Dear DAI People, I have received today e mail from Ozge Celikaslan, from KozaVisual organization.  

Dear Ljubica,

 I’m sorry for replying your mail lately; I was abroad and couldn’t reply e-mails. It will be nice to meet you at NIHA (Netherlands Institute for Higher Education in Ankara, where DAI group is going to stay at) after your Cappadocia research.

I have been coordinating KozaVisual since last year. We went to Cappadocia, Ibrahimpasa Village two times in 2007. Alite was with us in one of them. Actually, we tried to understand the village life and villagers through visual tools. But we didn’t have enough time to understand it deeply. Later, I went to Cappadocia a few times for other NIHA projects.

 The village is a typical one in mid-Anatolia. But at the same time, it has a special characteristic. It is divided in two parts: the new village and the old one. You will stay in the old part of it. Old part has caves; old houses remained from Greeks and churches in the valley. There was a huge migration motion in Turkey between 1904-1915 (if I’m not wrong for the exact dates). The migration was forced by the Turkish government and military forces. Greeks, Armenians and other minorities were forced to leave their villages and homes. The film, named 190B tries to tell this story. Director of the film tried to find the lost door number, which is supposed as a metaphor of the history. This Christian history had to be forgotten by the villagers, you could take it as a “loss of memory”

 There are lots of underground cities in the area remained from wars or attacks. The guessed number is around 130 (I’m sure much more than this number). But only 30 of them were found and open to tourist visits.

Ok, I can tell more but the theme is water. Cappadocia has a special nature. The caves and huge stones all around the area, as an open museum, is the second example in the world. And the most important problem in the area is environment. There is no environment and water management policy in the area. For Ibrahimpasa and other villages, villagers still throw their wastes to the valleys. In the old times, this system works, because the waste was natural but now, modern wastes are plastic, chemical etc.

 Water system is old and doesn’t work. The village has no water in winter because of the frozen pipes. You will see from the pictures of Willemijn and she will tell more about water problems I think. The point is, for the villagers, it is very ordinary. Some of them, especially younger ones are very angry about waste problems. I don’t know who is “the guilty”, government, mayors, municipality, villagers.

 Art/Eco Platform Cappadocia is trying to tell it by art. And, you should meet with Fabriakartgroup in Mustafapasa, Sinasos with its old name. They organize the modern art festival in Cappadocia and the theme is “water bright”. I am also in the organization team. I told about your visit to directors of the festival, Kaan and Gulhan. They will wait for to meet with you. www.fabrikartgroup.org

 I hope that this information helps. Do you have any other questions?

Greetings to your friends and I’m looking forward to meet you at NIHA between 12th and 14th of June.

 All the best, Ozge - www.kozavisual.org  

 This are the new information about our project. Thank to everybody on the fast reply!  

Suzanne Van Rest

Tourism*

Is tourism causing more problems in wastewater and garbage, because they are used to higher standards. And therefore using more water for example with showering.

*Is their a demand from the tourist to change the situation, because tourist don’t like to see polluted ground and water.

*Is their a problem when a lot of tourist come at the same time, is their for example enough water then. And who is getting the water, the big hotels or the local people

*Can tourism be used for dealing with this problem, the money they bring in or the connections etc.

places to find answers:

*tourist organizations

*local government

*hotels

*local people

*water companies(?)

*rotary club  

 

Ljubica Cvoric

Garbage dump places

* Check next places and see what is the most urgent and polluted area:

officially garbage dump placesn 

illegal dump placesn   

garbage dump places from individual householdsn   

butcher / slaughter garbage·     

 

What is opinion of the local people about this, and what is opinion of the local government (maybe to do a interview with few different people).

Research the level of awareness about this problem, because I assume that lot of people simply don’t see this situation as a urgent and “dangerous”.·     

What are the rules and regulations about garbage dump places?·     

Check the way on which they are collecting the garbage and trash. How often they collect the trash (employers who are responsible for collecting the trash).·     

How the system for recycling is functioning there?·     

Do they have some priorities when is the matter of trash?·      Think about the differences in the city and in the village – in the sense of solving the problems with garbage.

How the cities are dealing with the garbage in touristic areas, near hotels, beaches etc.·     

 Try to collect as much information as possible about the garbage places, and try to make some kind of map, with all specific and characteristic information.·     

Try to build a kind of “guide” map, and maybe, later try to find a way to mark all this places in the same manner, so they can be more visible. In “artistic” way ( to be more designed, to have a different shape, for example), -but what is more important, through that kind of “new” visibility they should bring another level,  layer of awareness. 

 

Hidenori Mitsue

InfrastructureQuestions:

What is the systems there?

* waterworks infrastructure.

* Sewage disposal infrastructure.

* Situation of wastewater treatment center. What is happening there?

* Where the water is coming from? (How they get the water?)

* Where the water is going?

* How much water they are using (need)? 

How they are “behave” with the water?

* How people are using it?

* How people deal with the wastewater?

* How much budget for the infrastructure the government have?  

 

Marina Tomic

Wastewater Wastewater can come from:

-Human waste, usually from: used toilet paper, wipes, urine, other bodily fluids

-Septic tank discharge

-Sewage treatment

-Washing water (personal, clothes, floors, dishes, etc.)

-Rainfall collected on roofs, yards, hard-standings, etc.

-Liquids from domestic sources (drinks, cooking oil, pesticides, paint, cleaning liquids, etc.)

-Seawater ingress

-Direct ingress of river water

-Direct ingress of man-made liquids (illegal disposal of pesticides, used oils, etc.)

-Industrial waste:–industrial site drainage (silt, sand, alkali, oil, chemical)0.Industrial process waters0.

Organic - bio-degradable - includes waste from abattoirs and creameries and ice-cream manufacture.0.

Organic - non bio-degradable or difficult to treat - for example Pharmaceutical or Pesticide manufacturing0.

Inorganic - for example from the metalworking industry0.extreme pH - from acid/alkali manufacturing, metal plating0.

Toxic - e.g. from metal plating, cyanide production, pesticide manufacturing0.agricultural drainage - direct and diffuse0.etc.

Starting to read about waste water I found a lot of treatment process which can be used to clean up wastewater, some of them are:-          Wastewater treatment plants which may include physical, chemical and biological treatment processes.-         

Use of septic tanks  -         

On-Site Sewage Facilities which is widespread in rural areas,-         

 The most important aerobic treatment system is the activated sludge process, based on the keeping and recirculation of a complex biomass composed by micro-organisms able to absorb and adsorb the organic matter carried in the wastewater-           

Ecological approaches using reed bed systems such as constructed wetlands may be appropriate. Modern systems include tertiary treatment by micro filtration or synthetic membranes. After membrane filtration, the treated wastewater is indistinguishable from waters of natural origin of drinking quality. I suppose that exist more other treatments, these few I just mention, but I still don’t have idea how they look, and how they work. That will be the first thing or question for waste water in Cappadocia- to see their system for waste water.In mail of Caroline Delan (which Buba posted, few days ago) I read that the village has  system to collect the waste water, but still they miss wastewater treatment system. That is thing on which they are working now -wetlands.In this mail Caroline tell everything about wastewater, and also about their future plans, process, recording of process and people and organization that are included in. But even if I read carefully I still miss a lot about treatments. 

 So, questions will/can be:

-From where is coming most of wastewater in rural area of Cappadocia ?-What is the source? (as I mention on beginning source can be- human waste, liquids from domestic sources, industrial site, rainfall etc)-And something about future wetland project. Lot of people is included in-organizations, students, local people, and businessmen’s.

-What is the expectation of this project from their point of view? I think that we can ask same questions

:-Local people-Students from Cappadocia professional University, Mustafapasa, who are included in project and voluntary students-Organizations NihaAnkara and local authorities –-Also the thing which  is interesting for me is that film maker from KozaVisual will coordinate in preparing visibly material for recording of process wetland, and I would like that we can see more video materials from KozaVisual. 

Renaldi Zefi

Industry

1.    Where is the location of most industrial sites?

2.    Is there any house or people live nearby?

3.    What kind of factory that we can find the most?

4.    What type of industry that make the worst (and least) pollution?

5.    Is there any policy for establishing new factory.

6.    How the factory treat their waste? Underground cities : people still use it or just an abandoned space?Monastery : any Christian monasteries still exist / function around Cappadocia, and how they interact with local (surrounding) people?Music : any traditional groups of musician that I can work together with?   

I would like to make an appointment for Japanese women who live in Cappadocia at 6th June. I asked to her about date which day she prefer to take it on 6th June. It is okey for yours? And her house isn’t far from Ibrahimpasa. She’ living in Urgup, then we can manage to come there by foot. She and her husband doing tourist business on there. I made an appointment on their office.

Please let me know if you have an question?

Hide

Maybe not so useful web sites to see, but still enough interesting to check it, and understand better our future-present project in Turkey…

http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/rainbarrel/

http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/

www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcglobal/4israsign3.html

Israel signs agreement to buy water from Turkey

March 2004

U.S. Water News Online

JERUSALEM — Israel has signed an agreement to buy water from Turkey and may pay for part of it with weapons, in a deal aimed at alleviating Israel’s chronic water shortage and cementing its relations with an important Middle East ally.

Under the 20-year agreement, Turkey will ship 40,500 acre feet of water annually from its Manavgat River, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea, the two countries said. Details must still be worked out, including the price of the water and how to transport it to Israel, they said.

The agreement, more than two years in the making, comes at a time when Israel’s main source of fresh water, the Sea of Galilee, is full to overflowing after abundant rainfall. But long-term prospects in the arid region are bleak.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled said the water would probably be shipped in tankers or towed across the Mediterranean in large plastic bubbles to a storage facility.

Based on estimated shipping costs from the ministry, the deal could amount to tens of millions of dollars a year for Turkey. Peled said a small amount of that money would be paid in goods, most likely military items.

In the parched Middle East, water is a strategic issue as well as one of survival. Turkey is one of the few countries in the region with water reserves, and sales of the precious commodity could boost its position as a regional power.

Israel’s relationship with the large Islamic country is important to the Jewish state, especially after more than three years of fighting with the Palestinians. The violence has caused tension in the Middle East and strained Israel’s ties with Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab countries with which it has signed peace treaties.

“This agreement will increase the cooperation between the two countries and also lead to peace and stability in the Middle East,” said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan.

He said the landmark agreement turns water into an internationally accepted “commodity,” and that Turkey hopes to sell water to other countries.

Israel currently gets most of its water from the Sea of Galilee. It also is building a desalination plant in the port city of Ashkelon, a project that is expected to take several years to complete.

Peled said Israel hopes the deal with Turkey could lead to further agreements to share water with Jordan or the Palestinians.

 

At Expo 2008, Turkey to reflect humanitarian approach to waterwww.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=142181 

Dear DAI people,

I received yesterday an e mail form Willemijn Bouman.

Please read it, and check the web site that she send to us about Kozavisual organisation.

dear Ljubica

i saw the DAI-blog on Cappadocia and enjoyed it!
also want to encourage you to make email contact with Ozge Celikaslan
 from
KozaVisual: http://www.kozavisual.org to exchange ideas.

she knows the village of Irahimpasa/Babayan (where i live) also very
 wel
from a Turkish point of view. and you should approach her, because
KozaVisual already developed some very interesting video-projects.

don’t hesitate to inform yourselves.

good luck
Willemijn

I have some more news. Please look this web pages:

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/environment.html

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/eurasia.html

Dear DAI people,

Marina, Renaldi and I have contacted Caroline Delan. She replied us today, and I am sending you e mail, and letter which she send me in the attachment. I think  all this information can be quite useful for the beginning of our research.

Dear Ljubica 

I attached you the project concept that we submitted today to a specific funding! We hope the project will be awarded by mid-June and to start it in July or so!

I also invite you to see our website and go to our focus areas to have a clue about what we do and intend to do on water management related to education and research!!!

Let me know also about your art project and your plans for further cooperation with Turkish universities or so!

And here is the letter with all necessary information.

Project Initiation Document

WETKAP – TOWARD AN ALTERNATİVE AND SUSTAİNABLE SOLUTİON FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT İN RURAL AREAS İN CAPPADOCİA: SETTİNG-UP AN ARTİFİCİAL WETLAND İN IBRAHıMPAŞA

Promoter
Contact
Tel
E-mail    NIHAnkara
Caroline DELAN (Project Manager)
+90 312 437 33 47
carolinedelan@nihankara.org
Applicant
Partners

Expert    NIHAnkara
Cappadocia Rotary Club, Ürgüp
Cappadocia Professional University, Mustafapaşa
Babayan Culture House, Ibrahimpaşa
Dr. Elif Asuman Korkusuz
Motive and needs

Rural areas in Cappadocia still lack wastewater treatment systems to prevent streams in the region and the Kızılırmak river basin from pollution. Some of the municipalities in Cappadocia have started the installation of sewerage systems and the construction of a Wastewater Treatment Plant in Nevşehir – with the support of EU. However, small villages still need wastewater treatment solutions that would respect and protect more the environment and boost the local economy as well. Ibrahimpaşa is a good example of an agricultural village with a population of 1000 PE in the region. Even though the village has the sewerage system to collect the wastewater, the wastewater treatment system is still missing. Thus, all of the collected domestic wastewater discharges without any treatment into the volcanic caves of the valley, which creates odor, insects and health problems especially during the summer time. The already existing creek within the valley is receiving the wastewater of the sewerage outlets of the village as well as the untreated wastewater produced by the neighbour Kavak Municipality with a population of 4000 PE. Local people have already expressed their strong need and willingness for a sustainable treatment system that would preserve their health, the nature and cultural sites.

The constructed wetland treatment technology is an ecological decentralized wastewater treatment system that can be successfully applied in rural areas with a population of less then 2000 PE. Its development and application in Turkey has already started among local authorities due to its lower capital and O/M cost, as well as their low energy consumption when compared to the conventional treatment plants. Moreover these artificial wetlands can enable the re-use of treated wastewater for irrigation and recreation purposes.

To build such a constructed wetland for wastewater treatment in Ibrahimpaşa, where the natural and cultural heritage needs extra care and protection, requires at first an inspection of the current situation by experts. Since awareness about wastewater treatment is lacking among most of the local people, it is believed that young people’s education on the issue and giving them responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the treatment system could guaranty a long term concern on wastewater issues and dissemination of the treatment method. Hence, this project will also involve local people – especially students from the region (Kapadokya Meslek Yüksekokulu in Mustafapaşa) for operation and maintenance of the proposed system and for monitoring purposes. Additionally, voluntary students of the Meslek Yüksekokulu, Organic Agriculture Department, will conduct scientific experiments on the production efficiency of the local organic agricultural products irrigated with treated wastewater. This outcome is also expected to clarify long-term effects of the treated wastewater on the quality and quantity of the local organic food.

Objectives

The project aims at solving the wastewater treatment problem in a pilot village in Cappadocia in an environment and culture-friendly way – to preserve the valley, its cave churches and the Health of its inhabitants. With the involvement of local communities (farmers, students, businesses, civil society, etc.), the project also aims at raising awareness about wastewater management and the re-use of treated wastewater to develop local economy (irrigation for agriculture for instance).
•    Nature and cultural sites preservation
•    Prevention of rivers’ pollution
•    Decreasing contamination risks
•    Rural socio-economic development
•    Promoting the re-use of treated wastewater
•    Disseminating the wetlands innovative technology
•    Raising local awareness about wastewater management
Target groups

The target groups are the 1000 inhabitants in Ibrahimpaşa, about 8 students from the organic agriculture department of Kapadokya Meslek Yüksekokulu in Mustafapaşa, 15 members of the Cappadocia Rotari Club, local authorities in Cappadocia (Nevşehir Governor, Ürgüp District Governors, Mayors of surrounding villages, and the Mukhtar of Ibrahimpaşa), and environmental and agricultural civil society organisations.
•    Farmers and local inhabitants in Cappadocia
•    Students and researchers in Cappadocia
•    Civil society and professional organisations in Cappadocia
•    Local authorities in Cappadocia
Activities

1.    Management and evaluation (10 months): coordinating the project’s activities; networking with the experts, partners and target groups; proposing corrective actions when necessary; getting feedbacks from locals through interviews and from students through their reports; drafting interim and final reports.
2.    Visibility strategy (10 months): filming the steps of the project; advertising the project through partners’ websites, leaflets, exhibition, and publications; inviting guest speakers at the final conference.
3.    Designing the constructed wetland (2 months): field studies to be conducted by the expert in Ibrahimpaşa to determine how and where exactly  to build the artificial wetland; drafting a feasibility study; workshop on the constructed wetland technology given by the Turkish and Dutch expert to some of the local students and in presence of Dutch students.
4.    Pre-construction awareness rising (2 months): preparing and providing lectures about the wastewater issues and the constructed wetland technology for locals; delivering training for local students to assist for the plantation of the wetland and the monitoring of the treatment performance of the wetland.
5.    Building the constructed wetland (4 months): mobilizing the necessary equipment and local human resources; conducting works together with participation of the local communities and with the assistance of local students; organizing a short field-study visit where students from Ankara and the Netherlands will see their peers assisting for the plantation part.
6.    Post-construction awareness rising (1 month): certifying local students for their training and experiments; broadcasting the project documentary; opening ceremony with local communities and authorities, and other students from the region (high schools and universities).

Human resources

1.    The project coordinator will be responsible for the overall coordination of the project, for ensuring the effective implementation of activities, and for evaluating the project.
2.    The communication adviser will be in charge of networking with locals and students, and of preparing visibility tools – especially in coordination with the film maker of KozaVisual.
3.    The eco-student group leader will organize at local level awareness raising activities about wastewater management in coordination with the expert of the project.
4.    The project expert on constructed wetland technology for wastewater treatment will lead the feasibility study, the trainings and the works to be conducted in Ibrahimpasa.

Expected results

Expected results according to the previously defined objectives are as follows::
-    Ibrahimpasa wastewater will be treated in an eco-technological and nature-friendly way
-    The constructed wetland system will be an ecological treatment example for other villages
-    The historical valley, the nature and locals’ health will be protected
-    Tourists will not hesitate to come to the village because of bad odors and insects
-    Awareness of young people and their families on environmental issues, especially on wastewater treatment, will be raised
-    Young people will take responsibilty in their local region for environmental problems
-    Young people will gain hope to solve their future environmental problems by themselves starting with small steps

Besides, some concrete outputs will be produced during the project such as booklets of the training curriculum, of the lecture for locals about wastewater, of the reports from students and interviews of locals, and of the developed model for feasibilty and construction of an artificial wetland in Cappadocia’s rural areas. A documentary based on the project will also be a tangible output for further awareness in the region and to motivate local decision-makers to replicate the project.

Social impact

As the project will involve local communities and will target as well local decision-makers, the expected social impact is quite deep. A social change, in mentalities and in habits, has to occur to ensure the full sustainability of the project and the preservation of local environment. Thus, social awareness will be created among all target groups. However, it has to be constantly monitored, deepened and refreshed especially for locals, who were not raised according to an “environmental-based” education.

The main obvious impact will be toward the very specific group of young people – namely the local students. They will have acquired a concrete and visible experience in project management and in local development assistance. The constructed wetland expert, who is a MS. Environmental Engineer and PhD. Biotechnology, will also encourage them to continue their involvement in the project – by being responsible for the monitoring of the constructed wetland. Their motivation will be higher when they will receive their certificate as recognition of a non-formal learning that they also can transfer on their own to their younger peers. They will also get a first glimpse of how collective action and environmental commitment can lead to greater personal skills development. The sharing-knowledge workshop with other students from Ankara and the Netherlands will also broaden their horizon and bring them new ideas and opinions about environmental-solution-based methods and techniques. Kapadokya Meslek Yüksekokulu (KMYO) has to ensure the transmission of these skills and ideas between generations of students by promoting peer-to-peer sessions, eco-student group leaders, and alumni associations.

There will also be an appropriation of the applied methodology and training by Kapadokya Rotary Club to target the local businesses and local authorities, and by the KMYO to be the local centre responsible for the operation, maintenance and monitoring of the performance of constructed wetland. Locals will also gain confidence in the efficiency of the created solution for their wastewater problem thanks to this involvement of civil society. The assumption for a durable quality of life of locals – when the constructed wetland will be maintained to work properly – is also the full support of local authorities and their willingness to trust the work to be done by civil society.

Sustainability

The financial and institutional sustainability will be ensured by the local authorities – including the governorship and municipalities – and by the local partners of the project – namely the Cappadocia Rotary Club and Cappadocia Professional University (KMYO).

The maintenance of the constructed wetland will be conducted by the trained students from KMYO, who will also monitor the treatment performance of the wetland and conduct experiments on organic food production with the treated effluent.

Further works to be conducted will be under the responsability of the District Governorship. The developed model – feasibility study according to the specific feature of the rural area and involvment of local communities in the construction and maintenance – will also be re-used by local partners for other surrounding villages to make sure that this pilot project leads to a wider-spread solution for wastewater treatment in the region. To this respect, environmental and agricultural civil society organisations and the Rotary Club will be the key organisations to ensure sustainability at policy level – to convince local authorities to implement the model.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Ms. Caroline Delan
Project Manager

EU Affairs Counsellor
—
NIHAnkara
Netherlands Institute for Higher Education
Koza Sokak 111, 06700 G.O.P. Ankara , Turkey
Tel:  +90 (312) 437 33 47 - ext: 12

Fax: +90 (312) 437 33 42
E-mail: carolinedelan@nihankara.org

Website: http://www.nihankara.org 

in the midst of several nuances, i was finally able to check out some of your sites buba…..first…..www.ess.co.at……was very a scientific…..and this intersted me as an artist….however i will return to this…..what i noticed first was the various rivers that had been part of some eco water study or correction……major world rivers…..the Yangtze…..and this made me think of the Nile….and the Ganges……and then thinking of the river as how it has functioned socially and culutrually and politically ….in history as a focal point for civilizations…….a type of dependence….indeed….major cities around the world are located near or at the base of major rivers…..this makes me think of our dependnce on the RIver…..spiritually…..that the river as a constant moving body of water has a different meaning to a lake….which has a different meaning to an ocean……in terms of how we develop a relationship with not only the water….but its form….the river,…the lake the ocean…….( which makes me think of people ….some people say they are water people……however….all  people have some type of relatoinship to water beyond need……water does change people…..some more than others…..) yet to return to this…..and the history of various societies relationshiip to water is interesting in how we open up to the spiritual nature of water……..i beleive sometimes we are very stimulated by it…other times we close our minds to its beauty…….and essentially when i think of lakes and rivers and oceans….there is a permanent constant of beauty……and to be in the presence of a river …a lake ….an ocean…evokes a response in terms of our opennes to its beauty……..perhaps this is related to quantum physics….and the energy from water….in this though….looking at history…every civilization has recongized the power of the river…….that to be near to a great river….is important……obviously for physical needs….yet also just to look at a river is important…….to see water….to be near water….is the spiritual element……also in this site…., in the scientific discourse……i noticed the words ” ranking and benchmarking (objects)”…with visual  art being primarily made of objects……this seemd like the sceintific process, if not art itself, a conceptual stance…..could be translated into an art project quite directly……..however this may be too easy…yet a possible strating point for a more complex approach to benchmarking…..to ritualize it……to give ti artifice………and then ” rainfall- runoff,” were words that excited me because i like rainfall……its fun to be in the rain….if one has the correct mood…….and then ” ground water”, i was thinking of underground water bed….s…or stream…s…..that there is mystic art of find water with sticks…….a metaphysical approach to science…..this is interesting………2. ” marilynarsem.net”….i loved her work and this site was quite bizarre in its formality……i think that addressing water issues with interventions like 1999 clear water….are immense and beautiful……that people need to have alternative ways and more poetic ways of looking at and relating to water…….which brings me back to the ancients…and how they related to water…..were people in these ancient civilization more respectfull of water…say Egypt and the NIle…….CLeopatra…ect……that also the masses…the everyday people… may have.also approached water more spiritually…..that when they drank from it….bathed in it…washed their clothes in it…there was a pshycoilogical and spiritual link….that in Modernist Civilization….there was a seperation from this spirituality…..to water…..that water just became used…and then misused……and this loss is one exploanations for the World Water Crisis…….our loss of sensitiviy to the beauty of water and immense beauty of nature…….abandoned for power and profit …or to it……in this too…i see Marilynarsems  act as simple…and that there is a beauty in the simple….in the small…..act….that it does not have to physically great….to bring great change……that the small is monumental…….in some situations…and context…….or perhaps in all….this is up for question………

however, with this in mind….i have another proposal……i am interested in working with university students……

1. To ask students to measure their water consumption in a diary for two weeks…and then the following three weeks reduce their consumption….and in the difference between the two…the saved water……they can then take this amount and collect it and implement it in some way…..

   My idea was that the students could be divided into two groups……and this be a competition…..where by each individual’s saved water is added to the groups total…..say team a……and team b does the same…….then team a and team b have a competition with this saved water……..1. the fisrt idea….was that it should be fun…..” a water balloon fight” that each team sets up a table with water ballons…..in the center of their univerisy or town in a public place….and they have a water fight….and the dryiest team wins a trophy…..and each team gets their pictures taken in a group…….ect….and this occurs every year…..as a sort of celebration…..festival…..competition…….

2. the second was more serious…..that each team could use their water to grow a small vegetable garden….and then when the vegetables grow…..they make a diner …and feed people in the town or city who would benefit…….like a charitable activity….

in this perhaps there would be a raising of consciousnes of water and its spirituality…..especialy the measureing of their consumption….but also an event they could celebrate with and bond over water…..

i realize this is a Western…and possible Colonial….idea for a nations, Turkey, with completely different customs….yet the world is global and water is global and equally culturally implemented in various similarities and needs……so a post colonial theory perspective  is not relevent in this proposal……they can adopt our customs…and change them…and visa versa…..we can adopt their customs….why not…. and thats the important thing is this proposal is site psecific as much as possible….to their beliefs and values in terms of how they shape the idea…….anyways, if we constantly restrict our self to post colonial dogma and politcal correctness……..nothing creative will happen between cultures…….and now that i am addressing this point……i have to say… the “real” colonizer is not nations or civilizations…..it is technology…….  

IN terms of a ”technology” …..” we should take 14 pairs of socks, 14 underware, and 14 shirts, and enough clothes so that when we are in Cappadocia….we dont need to wash our clothes there and thus reduce the waste of water…..while visiting….”

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just back from Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, close to the arctic circle: they also have a lot of problems with water, wastewater and garbage there. Even though there was about 40 cm of snow when we arrived, the amount of annual precipitation is very small and the area is categorized as a desert: water is scarce. Part of the town and most of the smaller communities do not get water through a pipe system. Each house gets it delivered by truck every day into a tank. If there is a snow storm, the truck often cannot ride, and you have to ration your water, very quick showers, or none at all, if the storm lasts another day or two. In the same way, the waste water is collected by truck from the houses and is driven to the sewage lagoon at the end of town. Not such a problem in winter, when this lake of shit is frozen, but in the summer it stinks. And the animals, birds, and in some communities even the bigger animals, Caribou, that are hunted for food, started to feed from the sewage lagoons. Garbage is another big problem: everything that is brought there stays there and ends on the dump (machines, cars, building material, packaging, paper, plastic, beer cans, you name it). Due to the climate, the breakdown even of biological material takes much longer than elsewhere.  And the dump grows and grows. They are thinking of solutions, but until now, they haven’t found any they could afford.