
Who are we ?
Founder

Taner AKSEL
Born in 1968. Graduated from Istanbul Robert College in 1987. In 1991, I.T.U. After graduating from the civil engineering department, he completed his master's degree on 'Detection of Earthquake Behavior of Construction Structures' at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, between 1991 and 1993. He returned to Turkey in 1994 and founded his own company, providing software development, training and consultancy services in the field of civil engineering. Finding similarities between the human behavior that led to the global economic crisis in 2008 and the earthquake behavior of structures, he wrote the book 'Critical Threshold' as a result of a two-year research, especially to draw attention to climate change.
In 2010, he received permaculture training from Bill Mollison and received the 'Permaculture Design Certificate'. By applying permaculture principles, he first transformed the garden of his house in Beykoz, Istanbul, into a more productive one that produces its own food using natural methods. Then, he realized the permaculture design of his 14-decare land in Bursa Uludağ and established Belentepe Permaculture Application and Natural Life Farm. Belentepe Farm became a laboratory and demonstration area. Taner Aksel gives sustainable life and 'Design with Nature' trainings in Belentepe. The farm welcomes hundreds of visitors every year. These works have attracted the attention of the media and continue to be the subject of documentaries, magazines and radio.
Electricity generation from solar and wind, heating/cooling of buildings by using the heat of the soil with heat pumps, use of waste oils as fuel in vehicles, design of earthquake-resistant structures - especially geodesic dome structures, natural building materials, passive solar structure design, etc. are also among his areas of expertise.
He is one of the founding members of the Permatürk Foundation. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Permatürk Foundation.