KUKSET – Kusadasi Egitim Kultur Sanat ve Turizm Dernegi (Kusadasi Association of Education, Culture, Art and Tourism) is a non profit Non-governmental organisation in the education field. All the founder members are specialists or have master degree on their respective fields and all are teachers or principals at public schools. The organisation is a
Get Together of Teachers who would like to change something around them and need extra qualifications which sometimes do not exist at their schools. By this way teachers from different schools have the ability to work together and have the opportunity to cooperate under the same roof with the chance to learn from each other and provide training to others in more disadvantaged situations. The association members carry out researches, plans, organizations and produce projects about education and implement these in their schools reaching many students and parents at the same time. The association is in close relationship with a minimum number of 25 schools in its own province. There are four preschools, eight primary schools and nine secondary schools in cooperation with the association and a number of private schools. The cooperation and relationship with these schools are via the teachers and principals who are members of the association. There are 24 active members in the association and at least 100 volunteers. The number of the members is rising as well as the volunteers. The association has the opportunity to reach over 500 teachers and a great number of students some of whom are in the disadvantaged areas. The students that the association is in touch with are mostly Turkish but the number of immigrants, refugees and minorities is not to be underestimated. Soem of thestudents are multilingual and multicultural in the area which necessitates schools and teachers to be able to adapt to the problems brought with it. The schools give integration education to students with special needs in support rooms. The association is in close relationship with the Faculties of Tourism, Accommodation and Tourism. Some members and volunteers are students in these faculties. The association is open to all education society and stakeholders. It is the bridge between the Universities, the teachers and the students as well as between formal, informal and non-formal education and aims to make all education sustainable. It carries out activities to bring together academics and teachers with the support of Development Agencies and Local Authorities. The association members participate in Conferences, Panels and Educational Workshops both as trainees and trainers. Locally it runs various projects about education. All the members, besides their routine work, are running projects locally and internationally. The members take part in their colleagues’ projects whenever needed and promote power using their qualifications. There are also some projects ranunder the name of the association KUKSET like the Children Yoga Training for Teachers applied and will be supported by GEKA (South Aegean Development Agency). Both the members and volunteers of the association are dedicated to carry education to a higher level beginning with their close proximity and then spreading their attainments to the national level. For this purpose, the association is working in close cooperation with 4 district and province educational directorates for the purpose of reaching more teachers and students through those authorities.