Evidence 3
BAUMUS
BAU Center of Migration and Urban Studies (BAUMUS) has a collaboration with YERELIZ (Local Monitoring, Research and Application Association / Yerel İzleme, Araştırma ve Uygulamalar Derneği), and organize School for Local Advocacy (Yerel Savunuculuk Okulu) since 2018 at Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul.
LOCAL ADVOCACY SCHOOL
Local Monitoring, Research and Implementation Organization (YERELİZ) in collaboration with Bahçeşehir University Center of Migration and Urban Studies (BAUMUS) has organized a 10-week capacity building program for human rights activists, NGO members and local government workers. The main objectives of the “Local Advocacy School” was to raise awareness on possible NGO-local government cooperation, to provide intellectual tools to efficiently communicate and work with local government units, and to expand the network of the participants of different backgrounds and professions. In the end, participants were able to communicate and collaborate with local governments in social policy, human rights and environmental topics rather than regarding them merely as the institutions to build infrastructures and to provide basic social services.
The curriculum was developed by professional members of YERELİZ and professionals from other organizations. The program covered a detailed study of local government structures, right-based engagement in urban planning, ecological perspective in urban planning, literacy skills for legal documents, fundraising on the local level, international agreements concerning social policy-making in urban areas, green policies for urban areas and current development in human rights activism on the local level. The professional/organizational variety of the participants made the program more rich, detailed and effective even than planned. The topics were covered by instructors who are expert on their areas although participants actively assisted them to deepen the level analysis by providing real and up-to-date examples. The program also included case-studies of actual problems and policy solutions, at least one in each class. Participants were invited to put together their previous experiences, diverging perspectives and take-aways from the lectures, and proposed policy solutions for the problems in urban areas.
http://yereliz.org/tag/savunuculuk/
http://yereliz.org/ii-yerel-savunuculuk-okulu-ogrencilerini-ariyor/
https://www.stgm.org.tr/en/node/17186
