The contribution that educational projects in the frame of corporate social responsibility campaigns provide to society through its participants: Example of Anadolu Si̇gorta bi̇r usta bi̇n usta

As the interaction and communication between communities has increased in the recent years, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) has begun to be perceived as a concept essentially aiding social development. The companies thereof are expected to be sensitive towards the problems of their society and of the world; and take responsibility accordingly. Community development is a process which include economic and social development and that should be dealt and managed as a whole. In other words; a progress in economic dimension should also provide solutions to social problems and be sustainable. It is tied to the strengthening and empowering individuals that the progress can to advance in a parallel way. Hence, it is necessary that the level of knowledge and skill of individuals to be enhanced, their competence to be increased and the appropriate conditions where the individuals can use their potential in relevant fields to be provided. At this point extensive educational projects gain importance. While the main object of CSR projects is to reach the public – or while it should be so – most of the researches in this field are conducted in order to evaluate the contribution they provide to the firms or to a specific group tied to this social system. From this point forth, the contribution of the projects on the beneficiaries has been explained with a qualitative study over the example of "Anadolu Sigorta Bir Usta Bin Usta" project. Within the scope of the study, an in-depth interview has been conducted with the executives of the project and a face to face interview has been conducted with the beneficiaries using a semi-structured interview form. In the light of these interviews and researches, it has been concluded that the educational projects in within the context of CSR projects provide solutions to numerous local problems but fail to achieve a sustainable development performance.