METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY STRENGTHENS CIVIL ENGAGEMENT IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE

Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality hosted a training program organized as part of the "Strengthening Civic Engagement for the Development of Democratic Local Governance in Türkiye Project," funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The project, for which Eskişehir was selected as a pilot province, aims to increase participation and strengthen transparency in local governance. To this end, Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality bureaucrats, municipal staff, and members of the Civic Engagement Task Force attended the "Civic Engagement Training Program," held in the Phrygia Hall of the Haller Youth Center. The training program included various workshops and presentations to increase participants' knowledge of civic engagement and enable more effective participation in local decision-making processes.

The training program was attended by Kayhan Özüm, EU Affairs Specialist at the Directorate for EU Affairs; Metehan Gültaşlı, Senior Specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Neslihan Cankara, Chief Technical Advisor; Baran Can Karadoğan, Project Manager; Aylin Arıkan, Deputy Secretary General of the Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality; Nergiz Abacı, Attorney at Law; and Öznur Oğuzoğlu, Deputy Director General of the ESKİ General Directorate. Members of the Eskişehir Civic Participation Task Force and municipal staff also actively participated in the program.

Throughout the training, workshops on how local actions can be redesigned within a collaborative framework provided participants with the opportunity to develop practical recommendations and roadmaps. They also received detailed information on the foundations of civic participation, best practices, and participation methods.

With this training, Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality aims to reinforce the participatory approach to local governance and contribute to the development of transparent and inclusive governance models. The successful implementations of the Civic Participation Project in Eskişehir will serve as an example for the rest of Türkiye.

The Metropolitan Municipality emphasized that such projects contribute to local governments becoming more democratic and effective, and stated that they will continue their efforts to increase civic participation with determination.