10 YEARS DEDICATED TO EDUCATION AND NATURE: EGET FOUNDATION

Milas Bakış / September 18, 2025

To read the news: https://milasbakis.com.tr

Özlem Uzman, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Education, Geriatrics, Ecological Agriculture, Tourism Foundation (EGET Foundation), shared the 10-year journey of the Muğla-based Foundation and its contributions to society at a press conference titled "10 Years Dedicated to Education and Nature," held on the 10th anniversary of the EGET Foundation. The press conference was attended by Foundation executives including Op. Dr. Naki Bulut, Agricultural Engineer Necla Dal, Mehmet Kaya, and Lawyer Evrim Çağlayan.

Özlem Uzman stated that they founded the EGET Foundation on July 25, 2015, together with (the late) Safai Özer, and that they set contributing to society as their main goal, in line with Atatürk's words, "It is education that either allows a nation to live as a free, independent, and advanced society, or abandons it to slavery and misery."

It's not just about giving scholarships to young people…

Drawing attention to the fact that lack of education is the biggest obstacle to a country's development, Uzman stated that as a foundation, they want to find solutions to other problems that they care about in our country, in addition to giving scholarships to young people, saying, “Today, we are in a period where the soil continues to be polluted with chemicals, and concerns about the reliability of the food on our tables are increasing. Although human life expectancy is increasing, healthy aging is becoming more difficult every day. Traditional tourism on our coasts has reached a point of stagnation, and there is a need for new breaths such as ecotourism and agrotourism. Therefore, we aim to create good examples not only with our words but also with the practices we put into practice. We are working for a country where nature is protected with sustainable agricultural practices, and where contemporary tourism examples are offered for middle-aged and elderly people in harmony with nature,” and summarized what has been done in the last ten years as follows:

“We focused on establishing a stable scholarship system”

“Since 2016, EGET, which gives equal opportunities to every student, has been using its own software, BUSED (Scholarship Selection and Placement System).” The Evaluation System was implemented as a first in Turkey. To date, we have provided scholarships to 245 students with the resources we have developed. Since its establishment, EGET has focused on creating a stable scholarship system not only through donations but also through the projects it develops and the work it does. These types of non-profit initiatives, which aim to distribute funds to their shareholders, are called 'social enterprises'. We use this model extensively. By investing in the fields of "Geriatrics, Ecological Agriculture and Tourism" included in our name, we have provided a sustainable source of funding. The EGET Foundation Economic Enterprise started operating within the foundation. On May 24, 2015, we planted 415 oak saplings inoculated with truffle spores at the EGET Armutçuk Organic Farming Enterprise. In this way, we managed to establish Turkey's largest private truffle plantation on an area of ​​22,000 m². On May 8, 2016, we planted two different types of lavender seedlings, known to nourish truffles, on the same land. The products obtained from this were distributed to our facility, also located in Armutçuk. We process the oil and tonic in Muğla's first Organic Distillation unit. Organic lavender has been transformed into high value-added cosmetic products. We produce EGET TEN cosmetic products registered with the Ministry of Health's Product Tracking System. Muğla is now home to a cosmetic brand. Furthermore, the EGET Foundation Economic Enterprise has showcased Muğla's exceptionally beautiful olives to the world. EGET brand olive oils have won awards from the world's most prestigious competitions. EGET Memecik won a gold medal at London Olive 2025, one of the world's most prestigious competitions. We also won a silver medal in Tokyo in 2025. In 2020, EGET Kuzluk won silver at Tokyo Olive Japan, and in 2023, EGET Memecik won silver medals at both Olive Japan and the London International Olive Oil Competition (IOOC).”

“From Nature to You; From You to Education”

Drawing attention to the fact that EGET's organic products are available on online sales channels, and that those searching for the name of Muğla now also see healthy agricultural and cosmetic products, Uzman underlined that their main slogan is “From Nature to You; From You to Education”; and stated that hundreds of products in the EGET Plant, EGET Food, EGET Handicrafts and EGET Workshop categories of the EGET Foundation Economic Enterprise are offered for sale online both through their own e-commerce platform eget.com.tr and through stores on all known digital marketplaces.

Continuing his remarks by saying, "Agriculture in harmony with nature is possible," Uzman stated that as the EGET Foundation, they demonstrate extraordinary sensitivity in all their agricultural production, adding, "We do not use any chemical products against chemical fertilizers and pests. The only fertilizer we use is obtained from our earthworm friends, and even that is organically certified. As a result of our commitment to sustainable agriculture and environmentally respectful production principles, I am pleased to announce that EGET was accepted into the 'Good Market' community, which supports only products and services that are good for people and the planet, as of July 2024. In line with our understanding of production in harmony with nature, we have grown organic yellow wheat, black awn, and chickpeas from heirloom seeds in our 156-acre organically certified field in the Elkin region of Muğla, where we planted the first seeds of our foundation's dream. We are experiencing the joy of expanding our range of local and healthy food production with these products and taking another step forward."

‘Academy for Living with Nature’

In his statement, Uzman explained that the HEEFTA (Holistic Environmental Education From Training To Action) project, developed by the EGET Foundation based on the ‘Academy for Living with Nature’ concept, was one of the 60 projects to receive international support among 631 applications from 15 countries under the European Union-supported Interreg NEXT Mediterranean Basin Program. He noted that since 2017, they have been sharing knowledge about nature through their Lavender Harvest Festival, which includes lavender harvesting experiences, ecology-themed workshops, training for children, and activities for adults. After mentioning many events they have organized for children, young people, and women, Uzman listed EGET's achievements and contributions over the past 10 years as follows:

“Since its establishment, EGET has supported equal opportunities in education and a nature-oriented future, conducting all its activities in this direction. It has developed a unique model that combines scholarships and ecological projects. It offers a fair and accessible scholarship that provides equal opportunities to every student throughout Turkey.” We established the system. We created a social enterprise model that inspires the world from a lavender field. We generated resources for scholarships through value-added production. We implemented innovative practices in agriculture. We carried Muğla's name to the world with our gold medal-winning olive oils. We organized the traditional Lavender Harvest Festival, which adds color to Muğla. As a foundation that teaches ecology and nurtures the future, we received support from Europe with our HEEFTA project. We brought Muğla's name to the 'summit of goodness'. As EGET, we created a 'Permaculture Garden', a living learning space. We took a pioneering role in digitalization and online sales.”

“Our Future Goals”

In the final section of his statement, Uzman summarized his future goals as follows: Reaching more young people, organizing trainings and seminars to raise awareness in the fields of gerontology and healthy living, promoting natural farming, establishing an Ecological Living Center to transform accumulated knowledge into a concrete life model, developing and expanding international collaborations, creating sustainable resources through exports, and strengthening the scholarship fund by initiating and expanding the export of EGET Memecik olive oil and other healthy products. He concluded his statement by thanking his colleagues and participants at the Foundation:

“EGET’s visionary structure, institutional capacity, and competence have the strength to realize these goals. We will resolutely move forward on this path and turn these goals into reality.”