From 26-28 June 2024, we undertook a study visit to Dublin with the organizations we work with as part of our BİRLİKTE Support Program. During the study visit, we met with our Irish implementing partner The Wheel, Enclude, which provides diverse and tailored IT support to civil society organisations in Europe, Smashing Times, a structure that works across disciplines to support human rights and equality and provides resources, networks and support to artists, and Carmichael House, a civil society organisation that provides offices, community spaces and resources to civil society in Ireland.
Ceren Akçabay from Aramızda, the Association for Gender Research, Serhat Kaçan from the Civil Society in the Penal System Association (CISST), Gamze Rezan Sarışen from the The Association for Monitoring Equal Rights (ESHİD), Emine Şimşek from the Hevi LGBTI+ Association for Rights Equality Existence, Yağmur Şenoğuz from the Positive Living Association, Berna Akkızal from the Civic Space Studies Association, Oğulcan Yediveren from the Social Policy, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPOD), Özge Mumcu Aybars from the Uğur Mumcu Investigative Journalism Foundation and Dilek Akyapı from the Zan Foundation for Social, Political
and Economic Studies (ZAN) were with us.
We asked our participants two questions to find out how the visit went, what they remembered and what their experiences were. The answers show that the Irish example can inspire the civic society space in Turkey and that we still have a long way to go in terms of good governance, human resource management and leadership.
You travelled to Ireland, a European country you are not familiar with. There you heard first- hand from several organizations about their work and approaches to leadership, good governance and human resources. What did you think during these conversations? What would you say if you were looking at your organization with this information?
Berna Akkızal I Civic Space Studies Association: Especially in terms of governance, our organization needs to grow gradually and planned, and I gained a lot of experience on which organizational schemes we can follow while growing, and on leadership, monitoring, and evaluation methods. Although the conditions and priorities are different, practical solutions such as sharing spaces, support programs for employees, and an organizational policy handbook with policy texts can be applied to our organization. We have previously tried to tackle the issues of art and human rights together and organized a series of workshops called ALAN(A)ÇIK. By taking inspiration from the methods used by the Smashing Times organization, we will reopen the discussion on reaching young students whom we could not attract or draw attention to with our campaigns.
Emine Şimşek I Hevi LGBTİ Association: What caught my attention was Carmichael's use of a "task tracking checklist" to monitor employees' work, conducting informal performance evaluations every three months, and using the GROW model during this process. In addition, a monthly meeting for remote workers is a necessary preventative measure for a civil society organization whose capacity is growing daily.
I also believe that the training system put in place to support the wellbeing and welfare of staff will encourage their motivation and development. In civil society organizations, where the number of team members is growing, new colleagues are joining and turnover is constantly increasing, the creation of an employee handbook is a useful tool to inform, adapt and save time.
Serhat Kaçan I Civil Society in the Penal System Association: From the perspective of our organization, I would like to examine and discuss how effective it would be to solve the problem of HR by outsourcing services to an external institution, as is done in Ireland. I would also like to take a closer look at the documents provided by The Wheel and benefit from them. Unfortunately, I was reminded once again that we are doing too much work with too few people. Finally, I realized once again how important the professionalization of human resources is both for the development of the sector and for civil society in Turkey.
Özge Mumcu I Uğur Mumcu Foundation for Investigative Journalism: I evaluated the internal structure of The Wheel, which brings together 2400 organisations of different types- including charities- and manages their internal operations with 29 people, as a successful example. Despite the complexity of coordinating the administrative, financial and project-related work of 2400 organizations operating in different fields, I think it is important that their internal organization and operations are healthy.
The examples such as “Probationary review - the practice of probation in the employment of staff" have led me to consider that different methods of institutional capacity development can be created for my organization. However, examples such as the difference in the structure of civil society organizations in Ireland and Turkey and the fact that the state provides 70% financial support to 2400 organizations have made me aware of the difficult situation we are in as civil society organizations in Turkey. For example, as a non-profit organization, we are not allowed to make a profit and have to manage the staff budget together with different income models. This is the biggest financial obstacle we face.
Applications like HR Locker can enable communication about our internal functioning. I thought it would be good if we took some initiatives for internal orientation. At the same time, bringing staff together in different environments for the good of the organization can also have a quality that can prevent internal conflict. Of course, Wheel's role as a mediator between policy makers and civil society is also a positive example that should be emphasized. I have made a mental note to do a study on institutional identity. A study on the growth model could also be conducted. The importance of the CRM database was also one of the models we should start implementing.
We can take the transformative potential of working with the public as an example
Ceren Akçabay I Aramızda, the Association for Gender Research: First of all, thank you for making this experience possible. I was very impressed by the grassroots work of civil society organizations in Ireland. It is admirable that they are continuing the tradition of "charity" organizations and doing work that is sensitive to people's needs, especially the changing view and inclusivity in society despite the Catholic Church in relation to LGBTI+ freedom and equality. I think there are many points that authoritarian, conservative countries like Turkey can learn from. The most important of these is the transformative potential of working with the people for the people. In Ireland, however, the overemphasis on neoliberal systems of government in the institutionalization of civil society work also poses dangers that could undermine the traditional process of solidarity and development. The concentration of time and project-based work can lead to volunteer work losing its value and importance.
At our organization, the Aramızda Association for Gender Research, we believe that volunteering and solidarity activities are central to a rights-based civil society. However, we are still a small organization. Based on examples from Ireland, I have come to the conclusion that we need to accelerate the processes of institutionalization and volunteering for our organization at the same time.
Dilek Akyapı I Zan Foundation for Social, Political and Economic Studies: Meeting people from a community that has struggled with difficult historical processes and being in the area gave a different feeling. As in many areas, the exchange of experiences and different practices from different cultures makes an important contribution to the civil society sector, both individually and institutionally. Physical connections also offer advantages for the creation of different labour and solidarity networks in the future.
I found their approaches and work on leadership very useful. Although the concept may seem less compelling in Middle Eastern geography, which works with leader cults as we do, I found their discussions on leadership and their work, particularly their approaches to organizational leadership, very useful.
As far as the administration was concerned, the division of labor and the areas of work were very distinct and involved specialization and professionalism. This indicates that specialization is necessary and important in the field of civil society. Furthermore, the specialization and professionalization of those who make a living by working in this sector, as well as the division of labor, are crucial. People with different economic sources need to focus on strengthening the organization through solidarity networks based on volunteer work. The fact that our board consists mainly of academics suggests that we can easily implement this system.
I also think that we can adapt and use the manuals for management and staff according to our organization and local dynamics. I have also considered creating manuals for our foundation and for volunteers and staff that include analyses of the historical processes, the importance and development of civil society, and the desired and current conditions.
There are so many things we know to be right but fail to do
Yağmur Şenoğuz I Positive Living Association: In trying to accomplish a lot of work with limited human resources in Turkish civil society, I was reminded of how many things we know are right but do not do. On the one hand, I felt hopeless about the structural problems we face, but on the other, it reminded me that there is always room for small changes, which gave me a sense of relief.
On the first day, when we discussed human resource management and well-being, I made a lot of notes about things we could change in our association. When I returned to Istanbul, in the first management meeting, I suggested a change in practice to promote team wellbeing (something I had wanted for a long time but had not prioritized due to my workload) and we quickly put it into action.
On the second day, the joint management handbook and Carmichael's employee handbook were very informative for me. As our Annual General Meeting will take place in 2025, I made a mental note to create a similar management handbook for myself as I prepare for this process. What struck me most over the two days was the clarity of the organizational charts in all the institutions and the crucial role they play in governance.
Oğulcan Yediveren I Social Policy, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation Studies Association: First of all, I have to say that the governance of civil society organizations in Ireland is very strong. In Turkey, our institutions tend to grow and become bloated, especially in administration and operations, but we find that the governance aspect is not as robust. Often the boards of our
associations are only on paper. This often leads to problems with risk management, accountability, transparency and the delivery of consistent activities aligned to strategic objectives to increase impact. This journey has inspired me to apply the governance models of several organizations to my own organization.
I also saw that our HR practices are not very different from those in other organizations. However, since most accessible grants in Turkey are smaller and activity-based and the amounts are limited, our salaries are low while our workload is high. Given the current economic crisis and inflation, it is only possible to maintain the welfare of civil society employees in Turkey to a certain extent. Even though we have similar human resource management to organizations in Ireland, I believe our wellbeing is lower because of this. Perhaps we as Turkish civil society need to lobby internationally for more flexible and accessible grants.
Ireland deserves a closer look at the way it deals with social issues
Gamze Rezan Sarışen I Association for Monitoring Equal Rights: Ireland, and Dublin in particular, has always been a geography I have been curious about. I’m not sure I found what I was expecting. But as soon as we landed at the airport, I was surprised. A country that still criminalized homosexuality in the 90s greeted us very differently during our visit, which coincided with Pride Week. The progress a country can make in 30 years is truly impressive. The experience of civil society in Ireland is also different. The state provides public services through organizations we call "charities".These charitable organizations are funded by the state, which also contributes to the economy and employment. Unless I have misheard, one in eight people are employed by charities. They only use terms like "civil society organization/charitable institution"; for organizations that operate internationally.
I have made a note that 70% of services for disabled people are provided by these so-called charities. Of course, this information needs to be verified, but the fact that these institutions, which we hear about as the equivalent in Turkey, participate so actively in public life, provide public services with state support and see themselves as "partners" of the state is something we are not used to here and cannot even imagine. In a country where various risks are low, it can be said that charities focus on human resources and good governance with the resources they receive from the state and have developed a good organizational model. It is possible to benefit from good examples, especially in terms of organizational well-being and human resources policies.
Finally, Ireland is a different model. Equality, anti-discrimination and the fulfilment of the Association for Monitoring Equal Rights targets are supported by equality institutions. This was outside the scope of our visit, but from what we followed from afar, it appears to be an institution that has achieved a degree of autonomy. The different organizational structures in Ireland, their relationships with the state, the way they maintain their autonomy and their engagement with social issues merit further detailed investigation and curiosity.
After this visit, having heard and seen different civil society organizations and civil society in Ireland, what would you say in comparison to Turkey?
Oğulcan Yediveren I Social Policy, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation Studies Association: The development of civil society in Ireland and Turkey has historically followed different paths. In European countries, we see that central governments, i.e. the state, were relatively weaker in the past and civil society was a structure that enveloped the state and fulfilled the tasks that the state could not do. Indeed, in the past, religious organizations and the church took over the function of social services, but with the secularization of European societies, civil society began to take over this function. Ireland is the best example of this. In Turkey, however, civil society is opposing the repressive practices of an all-powerful state. In other words, far from embracing it, it is in conflict with it. Therefore, civil society in Ireland has more room for maneuver because the state is less repressive, and it is more developed because it is almost a complementary element of the state. The question of how we can deal with our historical obstacles here goes beyond the scope of this article and requires us to think together.
Özge Mumcu I Uğur Mumcu Araştırmacı Gazetecilik Vakfı: Uğur Mumcu Foundation for Investigative Journalism: In Ireland's 100-year history, following the transition to secularism and the transfer of charities from the Catholic Church to the state, the state's 70 per cent support for organizations is an important example of the continuity of the link between the state and CSOs. However, it is questionable to what extent civil society organizations will protest against government or state policies after receiving state support. This harbors the risk of creating a mechanism that can be translated as “embedded” or “attached”.
In Turkey, especially in recent years, CSOs have split into those that are connected to the government/state and those that are not. The increasing social polarization has a negative impact on all CSOs working in the field of rights. There are also obstacles to implementing positive policies that relate to their own areas, such as policy development and capacity building. Similarly, the narrowing of project pools leads to a loss of human resources in institutions and a shrinking or cessation of spaces created for rights and/or projects. In this context, although there is a risk of an anti-government mechanism emerging in Ireland, it can be noted that the country has a much freer and more progressive structure compared to Turkey.
The shrinking of civic society space in Turkey is not only related to external factors but also to internal organizational mechanisms.
Dilek Akyapı I Zan Foundation for Social, Political and Economic Studies: It would be useful to evaluate this issue together with the discussions on civic space that I participated in for a while. The discussions on civic space have enabled us to see the big picture by showing us that some negative aspects that we have observed in our own organization or in a few organizations are actually prevalent with nuances throughout the space. We can say that the problems we have experienced in this case are not singular (organizational) but unfortunately have also become a tradition. I can say that the shrinking civic space in Turkey is not only related to external factors, but also to internal organizational mechanisms, as the governance and operational mechanisms we heard about in Ireland show.
Given the historical and cultural differences between the two countries, we can say that civic work in Ireland is grassroots and socialized. It would make sense to see the culture of "philanthropy" here as a continuation of the tradition in the churches. The fact that civic solidarity and socialization, building on a cultural heritage, is not a direct result of "modern" times or "secularism" in Ireland, and that it can be sustained and carried out through different mechanisms, is also something to be appreciated.
In Turkey, there is a state tradition and pressure that is allergic to the concept of being organized or being organized in any field, and since the support mechanisms for organizations working in the field of civil society are very low, human resources are not at the desired level. In this situation, solidarity and volunteerism have an important role to play. Unfortunately, the practices of civil society organizations in this field turn human resources, both at work and in volunteering, into a mechanism of exploitation (using the concepts of solidarity that we love). At this point, the question for me in Ireland was whether we should continue to observe the practical manifestations of concepts that we do not accept in theory, or whether we should prepare for a new era by discussing issues such as human resources and governance (by evaluating different country models and experiences) that are traditional and do not meet the needs.
Serhat Kaçan I Civil Society in the Penal System Association: What impressed me most was how civil society in Ireland developed in a different historical reality and how all the support offered by charities was done in collaboration with the state. Another factor that struck me was how strong the rights-based culture of civil society is in the Turkish context. Given their field of work, a rights-based civil society organizational model seemed to be a very distant concept for them. For this reason, it is common in Ireland, as in many other European countries, to continue to exist as subcontractors of the public sector. Although I have not had the opportunity to talk much about it, I have heard a few times that civil society does a lot of the work because of the high salaries of civil servants. Although they have many practices that I think are much better than in Turkey, it made me wonder if this is some kind of exploitation model created by the state. Nevertheless, I thought that they are much better than Turkey in terms of workload and working conditions because the country has a very favorable social structure in terms of volunteer work.
The wheel and Ireland were inspiring
Berna Akkızal | Civic Space Studies Association: The structure, components and general perspective of civil society in Ireland and Turkey are very different. The fact that 2,400 associations are members of The Wheel and that they were a conservative society until recently is also encouraging for us. One of the biggest differences between their civil society sector and ours is the funding of associations and organizations by the state and the efforts of umbrella organizations like The Wheel to provide a critical perspective. The ratio of 30,000 associations to a population of 5 million statistically emphasizes the historical importance of volunteering in their society. The structure has generally taken over much of the work that was done by the church a century ago.
Yağmur Şenoğuz I Positive Living Association: There are very obvious differences between civil
society in Turkey and in Ireland. First of all, the state's support for civil society and its ease in dealing with grants/resources is remarkable compared to us. However, I find even more remarkable the differences that 84% of the Irish population consider the work of civil society important and one in eight people have worked in an CSO. There are historical, sociological and cultural reasons for the high level of civic engagement in volunteering.
I believe that a similar understanding of civil society as in Ireland can be achieved in Turkey through social change rather than a changed understanding of the state and management.
Ceren Akçabay I Aramızda, the Association for Gender Research: We are in a process in which organizational processes in Turkey are becoming increasingly restricted. Therefore, compared to Ireland, where the work of civil society is directly supported by the government, it is quite a challenge to do such work in our country. In this regard, I have learnt that our resilience is also appreciated by our friends in Ireland. On the other hand, the grassroots work in Ireland, which I mentioned earlier, can serve as an example for Turkey. Moreover, it is possible that when authoritarian control processes are tightened, as in Ireland, institutional civil society organizations can facilitate these controls. Moreover, this institutionalism can support efforts to increase membership and contribute to grassroots struggles for rights by reaching a wider audience.
Emine Şimşek I Hevi LGBTİ Association: Support from state institutions in Ireland can increase the
reach of civil society organisations and support them in many ways. However, such support can sometimes become a form of pressure. This situation can limit the potential of civil society and its role as a lever for advocacy. The impossibility of local cooperation in Turkey also limits the visibility and influence of civil society organizations.
In the interviews mentioned above, they did not consider it necessary to separate different groups and areas of work and realized that different areas of work could come together. This is not the case for many civil society organizations in Turkey. The lack of common ground between existing civil society organizations in Turkey and their different priorities make it difficult to come together.
Gamze Rezan Sarışen I Association for Monitoring Equal Rights: We face similar problems, such as housing. Housing is also a serious issue in Ireland. The problem of homelessness and especially children living on the streets is reflected in international reports. However, there is also a strong will to solve these problems.
