Habitat Association (Habitat) is a non-governmental organization that produces social capacity-building and impact-oriented projects based on strong partnerships compatible with the digitalizing world and aimed at sustainable development. Founded in 1997 by young people who came together for the Copenhagen Social Development Summit in 1995 and the United Nations Habitat II Summit in 1996, Habitat’s mission was to establish a communication bridge between the youth of the world and the youth of Turkey. Since 1997, Habitat has been carrying out activities for all segments of society with thousands of volunteers in 81 provinces of Turkey, regardless of religion, language, race, political opinion, gender identity and sexual orientation. Habitat supports Sustainable Development Goals by equipping disadvantaged groups with the digital skills required by the age to realize themselves, ensuring their access to opportunities, supporting their participation in decision-making processes, and increasing their social and environmental sensitivity. Habitat establishes multi-stakeholder partnerships with governments, local administrations, the private sector and civil society organizations in all its work. Habitat, which implements programs for skills development, entrepreneurship, and training of a qualified workforce, has supported the formation of many mechanisms, such as the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey Young and Women Entrepreneurs Councils. In addition, to develop Turkey’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, Habitat leads GEN Turkey, a part of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN Global), which operates actively in 178 countries and undertakes the administrative management of GEN Turkey. Taking its strength from international knowledge and the positive energy of its volunteers all over Turkey, Habitat continues its works in the fields of entrepreneurship, digital transformation, financial awareness, and socio-economic cohesion while expanding its activities in a broad geographical region where Turkey is located. With its Local Hubs (Community Centers) in 13 different provinces in Anatolia, Habitat hosts various trainings, programs, and workshops to benefit local businesses and SMEs for communities ready to cross borders to reach global markets. With its efforts focused on contributing to the digitalization of society and the economy, Habitat also aims to provide a physical space where different communities and entrepreneurs can come together.
Buğra has developed, led and managed multi-partnership projects with private sector, public sector, NGOs in the fields of sustainable development, financial awareness, digital skills development, entrepreneurship and livelihoods programmes for vulnerable groups. As a founder of Social Climate Association, He had worked in the field of sustainability and sustainable development with the focus of climate action since 2014. He had worked in Habitat Association as Project Manager and International Relations Director and responsible for the management and development of international projects. He was a Deputy Secretary General of Habitat Association and responsible for project development, international relations and entrepreneurship programmes. He had run the secretariat of Global Entrepreneurship Network Turkey as Acting Managing Director. He had been working as Corporate Partnerships Lead in ecording, which is a social enterprise develops technological solutions against climate crisis. Now, he is an Executive Committee Member in Habitat Dernegi and responsible for partnerships and project development, international relations, sustainable growth and entrepreneurship programmes.