sustainable Lifestyles and Rural Development: To advocate for resilient, localised, and sustainable living patterns by supporting ecological farming, healthy lifestyles, recycling, and rural community engagement.
Main Projects / Activities
Oba Association has a learning center established in Antalya city which is intertwined with nature. In general, priority is given to activities themed on environmental protection, creativity, nature pedagogy, art, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. Activities are also carried out on issues such as climate change, environmental awareness, recycling, nature pedagogy, and healthy lifestyle. In addition to local activities, Oba also carries out international activities. It develops innovative projects on subjects such as European citizenship, active citizenship, and active aging. Training courses, strategic partnerships, volunteering activities are the main areas where the project is carried out. Our association, which was founded by educators and nature lovers who have been conducting volunteering activities since 2012, has received training on Nature Based Learning, Forest Pedagogy, and Nature Literacy and participated in several activities. Our association took part in The Roofless Schools projects, working alongside international participants and associations from many countries.. Within the scope of this project, necessary support was provided for schools to organize outdoor educational activities. The School Everywhere Project is carried out by our association in which we set up a nomadic-style school which is constructed by tents for the disadvantaged children in the locations they are based at to make it even more accessible for them to receive the education they need. Activities were carried out with seasonal workers' children from Anatolia. In 2015, with our youth in action project, which we conducted in cooperation with TV programmer and writer Serdar Kılıç. We held the nature training course with 35 young people from 10 different countries in the camp of Bolu Mudurnu, which belongs to Serdar Kılıç. In this process, we have developed cooperation and long-term partnerships with many associations. Later, we participated in the TREES project in the Czech Republic and gained more experience in nature education. Our participants who went to Italy with the project called ECOTheatre worked on the link between nature and art. We participated in studies on nature and food with the project named Captain COOK in Noussa, Greece. With the Green Art project, we organised clean-up activities which included collecting garbage on Antalya Konyaaltı beach and the ocean debris with diving equipment. In our farm, we have animals (goats, sheep, chickens ducks and bees) and we organize activities for kids to connect animals and farming. Moreover, we organised more than 20 training courses for teachers and youth workers on social inclusion, climate literacy and forest pedagogy.
How can you contribute to the Network in your country?
We hope to contribute to the ALF National Network in Türkiye:
- Offering a Space for Collaborative Learning: We would be glad to open up our nature-based learning center in Antalya as a welcoming space for national network meetings, small-scale workshops, or peer-learning circles focused on ecology, art, and sustainability.
- Sharing Grassroots Methodologies: We are happy to share our practical experiences in eco-pedagogy, climate literacy, and forest pedagogy with fellow network members. We hope to contribute to capacity-building by exchange of practices on how outdoor education can be made accessible.
- Contributing Insights on Social Inclusion: Through our local fieldwork with disadvantaged groups; such as our tent-school initiatives for seasonal workers' children; we hope to share our learning on using creative drama, theater and handicrafts as soft tools for social inclusion and children's rights.
- Supporting Joint Initiatives: Having participated in international youth work and partnerships over the years, we look forward to being a reliable, cooperative partner within the network, contributing where we can to co-creating future Euro-Mediterranean projects.
- Connecting Local Heritage with Network Dynamics: We hope to enrich the network's cultural diversity by bringing in perspectives from rural development, local eco-farming, and traditional sustainable practices rooted in our local Anatolian community.
Why do you want to join the ALF Network?
We wish to join the ALF Network to become part of a meaningful, collaborative space dedicated to fostering intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding across the Euro-Mediterranean region.
As a grassroots organisation that bridges nature, art, and non-formal education, we see the network as an invaluable platform to exchange practical methodologies with fellow civil society organisations and learn from their diverse cultural perspectives.
The complex global and regional challenges we address, such as climate change, social exclusion, and children's rights require shared wisdom and cooperative action.
By joining, we hope to find like-minded partners to co-create sustainable initiatives, while also bringing the unique realities, eco-pedagogical insights, and traditional community practices of our local center in Antalya into a broader, interconnected conversation that champions human rights and active citizenship.
Additional Information
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