Recommendations

Create platforms for youth, self-development and self-confidence  

Most of the existing youth projects in Turkey have the social aim to integrate young people in society and/or to increase their participation in social life. However, youth should also be supported to develop themselves into strong and productive individuals. In other words, young people need more support in their search, creation and production processes without botherin too much with its impact on society. Youth experiences difficulties in finding platforms where they can express themselves. Therefore, projects should focus on the possibilities of creating such platforms and youth should be the main focus in any project developed for the local community. The projects targeting youth should inspire self-confidence in youth.

Train youth in the cultural sector  

The other important point is about the unemployment rate amongst the young population. Although there are some state universities where the costs of education are lower, the exam that is required to have a right to be educated is very difficult and needs a very concentrated preparation period (usually involving extra private lessons after school which is very costly, putting youth from poor families at a disadvantage). The students may not be educated at the universities they prefer, or in a department they may prefer, or they may not find any job after finishing university or school because the labor market is extremely competitive (employers-market). For that reason, it is very vital to develop some exchange programs that invite young people from Turkey who are interested to be trained in the performing arts field as technicians, cultural manager, public relations officer etc. Because the general perception is that foreigners demand quality, Turkish people working for foreigners are sometimes perceived to be better at their job than someone with the same experience who is working for a Turkish boss. Therefore someone trained by a foreigner may have a competitive advantage on the job market. Technicians are only trained after they can prove they had some practice working for cultural events. The institutions in the Netherlands could design an invitation program for the young people to develop skills and know-how in the cultural sector and especially in jobs servicing the cultural sector.