  
  Co-Exist. Co-Create. 
  
 Re-Imagine. Re-Shape.

Core Manifesto

Why Core Exists

Youth, young changemakers and grassroots organisations in Türkiye are navigating deep uncertainty: political pressure, limited resources, fragile civic spaces, and shrinking cultural infrastructures. Many initiatives are focused on simply surviving; often isolated, under-supported, and without pathways for collaboration or influence.

CORE emerges as a response to this moment.
Not as a project that “arrives with answers,” but as a space where:

hope is practiced together,
trust is built slowly and honestly,
connection becomes a form of care, and
resilience is transformed from individual surviving to collective enduring.

CORE responds by opening space for:

Youth participation and democratic engagement
Stronger cultural and civic grassroots networks
Shared resilience, collective learning, and community care
New ways of organising, imagining, and taking action together

We believe trust is built through real connection, and hope grows when we walk together. CORE is a practice of co-existing, co-creating, and re-imagining, re-shaping our shared futures.

Join CORE

CORE is building a community of care, creativity, imagination, and action across Türkiye and Europe.

If you believe in collective futures, if you want to build trust where it is fragile,
if you carry hope even when it feels small —
there is a place for you here.

→ Open Call coming soon
→ Follow CORE’s updates
→ Step into a community where we learn, rebuild, and imagine together

Submit

Who Core is for

CORE supports people who keep their communities alive, even in difficult times and organisations committed to youth-led cultural
and civic change in Türkiye.

Grassroots Organisations

Cultural, civic, youth-led, community-driven groups who need space, tools, and allies to grow sustainably and who are working in youth participation, cultural democracy, civic engagement, community organising, placemaking, arts, culture, and social design.

Youth Changemakers

Young cultural workers, organisers, artists, designers, activists, local leaders; those who dare to imagine better futures and want to do it with others, not alone.   

And wishes to;

Learn from peers
Build sustainable initiatives
Connect with international networks
Foster democracy, culture, and civic imagination

Policy Actors & Civic Stakeholders

Local authorities, civil society actors, and community networks engaged in youth, culture, and civic life and anyone shaping the places we share.

Everyone who joins CORE becomes part of a network of care, imagination, and shared responsibility.

What happens in Core

CORE unfolds step by step; guided by the people involved and the realities on the ground. Nothing is rigid.  

Everything adapts.

Listening first
A screening conference and needs assessment to understand what is already working, what is missing, and what is possible.
Growing together
Workshops, trainings, mentorships, peer learning, policy literacy, placemaking labs, co-design moments: All shaped by collective needs.
Building inner strength
A Train-the-Trainers journey, so knowledge stays rooted in Türkiye and continues beyond the project.
International exchange & matchmaking
Connecting youth change-makers with peers across Europe to share courage, practices,  and solidarity.

CORE evolves from within.
Participants influence the direction. 
The path is co-created, never imposed.

Space for micro-initiatives
Small sparks of possibility; supported, connected, and amplified. Supporting powerful projects emerging from participants.