Trabzon hosts Civil Participation Summit to boost local governance

The Trabzon Civil Participation Summit was held at the Hamamizade İhsan Bey Culture and Art Center, hosted by the Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality. The event focused on strengthening collective intelligence and participatory management in local decision-making processes.

The summit is part of the ‘Project for Strengthening Civil Participation to Improve Democratic Local Governance in Türkiye,’ which is financed by the European Union, has the Union of Municipalities of Turkey as the main beneficiary, and is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Trabzon serves as one of seven pilot provinces for this initiative.

Approximately 100 representatives from civil society organizations, public institutions, universities, and professional chambers attended the meeting. Discussions centered on enhancing cooperation between the public sector and civil society, increasing citizen involvement in decision-making, and establishing sustainable democratic local governance. Officials noted that the project has helped develop a Civil Participation Strategy and Action Plan for the city to institutionalize participatory management.