A certificate ceremony was held for university student groups that earned grant support for their projects under the 2025 Turkish Ministry of Youth and Sports UNIDES (University Student Clubs Cooperation and Support Program). During the ceremony, held at the Çemberlitaş Youth Center on Thursday, December 22, 2025, at 12:00 p.m., Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın BAK presented certificates to the student clubs that successfully completed their projects under the UNIDES program, while once again emphasizing the importance of universities’ youth, sustainability, and social contribution-focused efforts.
At the ceremony, certificates were presented to university clubs that successfully completed their projects under the UNIDES program. In 2025, from Istanbul Medeniyet University; the IMU Sustainability Club with its “Transformation Festival” projects focusing on waste management and the circular economy, the Science and Civilization Club, the New Generation Student Club, the Young Educators Club with its “Reflections of Geometry: Reflections of Islamic Culture from Mimar Sinan to Digital Art“ projects which brings cultural heritage together with digitization, the Islamic Law Research Club with its professional development-based “Compass” projects; the Common Sense Thought Club with its “Maarife World View Workshop” projects evaluating current approaches in the education system, the Art History Club with its “Culture Festival” projects focusing on intangible cultural heritage, the Social Academy Club with its social responsibility projects “Unity in April” focusing on the education of children with autism, and the Civilization Health Club with its “Healthy Future with Conscious Nutrition: Mother, Infant, and Child Nutrition” project focusing on healthy and quality living, had earned grants for their successful projects. Our student clubs who successfully completed their projects received their certificates at the ceremony.
The IMU Sustainability Student Club organized recycling and upcycling workshops, hands-on training sessions, and awareness-raising events for different types of waste, such as plastic, paper, PET, textiles, and aluminum, as part of its project called the “Transformation Festival”. The workshops, training sessions, and practical activities organized during the festival directly reached 44,236 people, creating a broad social impact on waste management. The “Transformation Festival” was not limited to the university campus; thanks to partnerships established with public institutions, local governments, non-governmental organizations, and industry stakeholders, it was implemented and disseminated in different venues. Thanks to collaborations with Bakırköy Municipality, Kadıköy Municipality, and Maltepe Municipality within the project, the work was extended to a very wide audience and disadvantaged groups such as children, women, and people with disabilities. During the project, 63 events were held, 13kg of waste was recycled on site, and these processes were transformed into an experience-based learning environment for participants. This work by the IMU Sustainability Club, supported under UNIDES, was also crowned with a first-place award in the “Environmental Social Responsibility Project” category of the ÇEVKO Green Dot Student Awards.
The successes achieved through the UNIDES program and platforms such as ÇEVKO once again demonstrate that Istanbul Medeniyet University’s institutional approach to waste management and sustainability is strengthened by the active participation of its students. In this context, IMU continues to involve its students in the process not only as implementers but also as individuals who generate solutions and are part of social transformation.
Through these projects, strengthened by national and international support programs, Istanbul Medeniyet University continues to develop exemplary practices in different areas of the Sustainable Development Goals and to nurture future leaders with this understanding.
