Programs
Teachers Academy Foundation (ÖRAV)
The Teachers Academy Foundation (ÖRAV) was established by Garanti BBVA in 2008 to support the professional and personal development of teachers and to protect children's right to access quality education. Since its establishment, the Foundation has been designing training programs, developing projects and working to contribute to teachers becoming better equipped educators.
ÖRAV, which responds to all requests from voluntary schools as part of its cooperation with the Ministry of Education and provides free training to these schools, has various training programs for all educators working in kindergartens, elementary school, secondary schools and high schools. In addition to the training programs, ÖRAV has an eKampüs distance education platform that is open to all teachers, accessible anytime, anywhere, and provides a reliable environment for sharing information and experiences.
Learn more on ÖRAV’s website.
Highlights:
- Since 2008, ÖRAV has reached more than 359.000 teachers in 81 provinces in Turkey.
- The number of active users of eKampüs is 80.000.
Salt
Salt was founded in 2011 by Garanti BBVA to promote the production of knowledge, culture and arts. Salt, which continues its activities as an innovative and participatory cultural institution that produces original works, carries out programs; namely, exhibitions, film screenings, performances, concerts, conferences and workshops on various topics such as art, architecture, design, urban life, and society. By producing content that raises awareness of social issues, Salt helps to increase the quality of information and serves as an open resource for everyone. Through its diverse archival and research projects, the institution contributes to the memory of Turkey and its neighboring countries.
Salt operates on two separate buildings in İstanbul (Salt Beyoğlu on İstiklal Caddesi and Salt Galata on Bankalar Caddesi), and online.
Learn more on Salt’s website.
Highlights:
- Salt Research's archival collections provide online access to nearly 2.000.000 documents and resources
- The library located in Salt’s Galata building which is available to its users free of charge five days a week, has a collection of more than 100.000 publications.
- Since its establishment in 2011, Salt has received more than 4 million visitors.
5 Pebbles: Social and Financial Leadership Program
The 5 Pebbles: Social and Financial Leadership Program, has been running since 2016 in collaboration with the Teachers Academy Foundation (ÖRAV), aims to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of primary and secondary school students regarding social and financial leadership. In addition to raising students' awareness of social and financial issues, the program ultimately aims to instill in them an awareness of being a “good citizen.”
Teachers participating in the program attend a 2-day training program where the program modules are explained in detail. Then, teachers who will continue the one-to-one mentoring process meet with their students for 5 topics for 2 months:
- Personal understanding and discovery
- Rights and responsibilities
- Saving and spending awareness
- Planning and budgeting
- Social and financial initiatives
Learn more with project web page..
Highlights:
- Since 2016, the 5 Pebbles: Social and Financial Leadership Program has reached more than 3.200 teachers and 42.000 students.
EqualUs (EşitBiz)
EqualUs (EşitBiz) project, has been running since 2022 in collaboration with the Teachers Academy Foundation (ÖRAV) to contribute to change for a better future. Supporting Social Development in Early Childhood” and “ trainings, which are conducted face-to-face for pre-school and primary school teachers, focus on the impact of gender roles on the social development of students. Project guides teachers on how to organize a supportive educational environment, educational materials and classroom communication.
Highlights:
- The project has reached more than 1.600 teachers and 25.000 students since 2022.
There's a Game at School
Within the scope of the project, which started in 2024 in cooperation with the Teachers' Academy Foundation (ÖRAV), the aim is to increase cooperation with the school and positive behavior towards the school during play activities at pre-school and primary school levels. Playing games, which is a tool for strengthening spiritual and emotional development, is also expected to contribute to the development of problem solving, decision-making, creative and critical thinking, collaborative working, cooperation and learning skills. Besides the students, teachers and parents also participate at the project to strengthen the communications between each other.
Learn more the project activities..
Unbanked Women Program Trainings
In order to support women's active participation in economic life, we are running two different training programs that will contribute to women managing their own economies better, within the scope of the Unbanked Women Program (Hesabını Bilen Kadınlar).
We carry out online and free basic financial literacy training, developed in collaboration with the Financial Literacy and Access Association (FODER). Click for detailed information.
In cooperation with the Foundation for the Support of Women's Work (KEDV), face-to-face trainings are organized with women's cooperatives to improve financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills. In 2023, we reached the provinces where our trainings reached: Istanbul, Izmir, Muğla, Manisa, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa. Click for detailed information.
Highlights:
- 1760 women participated in financial literacy training in 2023.
Blue Breath
Together with DenizTemiz Derneği/TURMEPA, we are implementing the Blue Breath project to combat the destruction caused by the mucilage crisis and contribute to activities that aim to protect the environment. Within the project, we try to prevent the general pollution of the seas and, when necessary, to combat the slime; we organize awareness courses on the cleanliness of the seas.
In addition to marine pollution, one of the dangers our seas face is increasing water temperature. Scientific studies are needed to make our waters more resilient against the increase in temperature that threatens marine life and biodiversity. For this reason, as of 2024, we have carried out long-term scientific protection and monitoring studies in the Saros Gulf and Göcek regions to rehabilitate the marine ecosystem by taking our project beyond cleaning activities.
Within the project:
- 2 sea sweepers are operating in the Bosphorus to combat pollution and litter in the Sea of Marmara.
- Seagrass protection and monitoring activities are carried out in Saros Gulf and Göcek.
- In order to raise awareness about the cleanliness of the seas, online training courses are provided for secondary school students and teachers on the importance of the seas, the protection of the marine ecosystem and individual responsibility for sustainable water resources.
- With the Blue Breath Education bus, students will receive training in robotic coding and production skills focused on the philosophy of waste prevention. In addition, the population of the Marmara region will be made aware of the cleanliness of the seas through various workshops.
- "Zero Waste" training sessions for high school students will be used to develop marine pollution projects. Blue Detective candidates will also raise awareness by serving as mentors for their peers.
Highlights:
- Since September 2021, the sea sweepers have collected and recycled approximately 200 tons of solid waste. The waste collected by the sea sweepers is equivalent to the daily waste generated by approximately 177 thousand people.
- From the beginning of the project, the education program reached 3.800 teachers and more than 67.000 students from 270 schools in Kocaeli, Bursa, Istanbul, Tekirdağ and Çanakkale.
Turkey's Life: Fire Management Grant Program
In collaboration with WWF-Turkey, we support forest fire projects implemented by local civil society organizations under the Turkey’s Life: Fire Management Grant Program, which was launched in June 2022. The program, launched to reduce the risk of forest fires that cause great damage to nature and the population, and to be better prepared for possible fires, aims to support the work of local non-governmental organizations that will
implement projects in three areas:
- Preventive work and preparations in advance of a fire,
- Effective participation in firefighting operations and disaster management during fires,
- Restoration of natural/ecological losses and restoration of socio-economic losses after fires.
6 projects were launched as of end-2023:
- “Forest Fire-Resistant Settlements” The Foresters’ Association of Türkiye (TOD)
- “Fire-Resistant Production Models” The Prosumer Economy Association (TürED)
- “Don’t Let Caracals Get Hurt by Forest Fires!” NATURA, The Society for the Conservation of Nature and Culture (NATURA)
- “A Forest Fire Prevention Eco-Kit: Local Knowledge and Practices of Protecting Wildwoods and Fighting Wildfires along Köyceğiz - Gökova Route” The Association for Equal Opportunity and Sustainable Future (FESG)
- “Be a Drop of Water” Hatay Association for Conservation of Nature (TAKODER)
- “Raising Increased Awareness of Wildfires in Tourism” The Foresters’ Association of Türkiye West Mediterranean Branch (TODBA)