Local and Rural Development from the Point of Sustainable Living

We interviewed Murat Bayramoğlu about their book titled “Local and Rural Development from the Point of Sustainable Living”.

First, we would like to talk about your studies. What does Ozyegin Foundation do? 

Özyeğin Foundations has two main focuses. One of them is education. The Foundation has been constructing schools and student residences to improve educational substructure. There are also ongoing scholarship programs. Another focus is on rural and local development. These are on the agenda since 2008.

I am talking about an integrative program including field studies, policy development and academic studies.  The Foundation went through a long preparation period to decide on how to work about rural development, learned about international and national discussions & experiences. In the end, the Foundation adopted a strategy which is community based and reinforces family farming. A series of workshops were held with the participation of related public institutions, CSOs and producing unions’ representatives. The first project designed and implemented directly by the Foundation is Kavar Basin Rural Development Project, which was launched in 2009.

How does the process work?

Poverty, dynamic population, people’s interest and positive attitude of local governments are the main factors when choosing the field of application. After determining the field, we do house-based survey studies, focus group interviews and discussions and prepare development plans with 5 year targets. We organize teams made up of 3 persons in each basin. We coordinate the studies from the center.

This is where the book’s story begins.

We wanted to turn the conceptional information we had from our experiences into a book. This is not only a product of our works; it is also an outcome of the Foundation’s aim to be a bridge between academy and rural areas.