About Us

A group of young people with vision of conducting development activities in Turkey established the Development Workshop Working Group in 2003 to support and be a part of national and international development efforts. This working group consisted of professionals who are experts in social anthropology, sociology, physical anthropology, international relations, biology and forestry. On 3 November 2004, this group of professionals founded Development Workshop as a cooperative. Cooperatives are not a common choice for organisation in the area of social development in Turkey or in the world. The most significant reasons for becoming organised as a cooperative are solidarity, cooperative production and contributing to new ideas in the area of social development. Another important reason is becoming a multi-partner actor in social development activities and having active participation in the democratic process.

The Development Workshop is a non-profit cooperative established to support the development of Turkey and to provide contributions to conduct sustainable, reproducible and successful projects of all scales. The Development Workshop develops and implements programs in the field of governance, social development, education, and children and youth for and together with non-governmental organisations and producer unions. Areas of particular interest and strength for the Workshop are local development programs and project development, research and capacity building, promoting the cooperative movement, apiculture, seasonal labour migration and child labour.