On-line laboratory: designing a book about "FOOD WASTE"
28 SEPTEMBER-
23 NOVEMBER 2026
23 NOVEMBER 2026
8 EXPERIMENTAL
WEEKS
WEEKS
TEEN BOOK LAB
3900 - 8700 TL
A family-based laboratory where teenagers enter a real publishing and social-impact project — and together create a book that actually comes to life.
Along the way, each participant can try on different roles:
Along the way, each participant can try on different roles:
researcher — explores the problem of food waste and gathers reliable information.
translator — works across the Russian, Turkish and French versions of the book.
author — creates texts, activities and other creative elements.
editor & workbook designer — shapes the structure and content of the activity workbook.
illustrator / infographic designer — develops the visual language of the book
communications & PR specialist — thinks about how to tell the story of the project and connect it with its audience.
Most importantly, they will learn what it means to manage a real project: working to deadlines, sharing roles and responsibilities, responding to a real client, and bringing an idea all the way to a tangible result.
Timeline
Get to know
Each other. The book, translated from French into Russian.
Turkish Adaptation
Writing a dedicated chapter exploring the issue of food waste in Turkey.
Workbook
Expanding the storytelling and scientific facts with practical activities and family experiments.
Design & Layout
Developing the visual language and layout of the workbook.
Testing
Connecting with our own schools and testing the book through practical lessons with real students.
Presentation
Presenting the outcome of our work, sharing the project with a wider audience, and exploring opportunities for its next stage.
Yulia Razumova
Curator Teen Book Lab
Sociocultural Project Manager,
Master of Arts, founder of Cook&Talk club, Community Development & Neighbourhood Engagement Expert
Sociocultural Project Manager,
Master of Arts, founder of Cook&Talk club, Community Development & Neighbourhood Engagement Expert
Yulia graduated from the Faculty of Sociocultural Project Management at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (Shaninka) in 2014 and is an alumna of the international student organisation AIESEC.
In 2011, she left her corporate career at the “Big Blue” — IBM — and, after meeting Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, decided to follow his advice. He told her:
“Make sure as many young people as possible learn about the opportunity to become social entrepreneurs. Open that window of opportunity for them.”
In 2011, she left her corporate career at the “Big Blue” — IBM — and, after meeting Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, decided to follow his advice. He told her:
“Make sure as many young people as possible learn about the opportunity to become social entrepreneurs. Open that window of opportunity for them.”
Yulia Razumova
Curator Teen Book Lab
Sociocultural Project Manager,
Master of Arts, founder of Cook&Talk club, Community Development & Neighbourhood Engagement Expert
Sociocultural Project Manager,
Master of Arts, founder of Cook&Talk club, Community Development & Neighbourhood Engagement Expert
Yulia graduated from the Faculty of Sociocultural Project Management at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (Shaninka) in 2014 and is an alumna of the international student organisation AIESEC.
In 2011, she left her corporate career at the “Big Blue” — IBM — and, after meeting Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, decided to follow his advice. He told her:
“Make sure as many young people as possible learn about the opportunity to become social entrepreneurs. Open that window of opportunity for them.”
In 2011, she left her corporate career at the “Big Blue” — IBM — and, after meeting Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, decided to follow his advice. He told her:
“Make sure as many young people as possible learn about the opportunity to become social entrepreneurs. Open that window of opportunity for them.”
Lab agenda
28 September – 23 November 2026
- 28 September, 17:00–19:00ImmersionThe waste problem, the local context in Turkey, an exploration of family habits, an introduction to the book, and defining the challenge.
- 5 October, 17:00–19:00ResearchWhat happens to food waste? What happens to recyclable materials? What already exists in Turkey? Working with experts.
- 12 October, 17:00–19:00Adaptation & TranslationTranslating the original Le Petit Chef into Turkish, working with language, and adapting the book culturally for Turkish readers.
- 19 October, 17:00–19:00WorkbookBringing the story into practice. Designing research-based, playful, creative and family activities.
- 26 October, 17:00–19:00VisualsIllustrations, infographics, and diagrams. Developing a visual language and structural elements for the workbook.
- 2 November, 17:00–19:00Copyright & PublishingExploring the legal aspects of publishing. Communicating with publishers, presenting an interim version, and understanding the next steps.
- 9 November, 17:00–19:00EditingBringing everything together into one coherent book, incorporating feedback, editing the text, checking the activities, and testing the overall logic.
- 16 November, 17:00–19:00Presentation & PracticeA week when each participant chooses one chapter, finds a venue, and leads a practical session based on the book for a group of learners.
- 23 November, 19:00|offlineReflectionGathering the fruits of our work, sharing impressions, and reflecting on the personal experience of putting the book into practice.
What You’ll Take Away
Over the course of several weeks, we’ll go all the way from an initial idea to a finished book prototype: research, translation, editing, design, illustration, activity development, working with experts, and presenting the final product.
What you’ll have at the end is more than a certificate of completion.
You’ll have a real project in your portfolio — something you have helped create from the ground up, and can proudly put your name on.
What you’ll have at the end is more than a certificate of completion.
You’ll have a real project in your portfolio — something you have helped create from the ground up, and can proudly put your name on.
What You’ll Get after Teen Book Lab
We don’t know yet whether the book will eventually be published by a traditional publisher or through self-publishing. What we can guarantee is that the team will take the project all the way to a finished book layout and a public presentation.
A certificate with the specific role you played in the project.
A PDF of the book. A complete digital version of the book, created by the lab team.
Your name in the book, listed in the Project Team section.
A project recommendation. A reference or written testimonial from the project lead.
A portfolio case. A real project you can include in your portfolio for future education, internships or employment.
A professional network. Not just the other participants, but also experts, practitioners, and people from different professional fields, you will meet along the way.
Communication & presentation skills. Practice communicating ideas and presenting your work in both Russian and Turkish.
Career exploration. An opportunity to try yourself in different roles — from researcher and writer to designer, communicator or project manager — and discover what feels right for you.
The confidence to try something new. And, perhaps most importantly, the experience of taking initiative, working with uncertainty, and turning an idea into something real.
Events That Inevitably
shaped this lab
- 2011I volunteered at a conference on social change, where I had the chance to accompany a Nobel laureate — and received advice that stayed with me.
- 2011To adapt to life in Moscow and survive the corporate office, I created Cook&Talk, a practice club for learning English through food and conversation.
- 2011 / 2012I became a “culinary fairy” at Dushevny BaZar, Moscow’s largest charity fair, founded by AIESEC alumni Evgeny Gorkayev and Anastasia Gulyavina.
- 2012I found myself on the doorstep of the unique “Theatre of Taste” and became an agent of change: the theatre was recognised as a “new theatre”, and from its founder Yura Makeev I learned the importance of working with the whole family.
- 2013I applied for a scholarship from the Vladimir Potanin Foundation — and received it. A year later, I completed my Master’s degree, formalising my path into the cultural sector.
- 2013I travelled to Berlin on a Study Tour organised by the Moscow School of International Projects, established by the Russian Ministry of Culture.
- 2013That October, I hosted a Cook&Talk with Birke Baehr, who had appeared on TEDx at the age of eleven and went on to devote much of his life to exploring food and nutrition issues in the USA.
- 2013A month later, Bruno Pison stopped by as part of his Food Sense Tour. We put together an impromptu gathering at Telegraf DI, bringing together organic farmers and food entrepreneurs.
- 2014Then came another Study Tour — this time to London and Manchester. There I discovered the self-organised Rope Walk Market in warehouses beneath Tower Bridge, Manchester’s Curry Mile, and the Coffee Cranks Cooperative.
- 2014While writing my Master’s thesis, I enrolled in a foundation course in Improvisation and Performance at the The Art if Being School.
- 2016I registered as a sole proprietor and promptly found myself buried in bureaucracy. Cook&Talk happened less and less often, while I consulted on regional projects and organised city festivals.
- 2016And then Bruno sent me the book that had grown out of his Food Sense Tour.
That book brought everything full circle — and became the starting point for the research lab that would eventually take shape as Teen Book Lab 2026.
How to join?
Places in the lab are available by personal invitation from the curator or by recommendation from one of our experts.
If you feel a spark of curiosity and would like to be part of it, tell us a little about yourself.
Ready? Let’s go!
If you feel a spark of curiosity and would like to be part of it, tell us a little about yourself.
Ready? Let’s go!
By clicking the button, you consent to the processing of your personal data and agree to the Privacy Policy.
This will be a small pilot group — I want to work with a team where everyone has a real opportunity to influence the outcome.
Participation Formats
If you’re a parent of a child 9+ and feel they might enjoy not just taking another online course, but becoming part of a real project, leave an inquiry.
If you’re a teenager and want to try yourself at research, translation, writing, design, illustration, communications, or project management — tell us a little about yourself in the application form.
- family format
(child 9+ and parent)$ 100 | 4900 TL - independent format
(with Buddy)$ 180 | 8700 TL
Katie:
Tell us more about family format?
Yulia:
This format is for younger participants and assumes that a parent can be their child's "accomplice" or "partner in crime" throughout the course, maintaining focus and inspiration, taking an interest in the process, and, if they hit a snag, working together to resolve it, googling together, or coming up with an experiment together.
Katie:
Do I need to join the calls every week?
Yulia:
In the Independent format, you are a full member of the team and responsible for your own area of work. If your absence won't impact the overall process, simply let us know you'll be away, and then you can listen to the recording at your convenience and join in. If you're on a Family plan, parents don't have to join meetings unless their child specifically requests it.
Katie:
Might the agenda be flexible about dates and timing?
Yulia:
Yes, the lab will start three weeks after the start of the school year to allow the children to adjust to the schedule. If the majority of participants suggest changing the meeting time, we will make a team decision.
Can't wait to meet you
at the Teen Book Lab 2026.
at the Teen Book Lab 2026.
whatsApp | telegram
+90 506 863 8619
+90 506 863 8619
