Listen locallyYerelde başlama
Begin with school visits, needs assessment and dialogue with teachers, students and families.Okul ziyaretleri, ihtiyaç değerlendirmesi ve öğretmenler, öğrenciler ve ailelerle diyalog kurarak işe başlama.
Public Engagement
Designing hope, space by space.
Working with students, teachers, families, artists, local makers and university partners to turn solidarity into welcoming places to learn, play and belong.Öğrenciler, öğretmenler, aileler, sanatçılar, yerel üreticiler ve üniversite paydaşlarıyla birlikte dayanışmayı öğrenmenin, oyunun ve aidiyetin yaşandığı sıcacık eğitim mekanlarına dönüştürüyoruz.
In my own words, I call this project “Designing Hope for Earthquake-Affected Schools.” Each term, I work alongside Professor Yusuf İnandı and Assistant Professor Ramazan Karatepe, our volunteer students and teachers, and people from different professions who want to join us. Together, we design hope through patient, shared effort and honour the loved ones we lost in the earthquakes.Kendi ifadelerimle “Depremden Etkilenmiş Okullara Umut Dizaynı” adını verdiğim bu projede, her dönem Prof. Dr. Yusuf İnandı ve Dr. Öğretim Üyesi Ramazan Karatepe hocalarımla, gönüllü öğrencilerimizle, öğretmenlerimizle ve farklı meslek alanlarından bizimle bu yola çıkmak isteyen herkesle birlikte emek emek umudu dizayn ediyoruz; depremde kaybettiğimiz sevdiklerimizi onurlandırıyoruz.
12completed learning spaces
4provinces reached
- HataySamandağ — LibraryYayladağı — Library, Special Education Classroom & 200 Olive Saplings PlantedAntakya — Library
- AdıyamanÇelikhan — Volleyball Court & Mind and Intelligence Games Classroom
- Gaziantepİslahiye — Library
- KahramanmaraşAndırın — Library & Mind and Intelligence Games Classroom
200olive saplings planted
2Social Contribution Awards
(2024 & 2025)
(2024 & 2025)
Learning spaces are a shared act of recovery.
Designing Hope: Participatory Learning Spaces for Disaster-Affected Schools in Türkiye is a university-led social-design initiative. It reimagines under-resourced school spaces as libraries, special education classrooms, mind and intelligence games rooms and sports areas—while making the process itself a meaningful form of participation.
Mobilise creativityBütçe oluşturma
Fundraise through theatre, concerts, fairs and handmade products.Tiyatro, konser, fuar ve el yapımı ürünler aracılığıyla proje için bütçe oluşturma.
Build togetherBirlikte tasarlama ve kurma
Plan, source, paint, install and furnish spaces with volunteers and school communities.Gönüllüler ve okul topluluklarıyla birlikte mekânların ve mobilyaların tasarımını ve planlamasını yapma, malzeme temin etme, boyama ve kurulumu gerçekleştirme.
Keep belongingÖğrenme ve oyunla donatma
Open each space with learning and play that supports everyday school life.Kurulan alanları öğrenme etkinlikleri ve oyunlarla donatma; çocukların bu alanları günlük okul yaşamında kullanmasını destekleme.
From loss, a shared purpose.
The earthquakes of 6 February 2023 took my mother, my father and 17 relatives. I was also unable to save the books that my father, a literature teacher, had called “my legacy to my grandchildren.” From that inner fire of grief came a determination to direct pain, energy and care towards something life-affirming. Together with academics, teachers, students and volunteers, we have joined hands with earthquake-affected school communities to create libraries, special education classrooms, a volleyball court and mind-and-intelligence games rooms.
2023–2024 Spring
Sutaşı Village School Library
Sutaşı Köyü Seyfettin Sağaltıcı Primary School · Samandağ, Hatay
The opening chapter of Designing Hope transformed a village-school library into a warm space for reading and discovery through a collective student-and-staff effort.
- One village-school library renewed
- Approximately 5,500 books, furniture and mind-and-intelligence games supplied
2024–2025 Autumn
Library, special education classroom & olive grove
Atatürk Middle School & Yayladağı Middle School · Yayladağı, Hatay
School fairs, handmade products and the Ah Şu Gençler theatre performance became a library and an accessible special education classroom. The opening was accompanied by the planting of olive saplings with the school community.
- One library and one special education classroom established
- 200 olive saplings planted
- Installation and opening completed with volunteers in December 2024
2025 Spring
In memory of the Champion Angels
Two schools · Çelikhan, Adıyaman
Dedicated to the memory of the Şampiyon Melekler girls’ volleyball team, this was a two-school project in Çelikhan, Adıyaman—connecting remembrance with children’s right to learn, play and gather.
- Şehit Mesut Çelik Middle School: one multi-purpose volleyball court renewed
- Şehit Er Erdal Şireci Primary School: one Mind and Intelligence Games Classroom established
- Opening-day activities brought children, families, students and volunteers together around the new spaces
2025–2026 Autumn
Library & intelligence games room
Suvatlı Sefa Atakaş Primary and Secondary School · Antakya, Hatay
Theatre and handmade-product sales supported a fully equipped library and mind-and-intelligence games room. Painting, installation and shared games with children made delivery a participatory school experience.
- One library and one mind-and-intelligence games room created
- Play and learning activities designed to support connection and wellbeing
2026 Libraries
Two more libraries for the earthquake region
Dervişpaşa Middle School, İslahiye, Gaziantep · Şehit Erdal Kama Middle School, Andırın, Kahramanmaraş
Students, the Faculty of Education Theatre Volunteers, the Gastronomy Society and the Turkish Folk Music Society joined forces to create two further libraries. Furniture was designed and produced in Mersin before travelling to the school communities.
- Two libraries completed
- Extending the work across Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş
Other Social Contribution Projects
Public contribution also happens through research capacity, professional learning, family-centred support and inclusive teaching.
EDAR: Empowering Disaster-Affected Scholars
Principal Investigator for an interdisciplinary capacity-building project supporting early-career researchers affected by the 2023 earthquakes, prioritising disadvantaged groups.
Inclusive classrooms and professional support
Three special education classrooms at Mehmet Akif Primary School in Yayladağı were renewed alongside training on disability rights, emotional awareness, AI-supported material design and family learning support.
Read the university newsEcotherapy for Psychosocial Empowerment
Advisor to a project exploring ecotherapy as a route to psychosocial empowerment, connecting wellbeing, place and inclusive educational practice.
Professional learning for children and future practitioners
Instructor on Supporting Children in Sudden Life Events and Developmental Report Preparation Training for Undergraduate Students.
Emotional Regulation Support for Refugee Families and Children
Project Director for a family-centred intervention supporting emotional regulation among refugee families and their children.
From physical spaces to sustained participation
Across these projects, the focus remains the same: strengthen opportunities for children, families, educators and researchers to participate, connect and thrive.
Awards for community impact and collaborative scholarship
Mersin University Social Contribution Award
Recognised for earthquake-recovery work combining the Sutaşı school library with inclusive-learning initiatives in Yayladağı, including special education provision, community learning and olive-sapling planting.
Mersin University Social Contribution Award
Recognised for sustained participatory work that created new library, games and sports spaces for earthquake-affected school communities, alongside student and volunteer engagement.
SSCI Q1 International Collaborative Publication Award
Recognition for international collaborative scholarship published in SSCI Q1 journals and developed through shared expertise in inclusive education research.
SSCI Q1 International Collaborative Publication Award
A further recognition celebrating research partnerships that connect scholarly rigour with questions that matter in educational practice.
Every classroom says something about who belongs.
For me, public engagement is a way of putting research, care and collective imagination into practice—alongside communities, and always with the hope that more children can enter a space and feel that it was made for them.