The spring term activities of the international Water Explorer Program, which aims to raise awareness about water among students between the ages of 8 and 14, was conducted with the support of Maxion İnci Wheel Group, one of the leaders of the Turkish automotive supply industry. A total of 102 public schools from Manisa and Izmir participated in the program, the spring term of which ended with the final event held at Swissotel in Izmir. Hundreds of water ambassadors became part of the solution with their projects and contributed to raising awareness about water by reaching a total of 2300 people with their activities.
Having established sustainability as one of the pillars of its corporate culture, Maxion İnci Wheel Group took responsibility for solving water problems as part of this approach and conducted the activities in the spring term of the Water Explorer Program, which aims to raise awareness about water among students across the world. During the Water Explorer Program, training courses, bake sales, festivals were held, and projects offering solutions to existing problems were developed. The spring term of the Water Explorer Program ended with an event where the activities of 5 finalists (Çağatay Uluçay Primary School and Mehmet Keskinoğlu Middle School in Manisa and Şehit Yüzbaşı Ali Rıza Sadak Primary School, Şehit Yüzbaşı Ali Rıza Sadak Middle School, and Bahar Yıldırım Primary School in Izmir) were presented and evaluated by a jury and awards were presented to all schools in different categories.
Water Explorers were evaluated by a jury, consisting of Nilay Dökümcü, from WWF (World Wide Fund); Prof. Ersan Başar, Faculty Member in the Department of Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering in Sürmene Faculty of Marine Sciences at Karadeniz Technical University and Leader of the 4th Antarctic Expedition; Fatoş Karahasan, a columnist for Dünya Gazetesi; Assoc. Prof. İrem Deniz Can, Faculty Member in the Department of Bioengineering at Manisa Celal Bayar University; Nedim Atilla, a columnist for Ege’de Son Söz Gazetesi and Governor of Rotary District 2440; Serra Titiz, Coordinator of the Water Explorer Program and Founder and Managing Director at Mikado Sustainable Development Consulting; and Gülçin Tekin, Director of Shared Functions at Maxion İnci Wheel Group.
The Program trained hundreds of water ambassadors, who reached 2300 people
A total of 102 primary and middle schools from Manisa and Izmir participated in the Water Explorer program. Hundreds of water ambassadors from 15 schools, where the relevant activities continue, informed other students in their schools about the Water Explorer program through their activities and increased their level of awareness and knowledge. Water Explorers did not limit the activities “Grow It Yourself, Clean That Water Up, Fashionable Water, Challenge Your Family, and The Water We Eat” to their schools but also carried out activities with their families and ensured that they are committed to changing their water consumption habits. Thus, the program expanded its reach, reaching a total of 2300 people and raising awareness about water.
All the activities are available on the country page on the website of the Water Explorer Program: www.sukasifi.org/turkiye
Furthermore, Maxion İnci Wheel Group, the first company from Türkiye to participate in the program “Employees for the Global Goals,” developed by IMPACT2030 in cooperation with The World's Largest Lesson, provided 15 Water Explorer Schools with training on Sustainable Development Goals through its Volunteers’ team.
Earth emerged as a winner
Student teams formed as part of the Water Explorer Program and given very creative names such as Sulozof (Water Philosophers), Suti, Son Damla (The Last Drop), and Su Hayat Pınarı (Water Life Spring) developed activities and projects for existing water problems. Bahar Yıldırım Primary School in Izmir and Mehmet Keskinoğlu Middle School in Manisa, which stood out by a small margin with their activities, were selected as winners as a result of the presentations and evaluations of the projects that made it to the finals. Maxion İnci Wheel Group created a support fund of 15,000 TRY for the winners and 10,000 TRY for the other finalists to support their projects on water.
In his speech at the final event of the Water Explorer Program, Mustafa Zaim, President of Maxion İnci and Maxion Jantaş, said, “We focus on sustainability by setting ambitious targets on carbon emissions, use of natural resources, waste reduction, recycling, social responsibility, gender equality, and many similar issues. We are proud of the awareness of our teams on these issues and the efforts of our volunteers. We enjoyed being involved in the Water Explorer Program. We are an Aegean company operating in Manisa. Therefore, we wanted to take part in this program by supporting public schools in Izmir and Manisa. I would like to thank our team for contributing to this program with a heartfelt effort and willingness, apart from their professional responsibilities. I sincerely congratulate our Water Explorers. They did amazing work on water awareness. They dared to do something good for all life on our planet, for humanity, for our country, and for their families and themselves and became the pioneers of change with their awareness. As a result of sustainability efforts, Earth emerged as a winner. We are proud of our children and feel more hopeful about the future thanks to them.”
