Initiatives
Highlights
Our work
Since inception, EED has supported over 600 initiatives aimed at promoting democracy in the EU neighbourhood and beyond. This database provides an insight into the work of EED partners over the years. However, due to the sensitive nature of certain initiatives and personal security risks facing some grantees in the restrictive environments where they operate, not all initiatives are listed in the database.
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Gola Association
Country: TurkeyGola Association is a women-led organisation working for over 14 years in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. The association has an interdisciplinary and holistic approach that includes research, arts and culture, and activism on various issues related to the region. They also work on raising awareness and advocating for urban issues and ecological rights locally. With EED support, Gola is taking a long-desired step of physically being based in the Black Sea region. This will allow them to deepen their work in the local region and create a new space for the local community and civil society.
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Arkhé Projesi
Country: TurkeyA student-run project founded to counter the erosion of quality in higher education and to promote critical thinking, Arkhé Projesi runs summer school for students and has developed a relevant online presence, with lectures and blog posts about various social, cultural, and political issues. EED’s funding is allowing them to increase their institutional capacity and the volume of their educational activities in the realm of democracy and human rights.
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Aras Publishing House
Country: TurkeyWith a 25-year history, Aras is the world’s only bilingual Armenian-Turkish publishing house. Its main objective is introducing Armenian literature, history and culture to a Turkish audience, in order to promote peaceful dialogue between Armenians, Turks, Kurds and other groups. With EED funding, they launched Hippo, a series of children's books in both Armenian and Turkish editions to provide children of both communities with a common literary experience.
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Izlemedeyiz Dernegi (On Watch Association)
Country: TurkeyOn Watch Association have gained significant reach on social media channels for their political fact-checking work, with hundreds of thousands of followers. In a country where mainstream media is de facto monopolised by the government, and where public debate is infested by conspiracy theories, On Watch is verifying politicians’ statements and acts as a bipartisan watchdog over politicians and institutions. EED support covers operational costs such as staff salaries and technical expenses, allowing them to maintain their independence and to keep producing high-quality work.
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Center for Spatial Justice (Mekanda Adalet Derneği - MAD)
Country: TurkeyThe Center for Spatial Justice is a Turkish NGO which has established itself as an open hub for all environmental and urban justice activists. They organise meetings, workshops and movie screenings with activists, researchers and journalists to raise awareness on urban and environmental issues. They are using their grassroot experience to influence policy-making and have been invited by different municipalities to collaborate and to present their reports on urban transformation. EED support is allowing them to conduct their activities and to strengthen their institutional capacity.
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SPoD (Sosyal Politika Cinsiyet Kimliği ve Cinsel Yönelim Çalışmaları Derneği)
Country: TurkeySPoD is one of the main LGBT+ organisations in Turkey, a country where events like the Pride and the Women’s March continue to be banned by the governors and participants and activists are arrested. EED’s grant is allowing them to improve their internal management and to cover ongoing expenses, and to provide training to their staff in communications, crisis and conflict management and digital tools. This institutional development will help them to better meet the needs of the local LGBT+ community.
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Civic Space Studies Association
Country: TurkeyIn Turkey, universities have become a central ideological battleground and a target of government oppression, affecting academics as well as students. The Civic Space Studies (CSS) has been established as an association aimed at supporting the expansion of civic space, monitoring and countering the crackdown on civic activism by the government. With EED’s support, the association’s objective is to bring the issue of persecution of student activists and young rights advocates to the fore and provide much needed support to campus activism.
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İzmir Solidarity and Scientific Research Association
Country: TurkeyThe İzmir Solidarity Academy (IDA) is an association initiated by academics to serve the needs of academics who have faced dismissal and oppression for endorsing peace and standing by truth and justice. IDA aims to strengthen solidarity among academics and to enhance the democratic culture in İzmir and surrounding provinces by cooperating with other civil society organizations and individual activists.
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Karşı Sanat Culture Institute
Country: TurkeyThis unique cultural initiative functions as ‘hub’ for artists, academics, students and civil society members to come together and engage in critical discussions on political and social issues in Turkey. The aim is to help young intellectuals and artists to gain experience in collective production processes and become active and socially engaged citizens.
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Accessible Film Festival
Country: TurkeyWith EED’s support, the Puruli Culture and Art Association will organise the 7th annual Accessible Film Festival in Turkey. People living in Istanbul, Eskisehir and Ankara who have a visual, hearing or orthopaedic impairment will be offered enhanced access to film screenings so they are able to engage meaningfully in cultural experiences. The films are screened in accessible venues with audio description, sign language translation, detailed subtitling, autism friendly screenings etc. Ultimately, the festival’s film library and accessibility methods will be made available for other institutions to arrange screenings in various cities in Turkey.
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