About AYDER

About AYDER 2020-02-17T17:15:39+00:00

Alternative Life Association

Alternative Life Association (abbreviated as AYDER in Turkish) is an organization established to provide alternative services and innovative solutions to respond to the needs of the disabled and disadvantaged social groups. AYDER addresses disability, proposes solutions for those with disabilities and develops a range of innovative and sustainable projects. Our main purpose is to contribute to the vision of an “Accessible Turkey”.

AYDER has taken the necessary steps in achieving the ideal of an “Accessible Turkey” ever since it was founded in 2002. It has developed several innovative and sustainable projects and has become a platform that integrates disabled and socially disadvantaged people into society and enables their economic integration as both producers and consumers.

Even if AYDER was officially founded in 2002, it has planned and carried out numerous innovative projects such as Diving is Freedom (1997), Alternative Camp (1997), Reha Istanbul Fair (2004), Barrier-Free Tourism (2006), and Dreams Academy (2008). AYDER was also the first NGO to sign the UN Global Compact initiative.

Our Values:

  • Respect for Diversity

  • Volunteering

  • Innovative Solutions

  • Positive Thinking

  • Intercultural Interaction

  • Universal Design

  • Altruism (Giving and Sharing without Expectations)

Objectives:

  • To offer a wide range of products and services to everyone via our NGO sustainability model and social corporation approach.

  • To provide training for promoting social entrepreneurship

  • To ensure the widespread implementation of our propositions such as the inclusivist entrepreneurial models and respect for diversity in the whole private sector

  • To ensure the continuity of value creation for a better world with our volunteering opportunities by growing the number of our local and international volunteering programs

AYDER Principles:

VOLUNTEERING

Social change is inevitable. Yet, we are aware that global interests would not turn in favor of all people at once. We will fearlessly resume our volunteering projects and the journey of change – change starting with ourselves, our immediate environment and circles with an ever so increasing enthusiasm.

SUSTAINABILITY

We care about the widespread adoption of our suggestions and solutions for a life without barriers, without getting into the trap of organizational growth. We wish our solutions will become widespread and they are open source. We will continue to see the capacity of our projects and institutional units to provide solutions to social issues and to generate their own resources, as vital principles of our existence.

NON-DISCRIMINATION

We treat everyone equally in all our initiatives and processes and we will keep promoting equal opportunities.

PRODUCTIVITY

We will always consider our production and consumption models. We will focus on producing only as much as we naturally need, without harming the environment and humans, and we will continue to recycle, and upcycle natural resources, and we will not give in to consumption-oriented lifestyles.

CHANGE

Disabled people are thought to be the largest minority group in the world. We need to redesign the social life for those who have been excluded from the society, those who do not have access to appropriate education and health care, and those whose right to life has been taken away from them due to a state of war or starvation.

INCLUSIVENESS

The problems that lead to social exclusion from the society and opportunities are often like the loops of a chain. We will always tackle these global, complex, and persistent with a multi-directional, integrated, and inclusivist approach and participation.

SHARING

What excludes most people from social processes and opportunities is a whole global chain of issues connected to each other. We will keep tackling this complex and grand chain of issues using a multidirectional, holistic, inclusive approach and participation.

INNOVATIVENESS / PROACTIVITY

Bearing in mind technology is the most dynamic force of change, we will focus on utilizing smart technologies in the solution of complex-looking issues, which have evident reasons.

HONESTY

We will never give up on the principles of our ethical and moral DNA: openness, honesty, sincerity, kindness, tolerance, and generosity.

Our Team:

Alternative Life Association Executive Board

  • Ercan Tutal – Chairman of Board and Founder

  • Serhat Soydan – Vice Chairman of Board

  • Nermin Tutal – Secretary General

  • Alper Ateş – Member of Board

  • Necdet Türköz – Member of Board

Alternative Life Association

  • Nermin Tutal – Financial Coordinator

  • Sibel Sadıkoğlu – Finance Specialist

AYDER Project and Department Coordinators

  • Social Inclusion Band – İlker Balcan

  • MUME – Ahmet Nebi Şaylan

  • Dreams Kitchen – Feride Betigül Soydan

  • Dreams Agency – Serhat Soydan

  • D-Film – Nermin Tutal

  • Dreams Academy Kaş – Alper Ateş

  • Alternative Camp – Alper Ateş

  • Girls without Barriers – Founder and Project Coordinator: Alper Akça

  • eyLab – Ercan Tutal

  • Sorty – Serhat Soydan

  • Words of Silence – Buket Ela Demirel

  • Best Buddies Turkey – Project Coordinator: Sercan Duygan

    Project Coordinator: Recep Altınordu

    Program Coordinator: Fidan Karaahmetoğlu

Success Stories

AYDER won three Bronze Stevie awards at the International Business Awards with Dreams Academy in 2012, where more than 3200 corporations and projects from over 50 countries competed.

September 2012, International Business Awards

Social Inclusion Band was given the Turkey Public Relations Association’s 11th Golden Compass Public Relations Award in the ‘NGOs’ category.

June 2012, Turkey Public Relations Association (TÜHİD)

AYDER’s Alternative Camp was selected to the Best Practices in Youth Work by UNDP and British Council.

October 2013 , UNDP and British Council
Dreams Academy Kaş was granted the “The Best Innovative Social Project by an SME” in the 2015, II. Innovative Sustainability Implementations Competition by SKD Turkey.
December 2015 , Business World and Sustainable Development Association SKD Turkey

Dreams Academy was introduced to the world as a pilot project in the context of the event “Innovation Enables” at the UN Meeting on “Disability and Development” held in New York.

September 2013, UN

Has been selected as one of the top 10 projects in the “This Is Social Europe Innovation Competition” by the EU Commission, among 150 projects from 23 countries.

2010, EU Commission
We won the “Best Practice” award of “Design for All Foundation”; a foundation that is based in Barcelona and recognizes achievements in the implementation of universal designs.
2015 , Design for All Foundation