West Turkey work visit for a mental health project
For years, the City of Tomorrow has been working with Stichting Bij de Tijd, among others, in the field of young people on a European scale, according to the insights of Sustainocracy. We make grateful use of the exchange opportunities offered by the European Erasmus+ programme. In all those years we have welcomed and inspired thousands of young people, teachers and education representatives here in the Eindhoven area. People often come up with an idealized image of the Netherlands that only partly corresponds to reality. We then show the major challenges we face and how we try to shape them, including the mindset change that Sustainocracy stands for. In this way we often nuance the image people have of their own situation in their home country.
Travel to Turkey
This time, the City of Tomorrow was invited to participate in the “Jump to Mental Health” project that was to be carried out for five days near Fethiye in Western Turkey. Representative teams from four countries (Turkey, Poland, North Macedonia and the Netherlands) participated in a program to strengthen the mental resilience of people, especially youth. One of the most important techniques according to the City of Tomorrow is that of open, natural and human value-driven contemplation. So look, feel and interpret for yourself and do not rely on (pre)judgments from the manipulative media, populism or marketing from interest parties.
For the outward journey I had chosen Amsterdam (Schiphol) – Antalya. Amsterdam and Antalya are roughly the same size, with a population of around 1 million people. Yet the cities have their own unique character, culture, history and geographical location. Antalya turned out to be lively, with a good modern and accessible infrastructure, spacious, clean and (certainly by the highly inflated, speculative Dutch standards) cheap (in the sense of affordable). The flight had taken 3.5 hours and now we had to take a bus trip to Fethiye of an extra 3.5 hours.
Our five-day workplace was in the mountains near a historically abandoned place called “Ghost City” and also “the Stone City” (Kayaköy). The workplace itself was a green, community-like oasis, with fruit-bearing trees and shrubs that provided a lot of cooling in a mostly very hot climate and surroundings. All kinds of housing, from tree houses to tents and mud huts, formed the accommodation. During five days we were immersed in workshops that could stimulate mental health.
There were also trips, such as the introduction to the abandoned Stone City, an ancient community of Greeks who exchanged the area with the Turks for another territory after the First World War. The Greek Turkish overlapping history and culture of many thousands of years can be seen all over the region. The highlight of the program was the boat trip that took us to different swimming locations along the rocky coast during a whole day. Along the way a rich lunch was offered and there was wonderful dancing to pleasant music.
On the last day I still had time to visit the coastal town of Fethiye itself. The teachers from the local schools, who had visited us in Eindhoven through the same Erasmus+ exchange, had already come to see us at the mountain resort. It was a great reunion with these special ladies and gentleman. This coastal town has known all kinds of names and societies throughout history, all of which have left their visual (and maybe invisible) markings behind. In our modern times, the place is a sought-after tourist destination by the sea, with islands, beautiful hidden beaches and rocky coasts visited by the many pleasure boats as we have experienced days earlier. The town appears spacious, clean, modern, cosy, friendly and with many facilities. Cars were largely taken our of the town while space had been made for biking. Still local people complain about the exodus of young people due to lack of employment and opportunities.
The project itself aimed to provide the participating youth workers with tools and insights that they could also use at home. The creativity that was put into the workshops has clearly produced inspiration. Also the journey itself, the inspiring location, the link that can be made everywhere with the essential values of our existence according to Sustainocracy, the comparison between the way of doing things in this part of Turkey and the home base, getting to know the other participants, the teamwork, etc are all sources of impactful information to be processed for possible use.
We will check whether this actually happens in a follow-up interviews with the participants, as well as the processing of their evaluation of the trip and the program. As far as City of Tomorrow is concerned, there is a solid foundation on which to build further. Many dimensions of learning and experience around the essential values, or lack thereof, are present and a rich treasure to draw from for awareness, new forms of entrepreneurship and design of social structures that promote the mental well-being of everyone. Hopefully we will see many young people from all countries take advantage of our offer and the exchanges that we prepare and further develop with these experiences.
Why we need to help Nashif in Uganda, explained by Nashif himself
It is often difficult for us western people to imagine the situation that young people go through in African countries. Nashif was born in Uganda but does not have the same opportunities as local young man because is considered a refugee. That is because his parents were refugees. Social discrimination, financial exploitation, abuses, etc are not uncommon. No matter how entrepreneurial he is, he is surrounded by a negative mindset and culture towards him. He recently finished his education as a veterinarian but he can not put his knowledge into practice because of his needs for medical instruments.
Listen to Nashif here, the podcast we recorded to share his passion, his plans, his enthousiasme but also the drama of tough difficulties. A GoFundme page has been opened to help him forward. For us it may be little contributions, for him it is the development of a professional life.
If we want to live in a healthy environment we will have to organize ourselves in a healthy way…
In the picture below we see the many parties that are currently involved in the AiREAS challenge and the commitment to achieve a healthy, unpolluted living environment. We call the circles the 4 legs at the table of the local society. These are drawn as “overlapping islands” where we all converge into the center for the overarching commitment. But a large part of the islands also lie outside that center which is referred to as the AiREAS context.
When we look at the drawing, the different areas of overlap speak their story. I have written a characterizing text in it to form an image. Where we adapt our behavior to each other in the center and make choices together that directly contribute to the quality of our living environment and our health, other interests often play a role or even prevail further away from the center. In the fragmented, money driven society where we come from, that AiREAS center did not exist. There, the islands interacted on the basis of financial dependencies, objectives and regulations.
All reports show how important it is for everyone to do this together. This approach is also praised at the administrative level (such as aldermen, deputies, boards, etc.). Only that field of tension emerges again and again between “taking responsibility together” and the way in which the islands themselves work with the varied mixture of old interests and new wishes. If you find it difficult as a person or as an institution, then defining a common project is even more difficult. We are so used to reasoning from within our own island and self-interest with critically pointing to the other islands, that we often conveniently omit ourselves and our own requirements to change.
The various authorities are trying to bring all sorts of things into the center. One has come up with a product that it would like to sell or try out from within the AiREAS 4 x WIN context. The other has books full of knowledge from research or expertise to share. The governments have pooled money to make “the invisible visible” through measuring instruments (air pollution, noise) in the hope that through awareness raising citizens and companies will participate and take responsibility. Ultimately, it is about our health that we can directly influence through our behavior.
The center area of AiREAS is growing. Nowadays there are also institutions and people who reside permanently in that center. They have grown with the value-driven commitment and have linked or derived their behavior and authenticity from it.
There we find citizens who no longer have a car, do everything by bicycle, public transport or partial transport, who buy locally, live together and share costs. They have often made it their business to help others achieve better health, more self-confident and cooperative living. We find companies that pursue the 4 x WIN principle in the field of cooperation with nature, food supply, water, energy saving, local basic facilities, care for and with others, etc. New school systems and collaborations are emerging that involve as many children and young people as possible in their awareness of nature, their self-awareness and acquaintance with the essential values of our existence, often in collaboration with the STIR Foundation and Sustainocracy. Certain departments of the local government can be found here. They still clash internally with other departments that do not show the same commitment or have learned to function based on different interests and priorities.
In the drawing we see the gradual transition that we go through together in an evolutionary way. When the STIR Foundation started experimenting with Sustainocracy in 2009, we only saw a few freelancers trying to survive by developing new ideas in their island of interests, inspired by the ideas of the healthy City of Tomorrow. In 2011 AiREAS was born. The intended collaboration between the 4 legs (government, entrepreneurs, education and citizens) soon came to life thanks to an initial financial support from the Province of North Brabant. There was no real overlap between the islands yet, but the foundation had been laid to make that a reality.
Now, in 2023, AiREAS as a functional shared responsibility and context can no longer be ignored. The format and challenge are greatly appreciated by all participants. “It's about something real” is often said and people are willing to step into the field of tension within their own organization to make the best of it. Two islands prove very slow in response and connection. These are the somewhat larger companies that originated in the old 1 x WIN context and linger there with their lobbies and financial tunnel vision, often supported by old legislation. These have shareholders and interests that are only compatible with the higher purpose of AiREAS if the organization goes through a fundamental transition.
And then there are “the citizens” who have made unhealthy behavior their comfort. Behavioral modification requires more than awareness. It requires a cultural adjustment in which health and safety is leading for everyone even though people tend to find it abstract if not confronted with illnesses. Many young people do recognize themselves in this new mindset, but older generations are "programmed" differently with their lifestyles. They find it difficult to let go of their established comforts (such as the car, status, purchasing behavior, etc.).
Anyway, the center of AiREAS is growing. It is heart-connected, warm, co-creative and innovative, full of people, functions, commitments and ideals. It is growing steadily. It is an example for other targeted local communities and essential values such as FRE2SH (food resilience), COS3i (social inclusion) and others that are emerging. Also internationally clusters based on Sustainocratic insights are emerging and can be helped on their we with the expertise accumulated in STIR, stepping up their potential with a positive learning curve without having to go through all the pitfalls.
Sustainocracy, the new democracy 