We focus on improving the quality of life of individuals and communities, supporting well-being, promoting social justice and respect for human rights, with a particular focus on developing equality, diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging dynamics in organizations. We collect, produce and tell stories with our stakeholders through our various programs and trainings. We harvest these stories through participatory tools. Participatory Social Audit Services (PSAS), which we developed, is one of these tools.
Our Main Areas of Activity
Research
We embrace our university’s vision of being an entrepreneurial research university with global impact and put research at the center of our social sustainability agenda. We bring together many academic disciplines such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, gender studies, literature and business with a focus on people. For this purpose, we sometimes conduct our own research and sometimes we participate in large national and international research consortia. If you are looking for a research partner with a focus on social sustainability, please contact us.
Social Impact Focused Projects
Research projects as well as projects focused on creating social impact constitute an important part of our social sustainability agenda. We take care to bring together the high value-added knowledge we have created at our university, especially on gender equality, with the society. For this, we work together with our different faculties and implement social impact- focused projects by leveraging the strength of their areas of expertise. At the same time, we strive to expand and expand our social impact by establishing various national-international collaborations.
Sectoral Solutions
Policy Development
People and their stories are at the center of our Social Sustainability area of expertise. We believe in the uniqueness of stories and we care about the inclusion of these stories in institutional policies and the inclusion of the subjects of these stories in policy development processes. With the experience of being one of the first universities in Turkey to develop a gender equality plan after self-assessment, we accompany institutions in their processes of developing participatory and data-based policies in the sub-fields of social sustainability. We support the open communication channels between all stakeholders, especially in processes related to corporate climate and culture studies.
Institutional Research
We believe in the transformative power of data, whether in policy development or in identifying needs in social sustainability. For this, we develop research together with organizations in the areas they are curious about. Sometimes we learn together with qualitative and sometimes quantitative data.
Training and Consultancy Services
Sometimes embarking on new or renewed journeys can bring unknowns. We offer various training and consultancy services in the field of social sustainability to overcome this sea of uncertainty together. While we develop trainings at various levels on the topics you want to include in your social sustainability agenda according to your needs, we also provide consultancy for your capacity building efforts.
Participatory Social Audit Services
(PSAS)
Whether we have direct and planned activities in the field of social sustainability or not, all of our organizations have an impact on social sustainability. If you are curious about the impact of your activities within your organization on different areas of social sustainability, PSAS will be the right toolkit for you. The PSAS toolkit, where you can track the progress of your organization at certain intervals with the score system, offers data-based measurements for different needs, each time structured specifically for the organization. We are aware that social sustainability is one of the most difficult areas to report in sustainability reporting. For this reason, PSAS also provides appropriate data for different reporting standards.
Structures that Shape Our Vision
ÖzU Gender Office
ÖzU Gender Office is an administrative office established in 2021 with the aim of raising awareness on gender inequalities and creating a gender-equal education, research and working environment with all internal and external stakeholders of Özyeğin University. As ÖzU Gender Office, we carry out our activities within the framework of the mission of the unit and Özyeğin University Gender Equality Plan on 4 axes: “Monitoring and Policy/Strategy Development Studies”, “Project and Research Development Support”, “Developing External Stakeholder Relations, Networking and Knowledge Transfer in the Field of Gender”, and “Trainings and Activities Raising Awareness on Gender Equality” .
Social Sustainability Lab
Experts from different disciplines came together and established our Social Sustainability Laboratory (SSL), which defines itself as a center of creative curiosity. We invite you to the common table where we share our knowledge in our fields of expertise. Our aim is to transform employees’ corporate experiences and help them work happily in decent workplaces.
In which areas can we develop cooperation?
- We can develop joint projects focused on social impact.
- We can design research and implement it together,
- We can identify your organizational needs together,
- Together we can develop intervention programs tailored to your needs,
- We can draw your social sustainability reporting framework together,
- With Participatory Social Audit Services (PSAS), we can track your progress on social sustainability,
- We can develop your institutional policies together,
- Most importantly, we can wonder and share stories together in the field of social sustainability.
Sürdürülebilirlik üzerine paylaşacak hikayelerimiz var
Sürdürülebilirlik üzerine düşünmeyi, hikayeler dinlemeyi ve topladığımız hikayeleri anlatmayı seviyoruz. Yandaki iletişim formunu doldurarak bizimle iletişime geçebilirsiniz.
Hangi alanlarda işbirliği yapabiliriz?
- Eğitim
- Etkinlik
- Araştırma
- Danışmanlık
- Proje Geliştirme
- Politika Geliştirme