EGEPASS - Ege University Projects & Activities with the Students of Sociology
One of the most important outputs of being accredited is that the accredited institution, group, or organization will provide standardization in terms of quality and assurance. Therefore, it is important for us to show the guarantee that the EgePASS group, established within the Sociology Department of Ege University, will do reliable and quality work, with the Erasmus+ Youth accreditation, which is of great importance worldwide. In this direction, our biggest motivation is to improve our activities, strengthen our communication with our partners, and easily identify our strengths and weaknesses in our journey.
In our community, which consists of many people, a great deal of importance is given to intercultural communication, and an inclusive attitude is displayed for different languages, beliefs, or races. Therefore, the aim of each of us is to be a world citizen by touching and knowing many parts of the world and contributing with our experience and ideas. One of the main motivations of the organization is that with this accreditation, it will be able to improve members’ view of the world and contribute to itself and its surroundings from the perspective of a sociologist.
Our Goals
EgePASS brainstorming and meetings were to create solutions that can be hope for everyone who is left in the background. While these project proposals are generally shaped under the main headings such as gender, sexual health education, sustainable life, the importance of water, or special education, the importance of communication is always kept in the foreground. We think that it is necessary to raise awareness about the problems that are going on in our country and in the world.
While all these are being realized, it is very important for us to be constructive, disciplined, sustainable, and inclusive towards all kinds of disadvantaged situations and people, considering the situations that the consumer society drags us into. In this connection with the world, the importance of culture is so important that it cannot be ignored. Of course, while this is achieved, it is necessary to overcome the communication deficiencies caused by the pandemic.
Objective 1
What do we want to achieve?
First of all, as we have mentioned many times, providing a successful communication environment is one of the most important goals. This communication will be meaningful for us sociologists if it takes place in many contexts. We want to be able to do this in the right way, from micro to macro contexts, such as our interpersonal communication, our communication with other groups as a group, and our communication with institutions. While establishing this connection, EgePASS emphasizes that while trying to develop national and international communication, it is important not to separate culture and communication from each other.
One of the biggest needs of this objective is to provide the opportunity to reach other people in the world who value this work like us, who value culture, are sensitive, and adopt human rights values. The communication issue, which has been interrupted by the pandemic, is desired to be made fluent. This healthy communication environment has already begun to be supported by the support of continuous sharing, openness to communication, and brainstorming.
Objective 2
What do you want to achieve?
Another issue that the organization wants to achieve is to make sustainable development goals an indispensable value in every product produced. It is an important goal for us to adopt this in-group and out-group, communications with institutions, and even in our individual lives.
It will be important for us to raise awareness on all issues from gender to climate crisis, from education to the use of water in the discussions on these goals.
In this sense, it is an important need to increase readings in the field of sustainability and to set these goals as values that are sincerely adopted by all members of the group rather than being a tool. The challenges that may be encountered in connection with this point may be that the majority of them have not been in a discussion environment on this subject before and they are limited to their individual training since there is no brainstorming. However, at this point, the group's focus and willingness to share will offer a solution.
Apart from this, it will be useful to be open-minded and raise awareness about all kinds of social phenomena.
What is the intended impact on the target groups, participants and participating organisations?
It is important to maintain intercultural communication within the target group or with the participants locally, regionally, or internationally, by giving importance to culture. An idea that started in a local context is not expected to remain specific to that context. Therefore, addressing universal problems will have an impact, even if the context is small.
Issues such as women's economic liberty, gender equality, disadvantaged groups, environment, and multiculturalism are concepts that will find their place in every community or society, no matter how diverse the culture is. Therefore, studying these issues in any context will result in awareness raising, which is very important to us.
Our Contribution
As we have mentioned before, the primary way to achieve these goals is through intercultural communication. Working together and brainstorming with young minds who have studied sociology will bring a high level of awareness in this sense.
Projects to be supported by training and seminars, collaborations with institutions, training to improve the use of a common language, and group work where all these will be discussed as a result of this training will contribute. The planning of group members to issue small booklets on the projects they plan can set an example in the concretization of these contributions. Apart from this, our friends who want to contribute to EU Youth Strategy do not hesitate to take action and produce new ideas about education.
What type of activities would we like to implement with Erasmus funds?
First of all, language learning support will be provided to the project participants with Erasmus funds. With this activity, the communication and cultural exchange that will be established with other participants during the mobility takes place will be healthier. Most importantly, since the project introduction phase will be carried out in more detail, it will be beneficial to contribute to the solution of the problems addressed by the project in the participants' own countries. One of our main goals is to be able to mutually touch on the common points we touched on in our own environment, in projects that can later be moved to the international arena. While addressing these points, project designs and funding will be planned, considering multiculturalism, disadvantaged groups, migration issues, environmental awareness, and sustainable development goals.
If we need to give more specific details, it is beneficial to create speaking clubs or to participate in existing ones, to make cultural studies, to prepare booklets, to organize awareness-raising activities and to plan all these within the framework of sustainable living and to prepare a 3-year schedule.
How these activities will fit in our organisation’s regular work and activities
Our organization consists of individuals who have a sociology license and continue their education. For this reason, everyone in our organization has knowledge of the stage of observing social benefits, recognizing social problems, and contributing to their solutions. Therefore, we are confident in identifying the characteristics of societies and also producing solutions for the needs of young people. As a result, it is inevitable for the above-mentioned activities to comply with the regular works and activities of our organization.
In order to fulfill certain plans on determining issues, planning will be carried out at the right time and place, adhering to the current task sharing and deadlines. We have already started to work on gaining the habit of this order. Apart from this, the work we want to do can go parallel to the values we adopt as a society, in a multicultural country, with people who are open to communication.
Basic principles, during the preparation, implementation and follow-up of our activities
First of all, the EgePASS organisation has been socializing together from the very beginning. The foundations of this organization are laid by ensuring integrity and without waste during the preparation phase. Apart from the project proposals prepared with equal responsibilities, it can be said that we are in constant communication and sharing with each member of a large group like EgePASS in order to prepare for both the project and our goals. This order is progressing daily and correctly. It is inevitable that this process will be reflected in the implementation part.
Apart from that, each group member of the inclusive organization insists on exhibiting a hospitality that is exactly in line with our culture, both to each other, to the institutions to be cooperated with, and to international participants.
Maintaining our core principles is just as much a part of the process as getting started and implementing. While this is the case for each of us individually, it will also be followed with tangible products such as booklets, social media posts, and visual elements.
Inclusion and diversity
Our project team, which has a Bachelor of Sociology has developed a perspective that participating organizations by receiving language learning support, exchanging information with the participants with fewer opportunities, and creating opportunities for disadvantaged groups as a result of research and various methods, cultural activities, sports activities or other practices.
In addition, a sociological perspective will be gained on how projects should be implemented in countries, and a knowledge base will be created in terms of their participation in the project. In our own group, all suitable environments will be created to ensure the participation of people with fewer opportunities, and an unhindered process will be created for all kinds of disadvantaged situations.
Therefore, inclusion and diversity is a very important feature for all team members. This element has never been and will not be overlooked at the focal point of the projects, among the project members, and in terms of the participants.
Environmental sustainability and responsibility
As a team, we can guarantee that we will pay attention to the maximum level from the emergence of the projects to the final stage, thanks to the lectures we have learned in our academic life and our observations about the environment. Therefore, since environmental sustainability is a goal we adopt in our lives, it is also reflected in the mission and vision of the project group. For example, plans are made in such a way as to minimize the use of goods in the meetings (the recyclability of the goods) and the carbon emissions are going to be planned in the trips. In addition to these, environmental sustainability is also taken into consideration in the issues within the projects as a focus.
This can be exemplified by a plan in mind that sustainability is an important value in the organization and in our individual lives. When we think of İzmir, the city where our university is located, we can see it in the first place in the cities where bicycles are used the most in Turkey. When the transportation issue is considered in the events to be held in this city, the bicycle option will certainly be encouraged.
Active participation in the network of Erasmus+ organisations
Particularly, being a part of such a multicultural organization that can reach large masses means being a part of a valuable network. Therefore, as valuable as being a part of it is, taking action and active participation in this network seem just as important. For this, we can list some of the ideas listed by our group friends as follows:
- Encouraging people to participate with visual elements such as videos and photos,
- Sharing experiences with capturing but informative posts,
-Organizing question & answer events,
-To provide support from our institution, which is very active in Erasmus+ and falls heavily on this issue, and to ensure that we reach a clearer target audience.
Virtual cooperation, virtual mobility and blended mobility
With the increasing digitalization of the multicultural and dynamic society, it is planned to share the results or tests, if there are any, by using the communication tools (eTwinning and School Education Gateway) determined for the emergence of a virtual movement and this movement to become more equipped. Currently, the group's information sharing is maintained both in the virtual and real environment, and this mixed perspective is successfully adopted by the group.
Apart from that, we try to incorporate both traditional and digital aspects into our work to get maximum efficiency. We use Microsoft Teams to keep in touch and share certain documents there. We also have in-person meetings where we work on our ideas. It is obvious that we will reflect these practices, which we think we can achieve maximum efficiency, to our work. These two different communication styles, which every member has gained during the pandemic, can easily be shaped by our group within our possibilities.
Our organisation’s approach towards participants
The EgePASS’ approach to participants is quite inclusive. Although the participant profile will of course be shaped in line with the projects. Both the group members and the target audience will have a perspective that does not exclude any culture, religion, or language, on the contrary, effective procedures will be in place in case of any discrimination. In addition, an attitude toward ensuring the participation of disadvantaged groups in all kinds of activities will be maintained throughout this process. Language support will also be provided on the language barrier in mobility activities. Therefore, it is our aim to establish a sensitive organization where everyone who wants to make their voice heard and touch the other person can be included in the group.
The learning dimension of our activities and the measures we will put in place to embed a quality non-formal learning process for the participants
In our project, all participants will be supported to understand the subject by using simplified language and explanations at a level that all participants can understand and participate in, and learning will be supported by the sharing of group members. At the same time, language learning, which is at different levels for each student, will be brought to the standard and necessary level, again through individual or group solidarity, and via various channels.
Apart from this, education will be supported with various question-and-answer activities. Participants will be supported to participate in training and certificate programs in their fields of interest, and information sharing will continue at the meetings to be held. Therefore, it will be a very normal output for this organization, where sharing is at every stage, students working on similar projects can create awareness, and the motivation of this organization, which supports education, is alive.
How will we handle risk assessment and management?
There will be a division of labor among all participants and the groups formed will also control each other while collaborating. Finally, the responsible person -and of course all members of the groups- will check the outputs. This situation will prevent the confusion and risk that may arise in a large group and make all group members active in the assessment. Therefore, a large group that will produce a lot of content will be managed by both ensuring their loyalty and supporting each other and relieving their burden. For this reason, everyone will have to closely follow the work they own and the shares of the other person.
Apart from this, we intend to create an environment of trust for each participant, as students who are well-versed in research ethics in the projects planned. Especially in this organization where sharing and digital use are important, it is necessary to maintain this environment of trust within the group, in projects and travels.
Our organisation’s approach towards monitoring and evaluation of our activities
As we mentioned above, the division of labor in which everyone has equal responsibilities has an important place here. Because as a result of this division of labor, all organizational members need information that each other needs, so information sharing and support never stops with this sense of responsibility. Therefore, monitoring and evaluation are provided via constant communication with each other.
On the other hand, collaborations will provide a natural monitoring and evaluation process because there will be responsibilities taken with the collaborating institutions. In this way, we will be able to reflect the values we have adopted in our own group within the projects. Apart from that, consultation with the coordinator, with the institutions or with each other will suffice.
How will we measure progress towards our overarching objectives?
Participants will be constantly informed and their opinions will be taken through the meetings held and to be held. The opinions of the participants will be followed through various forms and questionnaires and will be combined into a common output. With the analysis of this data, the coordinator and group members will be able to see whether they are on the way to their objectives and measure their progress.
As we mentioned above, working with sponsorships puts us in search of measurement with a sense of responsibility. It is important for us to follow ourselves that the measurement intervals made in this organization are regular and frequent.
To reiterate, we are a team of sociology students. Therefore, advanced research techniques, democratic exchange of ideas, constructive criticism and observation knowledge are embedded in our education. We can use these values well to measure our progress as we reach our objectives.
How will the results be shared?
During the process, group members will take notes and at the end of the project, short articles and brochures will be prepared and shared on the necessary sites. Therefore, from the beginning of the organization, everyone will have many records in terms of planning, tracking and data creation. Sharing these regular and classified data will be very easy, and it will even emerge as a natural result.
Social media is a pretty good tool for the sharing part. These projects will be widely known thanks to the short videos and posts prepared by the students. Apart from this, since we have determined a hybrid approach, sharing with seminars will be supported. In this part, as in every stage of the process, our participants assume roles equally and can draw conclusions by using appropriate techniques with virtual and face-to-face interactions.
