The Importance of Local Organizations in Conserving Cultural and Historical Identity: The Case of Amasya-Turkey

Many trends have been explained through the concept of globalization in recent times. This is seen as an expansion particularly for developing countries and contains serious handicaps. The main inspiration for the idea of globalization is the control of economic resources of developing countries by global forces and the elimination of the cultural-social differences between countries. However, this evaluation does not mean that the globalization process signifies a risk for developing countries in all ways. Actually, this process provides the way for the more effective use of spatial and cultural values. The most important parts of cultural and spatial values are the historical quarters of urban areas. Today, conservation gains a new meaning in current discussions, indicating that conservation should be perceived as conserving spatial and cultural values in terms of the development and publicizing of locality. In this frame, the two points should be raised: efforts for the conservation of cultural and historical identity are an important opportunity for developing countries and conservation cannot be achieved without local participation

Evaluation of Urban Spaces from the Perspective of Universal Design Principles: The Case of Konya/Turkey

During the process of accessing services provided within urban interior and outer spaces the elderly and disabled individuals encounter with a myriad of problems due to the limitations posed by structured environments. This limitation hinders elderly and disabled individuals from mobility without assistance, which in turn negatively affects their full participation to urban and social life. Rearrangement of urban spaces to meet the needs of elderly and disabled individuals would correspondingly bolster life quality of the entire range of users. Within the scope of present research, as mandated by universal design principles to stick to plans and designs approaches inclusive for all users, it is aimed to conduct evaluations on the use of urban outer spaces situated within Konya City Center. In the hypothetical and theoretical part of this paper, the perception of disability throughout historical process has been examined from a sociological perspective. In addition, concept of universal design, its principles and gravity have also been elaborated. In the part dealing with the case study, outer spaces within Konya City Center have been analyzed with respect to universal design principles and a range of suggestions have been developed

The Importance of Local Organizations in Conserving Cultural and Historical Identity: The Case of Amasya-Turkey

Many trends have been explained through the concept of globalization in recent times. This is seen as an expansion particularly for developing countries and contains serious handicaps. The main inspiration for the idea of globalization is the control of economic resources of developing countries by global forces and the elimination of the cultural-social differences between countries. However, this evaluation does not mean that the globalization process signifies a risk for developing countries in all ways. Actually, this process provides the way for the more effective use of spatial and cultural values. The most important parts of cultural and spatial values are the historical quarters of urban areas. Today, conservation gains a new meaning in current discussions, indicating that conservation should be perceived as conserving spatial and cultural values in terms of the development and publicizing of locality. In this frame, the two points should be raised: efforts for the conservation of cultural and historical identity are an important opportunity for developing countries and conservation cannot be achieved without local participation

Teleworking Implementation Process Model for Yebam (Elderly&Disabled Care, Research, Training and Implementation Center)/Konya-Turkey

People with disabilities are facing many constraints when using urban interior and exterior spaces. At the same time, aging brings with physical losses. Because of these physical restrictions, the participation of disabled and elderly people in working life gets much harder. New solutions should be developed for elderly and disabled people in order to improve the employment of them. In this context, the information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide opportunities for people with disabilities in all areas of life.  These opportunities also have importance for people having different mobility disabilities. At this point, teleworking, as a new way of working provides an opportunity for employee to work anywhere and anytime through ICTs so daily trips could be decreased with teleworking. This paper aims to evaluate opportunities for the employment of elderly and disabled people. Firstly, the concept and forms of teleworking are defined. Then the importance of this new way of working for elderly and disabled people is discussed. In Turkey, there are many institutions that provide services to the elderly and people with disabilities. However, these institutions are not enough for these people so new solutions should be developed. For this purpose, Yebam (Elderly&Disabled Care, Research, Training and Implementation Center) will be established in Selcuk University Campus-Konya/Turkey. Educational services, living spaces, production and rehabilitation centers will be combined in one place. Finally, teleworking implementation process model proposed for Yebam has been discussed in the last part of the paper

Teleworking Implementation Process Model for Yebam (Elderly&Disabled Care, Research, Training and Implementation Center)/Konya-Turkey

People with disabilities are facing many constraints when using urban interior and exterior spaces. At the same time, aging brings with physical losses. Because of these physical restrictions, the participation of disabled and elderly people in working life gets much harder. New solutions should be developed for elderly and disabled people in order to improve the employment of them. In this context, the information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide opportunities for people with disabilities in all areas of life.  These opportunities also have importance for people having different mobility disabilities. At this point, teleworking, as a new way of working provides an opportunity for employee to work anywhere and anytime through ICTs so daily trips could be decreased with teleworking. This paper aims to evaluate opportunities for the employment of elderly and disabled people. Firstly, the concept and forms of teleworking are defined. Then the importance of this new way of working for elderly and disabled people is discussed. In Turkey, there are many institutions that provide services to the elderly and people with disabilities. However, these institutions are not enough for these people so new solutions should be developed. For this purpose, Yebam (Elderly&Disabled Care, Research, Training and Implementation Center) will be established in Selcuk University Campus-Konya/Turkey. Educational services, living spaces, production and rehabilitation centers will be combined in one place. Finally, teleworking implementation process model proposed for Yebam has been discussed in the last part of the paper