Kocaeli Children's Council and Workshop, under the consultancy of Toyistan founder Hakan Hekimhanlı, was held at the Kocaeli Congress Center.
Children showed great affection to Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tahir Büyükakın, who attended the Kocaeli Children's Council and Workshop, and took many photos and chatted with him. In addition to Mayor Büyükakın, Kocaeli Governor İlhami Aktaş, Provincial Police Chief Faruk Karaduman, Kocaeli Provincial Director of National Education Ömer Akmanşen, Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General Dr. Hayri Baraçlı, Kocaeli Provincial Health Director Op. Dr. Yüksel Pehlivan, Provincial Director of Family and Social Policies Kamil Tüylüoğlu, AK Party İzmit District Chairman Halil Güngör Dokuzlar and many children and families attended the program. POPULATION IN KOCAELI INCREASES EVERY YEAR
Coming to the podium with the great love show of little hearts, Mayor Büyükakın started his speech with the words, “Families are here. Mothers are here. But most importantly, children are here. These are very valuable and very good results will come from this.” Stating that Kocaeli is changing and developing every passing day, Büyükakın said, “Kocaeli of 10 or 20 years ago is not the same as Kocaeli today. It will not be the same tomorrow either. Kocaeli is receiving approximately 50 thousand new population every year. This change necessitates us to constantly review our city plans. The city administration is in constant improvement with the cycle of ‘plan’, ‘implement’, ‘control’, ‘take precautions’.”
ACTING WITH CHILDREN IS IMPORTANT
Tahir Büyükakın, who continued his speech by talking about the studies conducted for children and reminding that they value their ideas, said, “It is necessary to conduct these workshops, check them after a certain period of time, review them and take new measures. The world is separating us into functions and distancing us from working every passing day. An incident has started to affect not only security but also the family. Our lifestyle will also be the way we build the city. Therefore, thinking about these issues and doing this especially with women and children is a very smart thing. The most valuable of these is to act together with children. Sometimes someone who does not know the subject at all can see that subject very easily from you.
“TELL US ABOUT YOUR DREAM KOCAELİ”
Büyükakın, who stated that they always value their thoughts and ideas by saying, “We expect a lot from young people,” concluded his words as follows: “There is a special session for you in this workshop and tell us about your dream Kocaeli there. Tell us what we should do for you. Let us take a step and think to realize your dream. Sometimes we may not be able to imagine because of what we know. We need unrestricted minds when managing our cities. In fact, we need your minds. Only you can achieve this. You can make Kocaeli a more beautiful place.”
EIGHT FOCUS TABLES WERE FORMED IN THE WORKSHOP
While project consultant Hakan Hekimhanlı made a technical and current status presentation of the workshop in the program, educator and author Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saniy Ebencik Kangal drew attention to the importance of children’s connection with nature. Kangal said, “Children’s contact with nature has positive effects on their cognitive development. Today’s urban children are growing up far from nature,” he said.
The following focus group themes were discussed in the workshop
Table 1: Design of Child-Friendly Spaces - “My Street, My Park, My City”
Table 2: Family Dynamics and Child Safety - “Strong Family, Safe Child”
Table 3: Representation of Children in the Media and Communication Rights - “Talking Child, Listening World”
Table 4: Healthy Children, Strong Society - “Grow with Play, Become Strong with Sports”
Table 5: Scientific Curiosity and Discovery Path - “Learn, Discover, Transform”
Table 6: Local Government Strategies for Children - “City That Listens to Children’s Voices”
Table 7: Children, Culture and Civilization - “From the Past to the Future”
Table 8: My Dream Kocaeli (A table where only children will be present) - “Imagine and design”
