United Nations Global Schools Program and Güngör Aslan Anatolian High School collaborated to organize the "Social Responsibility and Impact Parent Workshop in the Age of Multiple Crises" in Denizli, bringing together students, parents, and educators under one roof. The workshop, held against the backdrop of increasing school attacks worldwide, rising loneliness among youth, digital addiction, violent tendencies, climate crisis, disasters, and social polarization, developed solution-oriented projects to strengthen a safe school culture.
Güngör Aslan Anatolian High School, located in the Merkezefendi district of Denizli, operates under the Global Schools Program, an initiative of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). It hosted a model initiative in education focusing on social responsibility and community resilience.
The workshop featured Amanda Abrom, Director of the Global Schools Program, who addressed students, parents, and educators. Abrom emphasized the importance of education for sustainable development, supporting young people's problem-solving skills against global issues, and strengthening school-family-community collaboration. Her participation highlighted the value of international efforts resonating at the local level.
Under the title "Social Responsibility and Impact Parent Workshop in the Age of Multiple Crises," parents, students, and the school community came together to assess global challenges facing today's world. However, the workshop was not just a platform for discussing problems; it also presented an action model aimed at uniting families, students, and educators on a common solution ground against school attacks and risks threatening youth.
Speaking at the opening, School Principal Mehmet Özbek emphasized that the workshop should not be seen as a one-day event. He said: "Today we are not just conducting a workshop. We are actually taking the first step of an action plan. We are trying to develop a solution model in school safety, social resilience, and community responsibility. This is not an end for us, but a beginning. In the coming period, we aim to develop and sustain these efforts together with our students, parents, and teachers."
During the "Social Responsibility and Impact" panel held as part of the workshop, students shared their views on social responsibility, sustainability, youth leadership, community solidarity, and invisible barriers faced by women. The program was then enriched with a musical performance, adding social and cultural dimensions.
In the seminar titled "Social Responsibility and Resilience in the Age of Multiple Crises," teacher Elif Selçuk addressed many topics including safe school culture and risks associated with multiple crises, drawing on school attacks and violent incidents worldwide in recent years. The importance of creating school environments where young people feel they belong, their voices are heard, and they can participate in decision-making processes was highlighted. Additionally, the risks of the digital age, social media influences, isolation, mental health, and community resilience were discussed.
In the second part of the program, students and parents participated in workshops together and developed social responsibility projects. A total of ten projects emerged on topics such as safe school culture, combating digital addiction, healthy technology use, sustainable lifestyles, women's leadership, parenting in the age of artificial intelligence, and community solidarity.
Teacher Elif Selçuk, who coordinated the workshop, noted that the problems facing young people today cannot be solved by schools or families alone, emphasizing the importance of acting together against school attacks and multiple crises. Selçuk stated that they aim to raise young people as individuals who not only discuss problems but also produce solutions.
It was announced that the projects developed at the end of the workshop will be put to a vote by the school community, and the two projects receiving the most support will be implemented at Güngör Aslan Anatolian High School in the 2026-2027 academic year.
This model developed by Güngör Aslan Anatolian High School stands out for presenting a participatory approach that not only takes precautions regarding school safety but also has students, families, and society produce solutions together. The study, centered on social responsibility, resilience, and youth leadership in education, is considered an important example of local solution models developed against school attacks and multiple crises.
