Yeniboğaziçi Municipality organized a "Mother Earth (Terra Madre) Activity with Children".
On December 17, 2025, a "Mother Earth" event was held with children at the Reşat Bergen Seed Garden in Yeniboğaziçi. The opening of the event was conducted by Mehtap Sayıner, our municipality's Cittaslow coordinator and Cittaslow Committee event manager; the meaning of the park and the importance of the Cittaslow movement were emphasized to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students and their teachers from Yeniboğaziçi. Yeniboğaziçi Municipal Council members Esen Beyköylü and Atalay Talaykurt also participated in the event.
As part of the program, Umut Kurşun, the Yeniboğaziçi Slow Food Salamis Leader, provided information about the Cittaslow and Slow Food movements, explaining their importance for sustainable living. Ulus Irkat, a retired teacher and close friend of Reşat Bergen, stated that Bergen was a multilingual educator with a great interest in nature, books, and especially the propagation of heirloom seeds.
Dr. Özge Cumaoğulları Eker, who also spoke at the event, discussed the importance of sustainability for children's present and future. It was emphasized that this is of vital importance; it was stated that children can also make a difference in the face of the climate crisis and global warming with small but effective measures they can take in their daily lives. It was stated that the seed garden created was designed in accordance with sustainable principles, in harmony with nature, not against it.
Various heirloom seeds and bulbs such as onions, garlic, coriander, arugula, and musk flowers, produced under the leadership of Nermin Kandilli (Mother Earth), were planted in raised beds in the garden by the event team, students, and teachers. Students were informed that the planted seeds would grow and produce crops, that these crops would be multiplied through sharing, and thus a sustainable cycle would be created. At the end of the event, students pledged to actively participate in the process, stating that they would express their experiences through drawings, songs, poems, stories, or games.
Yeniboğaziçi Municipality is working; it is producing for nature, the future, and children.
