Vodafone volunteers bring AI and sustainability workshops to 265 children in Ordu

Vodafone and Habitat brought 265 children together in Ordu for seven workshops combining AI literacy with environmental awareness.

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Vodafone volunteers visited Ordu to support workshops for children aged 7–14 under the “AI Stars” and “Needed for the World” projects. The event gave children hands-on experience in AI literacy and environmental awareness, with volunteers actively facilitating the sessions. A total of 265 children took part in seven different workshops throughout the day.

9 November 2026 — Vodafone, which operates with the stated vision of leading Türkiye’s digitalisation, continues to support employee volunteering. Through its Vodafone Volunteers Programme and the theme “We Stand for Good”, volunteers made a one-day field visit to Ordu to support the two projects. At Ordu Culture and Arts Centre, they helped children learn through workshops on Image and Data Processing, Makey Makey, SpheroBot, Water and Music with AI, E-Waste Art, Upcycled Music/Bird Feeder Making, and Biodiversity.

Vodafone Türkiye Executive Vice President Hasan Süel said:

“With Vodafone Volunteers, we further increase the social and environmental impact of our projects, creating value for society while supporting employee development. All our employees can join the programme. We now have 800 Vodafone Volunteers. We also have a 180-member Volunteer Team across the company. To make volunteering easier for our employees, we provide two days of volunteer leave each year.”

Habitat Association Executive Board President Bora Caldu said:

“We want children not merely to encounter technology, but to grow into people who develop and experience it, using it to turn their own ideas into products. In Ordu, we combined AI literacy with environmental awareness and sustainability to offer a multidimensional learning experience. Enriched by the knowledge, experience and contributions of Habitat and Vodafone volunteers, this gathering was a strong example of the social impact that different stakeholders can create around a shared purpose. We will continue to expand activities that help children learn through curiosity, experimentation and creation.”

A rotation model reached 265 children

The event had two separate sessions, in the morning and afternoon. More than 130 children entered the activity area during each session and rotated between workshops in 45-minute slots. Under the cross-workshop arrangement, children attended one workshop from “AI Stars” and one from “Needed for the World”, switching to the other after their first session. The system reached 265 children over the course of the day.

Seven different workshops

The seven workshops combined AI and sustainability. The Image and Data Processing Workshop explored how images and data can be processed on a single computer, how recognition can be performed from images and how AI technologies are used in these processes. In the Makey Makey Workshop, children explored AI’s visual recognition and classification logic through a tangible activity, training an image-processing model using their own facial expressions. The SpheroBot Workshop introduced algorithmic thinking and autonomous systems by combining Sphero robots’ movement and sensor capabilities with AI concepts. The Water and Music with AI Workshop aimed to help children discover the importance of water to life, develop creative expression through music and experience AI as a creative production tool.

In the E-Waste Art Workshop, children assembled prepared e-waste components using a template to design their own e-waste robots. The Upcycled Music/Bird Feeder Making Workshop reused waste materials, turning paper rolls into bird feeders and plastic bottles into maracas. In the Biodiversity Workshop, children looked at the world through the eyes of different living beings, exploring their habitats, the changes they face and their roles in nature.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone describes itself as one of Europe and Africa’s leading telecommunications companies. Through networks it operates in 15 countries, investments in another four and partnerships in more than 40, it provides mobile and fixed communications services to almost 370 million customers. It has capacity on more than 70 submarine cable systems forming part of the internet’s backbone. It is also developing a new direct-to-mobile satellite communications service for areas outside terrestrial coverage. Vodafone operates one of the world’s largest IoT platforms, with more than 240 million connections worldwide. In seven African countries, it provides financial services to approximately 103 million customers and says it processes more transactions than any other provider. Its purpose is to connect people everywhere, from the seabed to the sky.

Further information is available at www.vodafone.com, the @VodafoneGroup account on X and www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone.

Source: Vodafone press release.