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Çigdemim neighbourhood association in Turkey: What the Big Society can achieve without any government funding

Change management

The neighbourhood association was initiated by Vasif Berik, who was the then muhtar in  Çigdem. Muhtars are neighbourhood managers in Turkey who are directly elected in each neighbourhood and who act as a liaison officer between the neighbourhood and the local authority. Given that Cigdem was a new development, there were lots of infrastructure problems  - in particular, there was a lack of community centres and green space. Clearly, these were issues which the muhtar could not solve on his own so he got together with 14 active citizens, including Ferit Uyar (current president) and Fatih Aksoy (current vice-president), and founded the Çigdem Neighbourhood Association in 1996. These early members took initiatives to assist the muhtar with infrastructure problems, such as construction of sidewalks, roads and providing electricity to some areas.

Membership was growing quickly: the initial 14 members quickly increased to 420 members in 2010. Interestingly, many local residents remain members of the association even after moving to other places in Turkey. The association recently gained some members even in Istanbul, who are happy to give financial support to the association through their membership.

Most of the members are very well educated residents with positions in banks, schools, central government and universities. The ‘hard core’ of the association comprises about 20 residents (most of whom are members of the Executive Board) of different ages and professional backgrounds who all bring in their professional expertise to improve the quality of life in the neighbourhood and are engaged in a range of activities. But even the less engaged members benefit from paying their membership fee - about 20 Turkish Lira per year (which is about 9 Euros) - as they get discounts from some local merchants, as well as discounts for theatre/opera/concert tickets, excursion tours, course fees and services provided by the muhtars. For example, a member of the neighbourhood association who trades in tyres gives all members a discount when they buy new tyres in his shop. Furthermore, Melih Karakadioglu, gives members the opportunity to store their winter tyres in a shed of his shop.

The association quickly developed a portfolio of activities which aimed at dealing with pressing problems in the neighbourhood. In its first years, the members planted 2000 trees in the neighbourhood to make the new development more liveable. The association also organised regular clean-ups to pick up litter in the neighbourhood.  Recently, the neighbourhood has become active in gardening and planted a range of trees in a public park.

Furthermore, the association has developed a strong focus on social inclusion. For example, the neighbourhood office also serves as a library. The current stock of 13,000 books has been donated by local residents and provides an important resource for students from low income families. Indeed, the facilities of the association have become too small to display all the books as the member responsible for running the library service, Fatma Engin complains. Another member, F. Buket Polat, has provided literacy courses for women in recent years. Having taken her pension as a teacher, she is happy to be in touch with local people and to do something useful. Asuman Selçuk, a civil servant and a member of the Board, has been volunteering by teaching an English class for the past five years. At the same time, the association sponsors up to eight scholarships to support disadvantaged young people from the neighbourhood to go to university. The scholarships are financed through donations of members (150 Lira per person per month) and allow the students to buy stationery, books and other materials needed to carry out their studies successfully.

Another focus of the association is the improvement of social cohesion in the neighbourhood. The association organises street parties and other social events on a regular basis, not only to bring local residents together but also to provide a platform for other NGOs such as the Red Crescent. Friendly and close ties have also been formed with the Spanish Embassy, which has greatly helped the Association by bringing in two Spanish teachers to contribute to its Spanish course, as well as providing course materials. The association has also been very successful in involving local business – at the last fair in the neighbourhood, local business donated a large number of gifts for a prize draw – for example, the local hairdresser contributed a free hair cut and the local tailor offered free alterations. Another innovative feature is the annual Good Neighbourhood Award given to the block of flats which has engaged most effectively with its residents. Typically, the award committee, consisting of the board members of the neighbourhood association, calls for nominations for the block with the best neighbourly relations and evaluates the nominations received. The block with the best evidence of being socially active receives a little plaque in a ceremony. This year the residents of the winning block were so pleased that they even ran a garden party for the members of the neighbourhood association!

At the same time, the neighbourhood plays an important role in ‘nudging’ the local council to become more forward-thinking. For example, the association has played a key role in providing facilities for recycling and encouraging local residents to bring old batteries, electronic waste, paper and glass to recycling facilities in the neighbourhood office. As a response to the association’s recycling initiative, the local council has now picked up this agenda and started to roll out recycling throughout the area. 

Clearly, ever expanding demand for the activities organised by the neighbourhood association requires better and larger facilities. At present, the neighbourhood office does not even have running water or proper heating. As a result, the association has not been granted permission by the Ministry of Education to provide government-funded training courses, not only because the facilities do not meet legal standards but also because the curricula of  the courses, which are tailored to the needs of the local community, are not in line with the Ministry’s criteria. Therefore, the association has been approaching the local authority to provide them with land – the members will be very happy to build the neighbourhood office themselves, as they already turned a former building shed into the current facility which includes classrooms and a meeting room.

About this case study
Main Contact

Asuman Selçuk

Executive board member, Çigdemim Neighbourhood Association


email:

dernek@cigdemim.org.tr


 

Sinan Özden

Public management consultant


email:
msinan.ozden@gmail.com

 

Asuman Selcuk provided Governance International with this case study on 10 December 2010.

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