Creative Activism

KRE-AKT 2023 Program For Contact, Dialogue and Reconciliation with the Other

The KRE-AKT support program for Creative Activism, held for the second time with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Türkiye Office and executed by Impact Hub Istanbul, focused on the theme of polarization and discrimination. These issues are experienced to varying degrees in every society, with different versions of populism, and are intensely felt even in our daily lives.

Reducing Polarization and Discrimination with KRE-AKT

In general terms, polarization can be defined as a phenomenon that feeds on all kinds of imbalances and inequalities between different social groups, leading to the closure of communication channels between these groups and, as a result, individuals determining their attitudes on social issues by being trapped in their identities. The political operationalization of polarization leads to policies of discrimination, hate speech against certain groups, hate crimes and various forms of violence.

In the new period of KRE-AKT, it was aimed to open up for discussion through the selected projects such as the consequences of polarization and discrimination on which groups, whether a social reconciliation between "us" and "them" is possible, and how reconciliation can be built together with social tensions.

12 Projects: Creating Spaces for Dialogue and Social Peace

Opened on 28 September, applications were closed on 15 October and 100 applications were received in total. Following an evaluation process, 12 projects were selected. The ideas presented by the program participants, who work in the creative industry, media and communication sector, community founders, activists and NGO employees, were developed within the framework of an impact and advocacy-oriented model to make the problems of polarization and discrimination visible and contribute to the solution of this problem.

On October 25 - 26 at Impact Hub Istanbul, physical trainings, workshops and online sessions designed in line with the needs of the participants helped them develop a clear advocacy message and advocacy activities, produce creative content focused on social good and advocacy with digital methods, and think about sustainable income models.

On November 24th, in an exciting jury and networking event, all project owners made their presentations respectively. The jury consisting of Gülçin Sinav (FNF Turkey Office, Programs Director), Ayşe Sabuncu (Impact Hub Istanbul, Co-Founder), İlkay Bilgiç (Sinemasal General Coordinator), Prof. Dr. Erkan Saka (Bilgi University, Department of Media and Communication) and Emre Gür (Sivil Düşün, Civil Society Key Expert) evaluated the projects and the two winning projects were 20'lik and Kulüp+. Yasmin Güleç, the founder of the 20'lik platform, which is the voice of young people, and Selin Yıldız, the founder of Kulüp+, which aims to create safe and accessible sports areas for LGBTI+s, were given start-up/micro-finance support to implement their projects. Within the scope of the program, all project owners had the opportunity to be included in the networks of Impact Hub Istanbul and Friedrich Naumann Foundation, networking and visibility.

With KRE-AKT 2023, an important space was opened to bring to light discrimination-hate-based discourses, discrimination policies and violence against vulnerable groups such as youth, women, LGBTI+, refugees, etc. in Türkiye through creative methods and to build dialogue, reconciliation and peace grounds by building advocacy strategies against these social problems and dichotomies.