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From participatory budgeting to community-led services: The co-production journey of Çanakkale in Turkey

A mural describing human rights outside of the public education building in Bayramic (province Çanakkale)

Objectives

Çanakkale Municipality (about 116,000 inhabitants)  is the central municipality of the Çanakkale Province on the southern coast of the Dardanelles. The municipality is responsible for the provision of local infrastructure such as sewage, waste water treatment and road maintenance; public services such as local buses and cultural activities; and assistance to priority groups, such as the poor, elderly and people with disabilities. The local council is divided into seven neighbourhoods with a directly elected non-political local community manager (muhtar).

A number of legislative changes were made in 2005 to introduce a double devolution, from central government to both local government and to citizens. A ‘citizen assembly’ (Kent Konseyi) was established (which is not dissimilar to the former Local Strategic Partnerships in the UK). Furthermore, Çanakkale Municipality faced the challenge of drafting a multi-annual investment budget, following a legislative change making the development of strategic plans and multi-annual investment plans mandatory for all municipalities.

The Mayor, who is also the CEO of the local authority, took this opportunity to pilot citizen participation in the prioritisation of local infrastructure investments during the budget year 2005/2006.

The objectives of this so-called participatory budgeting project were:

  • to build up trust in the new participation mechanisms such as the Kent Konseyi;
  • to strengthen local accountability and financial discipline in the local council;
  • to improve the decision-making process on priorities in local neighbourhoods;
  • to strengthen social capital and community cohesion in the local area.
About this case study
Main Contact

Ferhat Emil
Governance International Associate
Email: ferhat.emil@govint.org

H. Evrim Akman
Director of Strategy Development Unit
Çanakkale Municipality
Email: 
evrimakman@canakkale.bel.tr

www.canakkale.bel.tr

The case study was written for Governance International by Ferhat Emil and Evrim Akman on 22 July 2014.

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