A Turkish foundation dedicated to transforming young people into technology producers has won one of Europe's most prestigious science communication awards, marking a milestone in the country's growing influence in global science and innovation circles.
The Turkish Technology Team Foundation — known as T3 — received the Bright Spark Award at the 2026 ECSITE Conference held in Gothenburg, Sweden, presented by ECSITE, Europe's largest science communication network bringing together more than 400 science centres, museums and research institutions across 50 countries.
The award was presented during the Mariano Gago Awards ceremony, attended by approximately 900 science communication professionals, museum directors, educators and industry representatives from around the world.
The recognition puts a spotlight on the T3 Foundation's distinctive model, one that prioritises participation and production over passive learning.
Through flagship initiatives including TEKNOFEST, the world's largest aerospace and technology festival, DENEYAP Makers Labs, and a range of entrepreneurship and human resource development programmes, the foundation has engaged millions of young people in hands-on technology production across Türkiye.
T3's ecosystem
What has drawn international attention is not just the scale of T3's ecosystem, but its philosophy. Rather than simply communicating science, the foundation has built pathways for young people to develop technology themselves, a shift from consumption to creation that European science communicators have now formally recognised.
TEKNOFEST alone has become a multi-layered platform offering young innovators opportunities for hands-on learning, start-up development and advanced research, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants annually and expanding into multiple countries in the region.
The ECSITE award signals that Türkiye's model of youth engagement in science and technology has moved beyond a national success story and is now being studied and celebrated on a global stage.
Following the award ceremony, T3 Foundation representatives met with international participants to present the foundation's work and discuss how its approach to cultivating technology-literate generations could offer lessons for science communication communities worldwide.
Founded to bridge the gap between Türkiye's young population and its technology ambitions, the T3 Foundation has become one of the country's most visible instruments of soft power and this latest recognition suggests the world is taking note.
