Resilient Hubs for Neighborhoods

  • Project Date: 2024
  • Location: Neighborhoods of Turkey
  • Client: Vehbi Koç Foundation
  • Project Team: Cem Ilhan, Tulin Hadi, Sezin Beldağ, Ayşegül Ersin, Efe Toz

Resilient Community centers aim to bring together local communities around a common goal and increase their resilience through the special environment, core curriculum and collaborations they offer. It is intended to operate in three ways: during normal times, during disasters, and during post-disaster recovery. One of their primary goals is to establish solidarity in advance that will enable society to work together in the event of a major crisis. The centers to be established at different scales will act in coordination with each other throughout Türkiye. In order for the centers to be multiplexable, it is essential that their designs are simple, their construction and maintenance costs are low, their materials are local, and their governance cost and model are realistic. It is critical to ensure the coordination of centers with each other for a resilient society. The program content consists of five main layers that feed each other.
Common Curriculum: Basic First Aid, disaster preparedness and disaster response, emergency plan creation seminar, amateur radio license training, climate change adaptation, permaculture and water consumption

Education: Teacher training and teacher network activities, creative drama for young people and children, STEAM trainings, school reinforcement programs, parenting trainings for adults, social impact measurement and project & fund application writing trainings for NGOs

Culture & Art: Local theatre, music, choir team training and performances, musical instrument training for children and adults, culture, art, sports and education programs for children, artist interviews, online / offline exhibition screenings, book talks
Health: First aid response room and basic supplies, nutrition and well-being training / counseling sessions, family health center (Ministry of Health), health screenings (in cooperation with VKV Health Organizations and Turkish Nurses Association)

Local Development: Research and project supports to identify local risks, action plans for neighborhood-based interventions, courses and workshops for employment
They inspire a sense of trust in those around them. They are agile structures that can undertake all kinds of responsibilities, from the programs to the maintenance of the venue where they carry out their activities. For this reason, it is always necessary to prefer a small structure in which they can dominate. Communities are willing to minimize the support they receive from public administrations and always be active and producers of services.
When we talk about disaster-resistant community centers, it is also possible to form communities with the participation of neighborhood or district residents, teachers, and public representatives who have expertise in disasters.

Publicly Supported Resilience and Community Centers

Resilience communities are structures that come together to prepare for possible disasters, to cope with different stages of disasters, and to eliminate the inequalities suffered by disadvantaged groups most affected by disasters. It is established by the gathering of representatives from civil groups and public administrations. Civil stakeholders of the community can take responsibility in creating the programs of the venues they use and creating event and training calendars. However, they will need public support for the maintenance and operation of the venue. In addition to disaster preparedness, vocational training and cultural and artistic activities that will serve personal and social development are included in the calendar. In crisis situations, they distribute the support they will provide to the environment in line with similar structures in the networks they are in. Increasing the support to the environment with mobile vehicles will make these scale resilience centers agile.

DAILY OPERATION WHEN THERE IS NO DISASTER

It is carried out by the center coordinator, technical staff, individuals who make up the community – representatives of non-governmental organizations, women’s cooperatives and volunteers.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT DURING DISASTER

Each center will have an action plan to be implemented in case of disaster or emergency. The center coordinator undertakes coordination in case of emergency, and community members take turns to assist. If there is a Public Personnel responsible for disaster response, the center mobilizes its resources and staff and volunteers take part.

RECOVERY PROCESS AFTER DISASTER
During the Reconstruction process, the Center Coordinator and staff ensure the functionality of the center. It provides offices and spaces for activities of the community, the public and national NGOs working in the region. Conducts needs assessment studies through collaborations and makes prioritized action plans.