Global Compact International Yearbook 2014

Good Practice
Human rights
coaches who have attracted attention
with their successes during the YSIAM.
Currently, three young athletes – Emel
Dereli, Pınar Aday, and Nimet Karakuş –
are involved in the Rising Stars project.
Besides financial help, they also receive
support from the corporation, which
increases their self-esteem and motivation.
Their record-breaking achievements
are the concrete results of this support.
Reflection of sustainability strategy
reasons for continuing to participate in
track and field. They need motivation
as well as financial and moral support.
The meetings became international in
1999. In three years, there were nine
participating countries and the meetings
started to be held outdoors, allowing
the organization to reach more people.
The YSIAM have been organized now
for 18 years under the main sponsorship
of Yüksel.
Beyond donations
The organization of the Meetings by
Yüksel includes the integration of philanthropy
into management processes
and business activities. The Corporate
Communications Department (CCD) of
Yüksel is involved in each phase. The
ultimate goal of this extra support is to
make the Meetings as attractive as possible
for the foreign participants. Having
more foreign participants leads to a
better chance of young Turkish athletes
competing on an international platform.
Additionally, if foreign participants increase,
press interest also increases.
Yüksel is aware of the media’s crucial role
in increasing the popularity of athletics.
In order to motivate the press to support
athletics, Yüksel conducted an awards project
for five years called the Kenan Onuk
Special Athletics Award. The award was
provided by Yüksel, the awards ceremony
was organized by Yüksel’s CCD, and it
took place in Yüksel’s Recreation Center.
Another project has emerged from
Yüksel’s efforts to increase the popularity
of athletics in Turkey – a project
that brings arts and sports together.
During the Meetings, a professional
photography team takes snapshots of
the athletes and the spectators during
the most interesting moments, capturing
their expressions of excitement, ambition,
pride, as well as disappointment
and exhaustion. Yüksel organizes an annual
exhibition with these photographs
called the Yılmaz Sazak Photography
Exhibition. The exhibition takes place
in Yüksel’s Recreation Center and is
free of charge. For Yüksel’s 50th Year
Celebrations in 2013, CCD held exhibitions
of these photos in Turkey’s most
crowded airports: İstanbul Atatürk,
Ankara Esenboğa, and İzmir Adnan
Menderes. The exhibitions contribute
toward increasing the motivation of
young athletes who attend the Meetings.
When athletes view themselves in these
photos at the exhibitions, the Meetings
become more meaningful for them.
Yüksel achieves corporate volunteering
through the YSIAM. In terms of corporate
citizenship, Yüksel has provided a personal
sponsorship program since 2007,
called Rising Stars, for athletes and their
The environmental sustainability strategy
of the company directly affects the
YSIAM, which has been carbon neutral
since 2012. In this sense, the YSIAM is
the first carbon-neutral athletics organization
in Europe. The carbon emissions
released are balanced with carbon credits
taken from the Gold Standard projects.
FaCtS OF YüKSeL
• Yüksel was founded in 1963 in
ankara. Since 1983, Yüksel has
continued with its international
activities, and since 2007, it has
earned a place among “the
World’s 225 Largest International
Contractors.”
• Yüksel has been a participant of
the un Global Compact since
2006.
• Yüksel took an active role by
joining the un Global Compact
network turkey Board of
Directors in 2013.
• Yüksel is the first contractor
company in the turkish
construction sector that
measures its carbon footprint.
• Yüksel is the first contractor
company in the turkish
construction sector that has
been publishing a GrI-based
sustainability report since 2011.
Global Compact International Yearbook 2014
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