WHY?
Situation
Developing countries need an additional $4 trillion in annual financing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Four key climate change indicators that measure our impact on the planet broke records in 2021.
The Day of Extremes is getting closer every year. In other words, humanity is demanding more than nature can provide.
It is estimated that climate change and disasters will force 1.2 billion people to migrate globally by 2050.
Context
According to the International Organisation for Migration, Turkey is the country hosting the most refugees in the world. In Turkey, about 65 per cent of 18-29 year olds have knowledge about the crypto money exchange. The rate of investment is about 48%, so one of the two young people is a crypto investor.
Opportunity
Is it possible for a new economic model that will invalidate the dynamics that trigger crises and transform the effects of non-surprise shocks that experts have predicted in their research since the 1970s into “creative destruction”, in Bekir Ağırdır’s words?
WHAT?
ReFi Turkey program: “Is it possible to go one step beyond sustainability and circularity with the help of new technologies and establish an economic model that repairs systems?” is looking for an answer to the question. It makes an open call to create an ecosystem in cooperation and solidarity with the actors in this field in Turkey in order to build this answer together.
If you are curious about the concept, you can read the article “ReFi Turkey Theory of Change” where we discuss the path the ReFi movement has drawn to solve global problems with its aspect touching Web3, finance and social impact.
In the first days, Avalanche, Green Pill, Boğaziçi University Blockchain Community, İTÜ Blockchain Community, Sabancı University Blockchain Community, Istanbul University Blockchain Community joined the open call of program initiators Akbank LAB and imece to create an ecosystem!
If you think you can be a part of this open call through your institution: if you want to get involved on behalf of an actor in the ecosystem, you can click here, if you want to get involved with your university Blockchain community, you can click here!
HOW
The program consists of podcast episodes, meetups, newsletters and a Hackathon.
ReFi Türkiye as a Regenerative Finance Platform
We launched the ReFi Türkiye program website as a restorative finance platform. When you visit the platform subpage, you will be greeted with brief information notes evaluating our current situation, context and opportunities.
Where else are we?
We are here on Twitter @refi_turkiye with tweets about the intersection of Web3 technologies with the impact ecosystem! You can also follow our website for podcast conversations with pioneers who think and build on Web3!
The ReFi Turkey program is an exciting process full of events! The Akbank ReFi Hackathon, which will be held at Istanbul Sabancı Center between September 30 and October 2, will also be one of the milestones of the process.
If you want to step into the world of restorative finance with the hackathon, you can apply from this page until September 12!
If you want to be a part of the motivation to design a new economy that will contribute to the world’s repair process, you can work on the following focal points in the event: Repair of Ecosystems, Restorative Local Economy, Investment, Fund and Donation, Youth Employment, Quality and Transparency in Education. Example works in each area are included in the article on the imece platform Medium page.
The solutions to be developed with Avalanche technology in the 48-hour marathon will be evaluated by the jury.
‘Akbank ReFi Hackathon’ will be the first hackathon to be organized by a bank on the blockchain network in Turkey in collaboration with the Avalanche network.
“An economic model that repairs the system is possible, but how?” Akbank Digital Design and Innovation Department Head Burcu Küçükünal and imece Board Member Buğra Çelik were recently guests of Journalist and Writer Didem Eryar Ünlü’s “Close Plan” column in Dünya Newspaper, seeking an answer to this question.
Burcu Küçükünal, while defining Web3 as “one of the most important components of restorative finance”, pointed to blockchain technology and all applications that provide reliability with transparent, public, unerasable or unchangeable records using this technology, and drew attention to the aspect of these tools that strengthen innovation capabilities. Buğra Çelik, in his assessment, said, “There is a world where crises are increasing, but at the same time, there is a technology that allows us to produce solutions to these crises. What excites me the most about Web3 is that it offers the coordination potential that will provide the collective action we need.”
The article also shares the prediction that the Web3 perception, which is dominant in Turkey as “generating income through crypto exchanges”, will be broken by developing environments where people with different competencies and experiences can participate.