“We Want to Bring Academic Production Together with Civil Society”

STÖ project (Civil Society Organizations Resource Center) is supported by EU and implemented by STGM (Civil Society Development Center). School of Civil Society (STOK) will start operating soon and bring civil society actors together with their stakeholders in academic field.

STOK aims to transmit academic information on civil society to CSOs in Turkey and hold trainings. STOK’s first training is going to be held on 18-20 October. We interviewed STÖ’s Community Politics Coordinator Zafer Çeler.

Could you tell us briefly about STÖ Resource Center?

STGM, which aims to support CSOs in developing their capacity to be more active in participatory democracy, started the implementation of STÖ project in February 2018. This project aims to support CSOs in building capacity, reinforcing their institutional, financial and administrative structures. In March, the Center started operating actively and held capacity development trainings first. Following those trainings, we will organize dialogue forums between CSOs and public institutions and organize good practice trips. Along with these, we will organize some activities to help CSOs establish stronger and sustainable bounds with the academy. In short, STÖ project aims to bring academic production together with civil society in Turkey.

Could you tell us about the trainings? What was your motivation when preparing the curriculum?

STOK trainings focus on action researches, proof-based activism, policy evaluation, participatory methods, theory of change, social impact assessment and activism-lobbying for CSOs.

Who can apply this training? What is the deadline for applications?

Deadline for applications is 21 September, 18.00. To fill the application form, you can visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeY0fL4R8TCxb-GJEukguU0WmlEf2X5oH9wwz9hIaEuvFeoCQ/viewform. Results will be announced on 5 October.