UCLG-MEWA NEWSLETTER - 3 by UCLG-MEWA s.konuk@uclg-mewa.org

Contents:

City Councils

Interview

UCLG World Organization

UCLA Africa Section

UCLG Europe Section

Local Government Systems

Alanya Municipality Protects Its Cultural Heritage

Çankaya 1000 Children Chorus

IMM KUDEP

Nilüfer Municipality Anatolian Bazaar Project

Beyoğlu Municipality: Urban Transformation

Cover: Energy

WALD

Activities

Owner

Contributers

Mehmet DUMAN

Adrian LİCHA Aylin KÜLAHÇI Büşra MÜFTÜOĞLU Dominique GATTO-KOÇ Dovile BARTULYTE Gamze KILIÇ Hamidullah BAYRAM Lokman AKGÜN Süleyman SÜRAT Sümeyra GÜÇLÜ Tuğba EKŞİ Ülkü GÜL

Sedrettin KONUK Pınar KELEŞ

Coordinator Cenk TIKIZ

Editor-in Chief Sema SAK

From UCLG MEWA

Dear Members, In this issue we have approached an important subject for all parts of the world and primarily for the Middle East and West Asia (MEWA) Region: ‘Increasing Energy Demand and Energy Wars’. We have also included some epitomic projects from European Cities on ‘Efficient Energy’. Among the best practices; we are bringing up Alanya Municipality who owns an important historical and cultural heritage and carries out significant projects in order to protect this heritage, ‘‘Anatolian Bazaar Project’’ by Nilüfer Municipality which aims to be owner of disappearing civilization and traditional values of the lands from Balkans to Caucasus and workshops and education projects by İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Directorate for Inspection of Conservation Implementations. You will find the general information on the structure and functioning of local government in Afghanistan, Bahrain and Iran. We have also provided information on United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Organization, UCLG Africa Section (UCLGA) and UCLG European Section (CEMR). Urban renewal is a topical issue nowadays. We believe you will find the Project of Beyoğlu Municipality very interesting: ‘Tarlabaşı is Renewing’ Lastly, in the activities part, we aim to inform you about the past and on-going activities related to UCLG and UCLG-MEWA. Yours sincerely Mehmet Duman UCLG-MEWA Secretary General

City Councils City Councils

"Turkey City Councils Meeting" took place at They are democratic structures to identify the Troy Hotel on 29 March 2012, hosted by city's development priorities, discuss the problems and develop solutions based on Canakkale City Council. The meeting began with speeches by Saim common mind. City councils have important Yavuz President of Canakkale City Council, roles to carry the cities to the future. Therefore, Sedat Yücel President of Turkey City Councils we should think the problems that may occur in Association, Leyla Şen Programme Manager of the future and according to this we should Democratic Governance at United Nations produce projects. “ At the meeting, City Councils National Draft Report presented to the participants. After discussions about the draft report, "Best Practices" presented. After workshops, the results of studies presented to the participants. The meeting finished with the presentation of Mehmet Duman Secretary General of UCLG- UCLG-MEWA and the City Council relations. MEWA, underlined the importance of City Councils in his speech and said “"City councils work to implement the principles of, city life, the city's vision and develop a consciousness of citizenship, protection of city's rights and law, sustainable development, environmental sensitivity, social cooperation and solidarity, transparency, accountability, participation and decentralization. Development Programme, Alper Faruk Güngör Deputy Governor of Canakkale, Mehmet Duman General Secretary of United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Section (UCLG-MEWA), Muharrem Erkek Deputy Mayor of Canakkale.

City Councils Environmental Workshop by City Councils of Turkey

Study Group on Environment to the City Council of Gaziantep organized a workshop titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cities of the Future: Human, Environment, and Buildâ&#x20AC;? on July 6th-8th with the participation of Councils, which have actively working Environment Assemblies or Study Groups on Environment in Turkey.

In the struggle with the problems, a consistent, long-term, and sustainable approach should be followed and solutions to keep the earth more habitable for next generations must be produced. City Councils, having the mission of raising awareness and offering suggestions to the decision-making bodies, wish for a society that has sustainable consumption patterns, an understanding of such a life style, and use the natural resources reasonably, putting an emphasis on renewable energy.

The acts passed by City Councils in their own cities were introduced and current environmental issues were discussed during the presentations of the representatives from different cities. During the workshop the emphasis was put on the living space that is going to be shaped by people who are conscious about the environment, in order to have access to the possibility of living in eco-friendly cities. The information and views produced throughout the workshop indicated that climate change we are facing today is the result of unconscious and rapid consumption, and its negative results affects almost all peoples, cutting across all boundaries of the world.

There was contribution to the concept of protecting the environment - at home, at work, at school, and in each part of life - that more or less each segment of the society and people from the ages of seven to seventy can do. Citizens and decision-makers have to know their duties and have to protect the environment (air, water, earth, and climate) in order to have rich and generous crops from land, to drink clear and healthy water, to have a balanced and habitable climate, to breathe fresh air now and for 5

City Councils generations to come.

- A set of studies on the spreading of use of new The workshop ‘Cities of the Future: Human, and renewable energy sources have to be carried Environment, and Build’ consists of two main out by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey. Also, it has to contribute titles. to decreasing the environmental pollution and Charter of the Result emission of greenhouse gasses, encouraging the Forming a mutual consciousness on use of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. environment - Spreading of consciousness on the environment, teaching and educating about the environment should take place at each stage of formal and informal education, especially preschool education, and classes related to the environment have to comprise of different researches, practices and fieldwork by means of the Ministry of National Education (MEB) of Turkey.

- New technologies that have low energy consumption have to be supported by the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology of Turkey.

- Ministry of Environment and Urbanism of Turkey has to raise awareness about the public opinion via written and visual media with the participation of statesmen, scientist, artists, and opinion leaders, in order to improve the environmental consciousness.

- The Ministry of Forest and Water Management of Turkey, and NGOs should speed up plans in forming forest areas that are one of the most important elements in the struggle with global climate change.

- Required studies have to be carried out by Local Governments on decreasing the emission of greenhouse gasses in order to decrease the negative effects of climate changes. As it exists in the case of Gaziantep, “Climate Action - Establishing a center for technological Programs” have to be prepared in the other education by the Ministry of Environment and cities as well. Urbanism of Turkey; teaching materials that - Municipalities have to start fulfilling their include educational videos, computer software, responsibilities and their fundamental duty in the and CDs have to be provided for the use by the sphere of the gathering and usage of recycled whole society. waste.

City Councils declare, considering aforementioned views, suggestions and determinations, and having a mutual consciousness on environment, to have cities of the future; to follow what is done by local governments, to support sustainable energy, climate, and policies on water, to aim to increase Implementing the use of renewable energy environmental awareness. and recycling - Standard and current education programs have to be formed in cooperation with professional associations in the sector managed by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanism of Turkey, in order to inform businesses about sustainable climate, environment, and energy.

City Councils Sancaktepe City Council 6th Ordinary General Meeting Sancaktepe City Council continues its work and uses the opportunity which is allowed together with central government, local government, public institutes and non-governmental organizations. Sancaktepe City Council who signed many projects, best practices and case studies, held the 6th Ordinary General Meeting on 23 September 2012. At the meeting the studies of the working groups of Sancaktepe City Council and people living in the city mentioned ,after the speakers the participants were informed about the studies for the next six months period, the new projects offered to the council and accepted by a large majority.

Urban Transformation and The Future of Cities Workshop 2nd Thematic Meeting of Union of City Councils of Turkey was held in Yalova(Turkey). The workshop titled as â&#x20AC;&#x153; Urban Transformation and The Future of Citiesâ&#x20AC;? took place on 12-13 October 2012 with the partnership of Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and Yalova City Council. The representatives of the sector and city councils discussed thoroughly the Urban Transformation topic during two day that will largely shape the future of cities as being multi-player and integrated process. On the occasion of this meeting, the Presidents and Secretaries General of the City Councils who came from different cities, got more detailed information and presented their opinions about this subject. At the end of the workshop, Union of City Councils of Turkey published a final declaration containing comments and suggestions of the Union about the subject.

City Councils The Union of City Councils of Turkey Met in Kahramanmaras, Turkey City Councils from 47 different cities of Turkey came together for the 4th Meeting of Union of City Councils of Turkey in Kahramanmaras on 7-8-9 December 2012. In the meeting it was expressed that for a functioning democracy citizens should be involved in the decision making process and this can be accomplished with city councils. The outcome of the meeting is that the main task of the City Councils is to provide participation of the citizens into the decisions that will be taken by local governments. Participants expressed that City Councils play an important role in taking codecision for the city, discussing with universities, non-governmental organizations(NGOs), private sector, and institutions which are related to municipalities and governorships also instead of ‘I do not get involved’ understanding in the cities ‘for myself, for my city’ understanding should become widespread. In the 4th Meeting of Union of City Councils of Turkey the legal entity problem of City Councils came to the forefront. It was explained that because of legal entity problem, City Councils have troubles to take in partnership about institutional issues and to make projects so to solve this problem The Association of Union of City Councils of Turkey was established. Also City Councils exchanged knowledge about their works in the meeting. The Meeting was held in the city council of Kahramanmaras Municipality. Mr. Şükrü Kocatepe, Kahramanmaraş Governor; Mr. Mustafa Poyraz, Mayor of Kahramanmaraş, Mr. Hayrettin Güngör, Union of Municipalities of Turkey Secretary General Hayrettin Güngör attended the meeting. Saim Yavuz, the Term President of Union of City Councils of Turkey handed over the baton to Zeynep Arıkan, the President of Kahramanmaraş City Council. In the 3 -day meeting City of Şanlıurfa was decided as the venue of the next meeting of the union.

INTERVIEW Mr.Josep Roig is one of the founding members of World Association of Major Metropolises (METROPOLIS) and there he has gained great experience while working in executive positions for many years with different organizations, different cultures and local governments of the world, since from 2011 he is Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and now guest of us in our 3rd bulletin. The interview was performed at the UCLG General Secretariat located in Barcelona, Spain and Mr. Josep Roig answered our questions candidly. Mr. Roig, how does it feel to be UCLG Secretary General? As I have been working all my life for and with local and regional governments, it is a great opportunity to be at UCLG, at the world organization of local and regional governments and try to bring the influence and the voice of local governments to the international and global institutions. What do you think is the most important mission of UCLG? We could probably focus on two main missions of UCLG. One looking outwards: UCLG plays a critical role on advocacy and representation at the international level and on defending the interests of local and regional governments at the global level. Globalization has raised a global governance issue and our mission is to contribute to better global governance where the point of view of local and regional governments is taken into account. The other mission would be more focused on the inside, seeing what we can do for our members. We aim at exchanging knowledge, experiences and ideas among local and regional governments from all over the world. This is both a difficult and exciting task. Knowledge sharing, peer to peer learning, city to city cooperation are core activities as well. The members of UCLG share similar problems and being able to talk to someone with similar responsibilities in another city leads to find new and innovative solutions. What are the main activities of UCLG? Activities are related to the missions we have mentioned. We have international activities that are recognised at the level of the United Nations and their agencies: being active at representation, discussions on the different global dossiers, such as Rio+20, the post 2015 Millennium Development Goals or Habitat III. The other activities deal with research and knowledge exchange, such as the GOLD report. The GOLD report is a three year project: every edition has a new thematic focus and tries to give a global and regional view of a key issue of interest for local or regional governments. The first report was on decentralisation, the second on local finances and the third, currently in preparation, focuses on the provision of basic services. What kind of advantages does UCLG provide to its members? How can UCLG encourage 9

INTERVIEW cities to share best practices worldwide? How does UCLG support the collaborations between cities? We have two main kinds of collaboration. One is the bilateral and multilateral collaboration going on among our members by taking advantage of the networks, links and contacts that UCLG is able to create worldwide. We may not be able to claim direct responsibility for it but UCLG acts as a key catalyser of cooperation among cities. Our meetings are networking events where cities can exchange between themselves, where people get in touch with each other and later on, these exchanges are turned into shared experiences, knowledge, ideas or lessons learnt. Other tools are more formalized and more specifically organized by UCLG such as the Committees and Working Groups. In the Committees, a group of members get together because they are interested in one specific issue and they work together and try to find solutions and exchange policies, as a way of knowing about best practices. We organize as well many events and meetings every year, which creates opportunities of learning. What are the biggest challenges that cities face? The challenges are social, economic and environmental but lately, when someone mentions challenges, I prefer to recall that cities are places for serendipity; cities are always places of unexpected and positive opportunities. The most important challenge that cities face are the challenges their own citizens face. Local and regional governments are close to them and they are responsible for creating an environment to foster individual and collective opportunities for all. In general, what actions need to be carried out at UCLG level? What actions would be better implemented at national and/or regional level? Is there a need, or a potential benefit, to integrate or to better coordinate actions carried out at different levels? This question is a very important one. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s true that sometimes thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a tendency to simplify things and ask for a clear distinction of the core competences between the national, the regional and the local levels. Every level needs to know what their responsibilities are. But life and political organization too are far more complicated and complex than expected if we want to solve real problems. Solutions depend very often on shared and coordinated solutions among different levels of government. Just to take the example of decent housing, you need to put together the activities of local government. For instance, in health, urbanization or basic services; at the same time you need a regional urban planning and environmental policy and the national government has to develop a good macroeconomic and financial policy and a sound mortgage system. All governments need to work together and coordinate to attain the objective of decent housing for all. What should cities do to think global, act local? My feeling is that the other way would be good as well, think local and act global. What we are 10

INTERVIEW realizing is that both visions work together. Sometimes you have to think locally and then when you think locally, you may give some advice on how you should act globally and vice versa. We need to look at any issue as if we were flying a helicopter: to have a bird’s view, a global view of what’s going on but if you see there’s a fire somewhere then you go down quickly and try to stop the fire. The global and the local are not separated. What can be done for the inclusion of more women in politics and governments? How does UCLG support women? That is a very important issue and it is not easy to solve in our case because our leadership comes from the leadership that has been elected or appointed at the local and regional governments. And what happens is that normally when we look at the list of mayors, presidents or governors are generally not women. UCLG has a standing committee on gender equality pushing strongly to reinforce women’s representation. I think that precisely, local governments are a good school for creating women leadership and l then there’s a work to be done also on regional and national levels. Local governments should be the key level on having more intense participation of women in the leadership. What do you think about the relations between UCLG and its sections? Regional sections are our main tool to reach different regions worldwide. UCLG is trying to adopt the structure of what is initially a global institution to the demands and to the realities of the different regions. This way, the different interests and the different characteristics of the regions could be better represented at the global political and technical level. How do you think UCLG-MEWA as the leading organization of Local Governments in Middle East and West Asia could support collaboration efforts between member countries in the future? UCLG-MEWA is a challenging regional section with very different interests, approaches and countries. But it has a great opportunity to gather the efforts of collaboration between the different member countries. Istanbul, as one of the world’s leading metropolitan cities, has good opportunity of leadership on these areas and a clear possibility of creating a good working environment for the member countries in the UCLG-MEWA region.

UCLG United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Organization

While in 1950 the half of the world population used to live in cities, nowadays cities host more than half of the world population. It is estimated that by 2050 this rate will have rised two thirds, in other words almost 6 billion people will be living in the cities. The rise of urbanization means cities in other words local and regional authorities have more responsibility and authority. The immigrants from rural ares to cities do not only requiere housing, job creation, transportation etc…The citizens also need culturel diversity and social inclusion. It is quite challenging for national governments to fulfil the needs of citizens. The crucial importance of local and regional governments step in in this point. United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) functions from its headquarters in Barcelona since 2004 to unite and to be be the voice of local and regional governments in the world. UCLG has an important place in our lives especially after Mayor of İstanbul Kadir Topbas was chosen as the President of this organization for three years period.

associations of local governments into a single umbrella organization called United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG. UCLG has three principles: ‘Democracy, local self government and desentralization in the service provision.’ UCLG’s mission is to be the united voice and world advocate of democratic local selfgovernment, promoting its values, objectives and interests, through cooperation between local governments, and within the wider international community. It is the largest local government organization in the world, with a diverse membership that includes both individual cities and national associations of local governments. UCLG has a decentralized structure, operating through eight regional sections worldwide. Seven of the regions are based on a geographical basis, namely Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Eurasia, Middle East and West Asia (UCLG-MEWA), Latin America and North America, as well as the Metropolis, the world organization for mega cities, as the eighth section. Regional sections set their own policies and administer their own affairs, with their own constitution and governing bodies.

Following the commitments made at the time of the UN Habitat II Conference held in Istanbul in 1996, IULA (International Union of Local Authorities), UTO (United Towns Organization) and Metropolis have combined their respective global networks of cities and national 12

UCLG Organizations that created UCLG: International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) IULA was established in 1913 in the Netherlands with the intention to promote democratic local selfgovernment. It is the eldest and biggest local government union with a diverse members more that 100. IULA played and important role in the development and streghtening of decentralization, governance and local self-government. United Town Organization (UTO) Established in 1957, UTO has developed a comunication net including 1100 cities from more than 80 countries. UTO especially focused on local democracy, partnership and twinnings among cities. METROPOLIS Created in 1985, the Metropolis Association is represented by more than 120 members from across the world and operates as an international forum for exploring issues and concerns common to all big cities and metropolitan regions. Metropolis also manages the Metropolitan Section of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

UCLG Regional Sections United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA)

The UCLGA is the umbrella organization and the united voice and representative of local governments in Africa. It results from the unification of the three pre-existing continental groupings of local governments, namely the African Union of Local Authorities (AULA), the Union des Villes Africaines (UVA) and the Africa Chapter of the Unao dos Ciudades y Capitaes Lusofono Africana, (UCCLA).It is an institution that gathers 40 national associations of local governments from all regions of Africa as well as the 2000 cities that have more than 100.000 inhabitants. Therefore UCLGA represents nearly 350 million Africans citizens.

building of African Unity through local governments, to support the setting up and empowerment of national associations of local governments, to promote exchange of experiences and best practices among African local governments and with local governments from other regions of the world, the flagship of such platforms of exchange being the Africities Summit organized on a triennial basis by the UCLGA.

As regional section, UCLGA is in charge to defend UCLGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goals on the African continent. The principal goals of UCLGA are: to promote decentralization in Africa, to contribute to the

The Pan African Council of local governments is the principal policy making body of the UCLGA, it meets once a year in ordinary meetings but it can meet in extraordinary meetings. It is charged with

Structure of UCLGA

UCLGA is composed by four different bodies: the General Assembly, the Pan African Council of local government, the Executive Summit and the UCLGA is a founding member of the United Cities Presidency. and Local Governments (UCLG) world organization, and its regional section for Africa. General Assembly UCLGA is currently headquartered in the City of The role of General Assembly is to elect the Rabat, The Kingdom of Morocco, where it enjoys a executive body and it is composed of all members. diplomatic status as a Pan-African International Organization. Pan-African Council of local governments

UCLG Regional Sections With its sixteen members, the Executive Committee is the principal decision-making body of the UCLGA. It is composed of the five members of the Presidency, ten other members who represent equally all five sub-regions of the continent and the Secretary General (with no right to vote). Its decisions are binding to all the members of the organization. The Executive Committee may by resolution delegate powers and Khalifa Sall: Mayor of Dakar, UCLG Vice-President authorities to subcommittees established by it, or to the translating the policy decided by the General members of the Presidency or to the Secretary Assembly into strategies and implementation General. programs. Members of the UCLGA Executive Committee represent Africa on the UCLG World Executive The roles of the Pan-African Council include: Bureau.  Electing the members of the Executive Presidency Committee from among its members With one president and five vice-presidents, the  Electing the members of the Presidency from Presidency is the principal political representative of among the members of the Executive the UCLGA and shall represent the organization at Committee functions, meetings and events to which it is invited.  Electing

the members and the Chair of the Financial Management Committee from among its members

The members of the presidency are nominated by the Pan-African Council among the members of the Executive Committee who chair the five sub-regions of the continent which are: North Africa, West  Approving the annual program of activities and Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa. the annual activity report submitted by the Executive Committee The President is nominated by the Pan-African  Approving the annual budget and accounts of Council among the members of the Presidency for a period of one year, which is renewable. the UCLGA submitted by the Executive Committee 

Making final decision on admission and/or cancellation of membership proposed by the Executive Committee



Members of the Pan-African Council represent Africa on the UCLG World Council

The UCLGA Secretary General is a member of the Pan-African Council ex-officio (with no voting right), and serves as the secretary to the Pan-African Council sessions. Executive Committee

Jean Piere: UCLGA Secretary General 15

UCLG Regional Sections Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)

The Council of European Municipalities was founded in Geneva in 1951 by a group of European mayors; later, it opened its ranks to the regions and became the Council of European Municipalities and Regions. Today, it is the largest organisation of local and regional government in Europe; its members are over 50 national associations of towns, municipalities and regions from 40 countries. Together these associations represent some 150,000 local and regional authorities.

consists of an annual grant from the EU Commission in the framework of the "Active European citizenship" programme. CEMR’s activities CEMR works to promote a united Europe that is based on local and regional self government and democracy. To achieve this goal it endeavours to shape the future of Europe by enhancing the local and regional contribution, to influence European law and policy, to exchange experience at local and regional level and to cooperate with partners in other parts of the world.

At the head of its political structure is its President, the mayor of Stuttgart, Wolfgang Schuster. It has a staff of about 20 headed by its CEMR works in many fields of activity such as secretary general Frédéric Vallier. regional policy, transport, the environment, equal opportunities, governance... Its CEMR's budget is about €2 million, the main committees and working groups seek to part of which comes from the membership fees influence draft EU legislation to make sure the of its national associations. The rest (about 10%) interests and concerns of local and regional 16

UCLG Regional Sections authorities are taken into account from the earliest stages of the EU legislative process. They contribute to CEMR's calendar of activities by organising seminars and conferences on a wide range of issues to promote the exchange and dissemination of experience at the local and regional level. CEMR is particulary proud of its unique town twinning network. Today, there are over 26,000 twinning projects linking towns from all over Europe. On this issue, CEMR works closely with the DG Education and Culture of the European Commission.

CEMR's President, and other members of its Presidency (see below) are elected by the Policy Committee for a three year term. It has nine vice presidents. CEMR’s President is currently Dr Wolfgang Schuster – former mayor of Stuttgart; President of CEMR’s German section (RGRE), European Vice-President of UCLG – and the two copresidents are Aina Calvo Sastre – former mayor of Palma de Mallorca; member of the Executive Committee of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) – and Annemarie Jorritsma – Mayor of Almere; President of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG).

Lastly, CEMR is the European section of the new worldwide organisation United Cities and CEMR has also four Executive Presidents Local Governments (UCLG). who are Anders Knape – Member of the City Council of Karlstad; President of the Swedish The statutes of the Council of European Association of Local Authorities and Regions; Municipalities and Regions were adopted by the Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Policy Committee in Sevilla, on 23 October Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe; 2006. CEMR has two governing bodies – the António Costa – Mayor of Lisbon, CoPolicy Committee and the Executive Bureau. president of UCLG; Cllr Albert Bore – Member of Birmingham City Council, former The Policy Committee meets generally twice President of the Committee of the Regions; per year; it is for most purposes the main Oldrich Vlasak – Member of the European governing organ. It is based on national Parliament; member of Hradec Kralové City representation, ranging from two places for Council; President of the Union of Towns and states of less than 5 million, to 6 places for states Communities of the Czech Republic (SMO-CR). of more than 60 million population. Former President of French Republic, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, was apointed as The Executive Bureau is a smaller body; it Emeritus President. takes decisions between Policy Committee meetings. It also meets normally twice a year.

Dr. Wolfgang Schuster CEMR President 17

Frédéric Vallier CEMR Secretary General

Local Government Systems in Middle East and West Asia (MEWA) Countries AFGHANISTAN As United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia section, we undertook a study for gathering information on the local government legislation in the 15 countries (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen) located in the MEWA region. In our newsletter we will inform about the local government stytems in above-cited countries. We hope you will find this information usefull. We approach Afghanistan, Bahrain and Iran. Local Government Systems in Iran Land Area : 647,5 Population : 29.8 million Gross Nat. Income per capita : 1419 (HDI-2010) Human Development Index (HDI) Status (UNDP-2010) Ranked 155th out of 169 countries & grouped under countries with “Low Human Development” Political Regime The Constitution defines Afghanistan as an “Islamic Republic.” It is stipulated that the religion of the state is Islam. The powers are vested in the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, these powers being independent of each other. Constitution & Provisions on Local Authorities The new Constitution of Afghanistan, drawn up by a consultative process, was adopted in 2004. Specific provisions in the Constitution concerning local authorities are provided in Article 84, as well as Articles 137140. Laws on Local Authorities Municipalities are regulated predominantly by the Municipal Law of 2000 (issued under the Taliban), which replaced the previous Law of 1957. Although the ongoing efforts toward its revision, the Law of 2000 continues to be essentially intact. Other Legislation Concerning Local Authorities Through new legislation introduced in 2007, the Independent Directorate of Local Governance was established, with the responsibility for supervising the Provincial and District Governors, Provincial Councils and Municipalities. Administrative Divisions Afghanistan is administratively divided into 34 provinces, each headed by a Governor. The provinces are further subdivided into districts, headed by District Governors. Districts are the lowest level of formal administration. Types of Local Authorities The basic types of local authorities are municipalities and villages. Municipalities are spread over 34 provinces, wherein one of them serves as the center of each respective province. Larger municipalities are divided into urban districts. Electoral Processes & Local Elections The Constitution stipulates that the provincial, district and village councils will be formed through free, direct and secret elections. However, elections were held only for Provincial Councils, and other councils have not yet been formed. 18

Local Government Systems in Middle East and West Asia (MEWA) Countries BAHRAIN Local Government Systems in Bahrain Land Area

: 250 km²

Population

: 1.04 million (2010-2011)

Gross Nat. Income per capita

: 26,664$ (HDI-2010)

Human Development Index (HDI) Status Ranked 39th out of 169 countries & grouped as “Very High Human Development” (UNDP2010) Political Regime Pursuant to the Constitution, the system of governance in Bahrain is constitutional hereditary monarchy, based on the separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial authorities. Constitution & Provisions on Local Authorities The Constitution of Bahrain was ratified on 6th December 1973, with major amendments being issued on 14th February 2002. Specific provisions in the Constitution concerning local authorities are included in Articles 50 & 114. Laws on Local Authorities The Law on Municipalities, being the first written law in Bahrain, was issued as early as 1920. The new Law on Municipalities, enacted in 2001, granted women the right to vote and stand as candidates for municipal councils. Other Legislation Concerning Local Authorities Another significant law concerning local authorities is the Law on the Organization of Governorates, enacted in 2002 (replacing the Law on the Organization of Governorates of 1996) that has restructured the provinces in the country. Administrative Divisions Bahrain is administratively divided into five governorates. Each governorate is administered by a Governor appointed by the Ministry of Interior. Types of Local Authorities Under the political reforms of 2002, five municipal councils were formed corresponding to Bahrain’s governorates. Each municipality is managed by an appointed Director General under the supervision of 10 elected members. Electoral Processes & Local Elections Bahrain witnessed its first municipal elections as early as 1924, which allowed the participation of women. The first municipal elections under the 2002 Constitution were held in May 2002, and most recently, in October 2010. 19

Local Government Systems in Middle East and West Asia (MEWA) Countries IRAN Local Government Systems in Iran Land Area

: 1,648,195km²

Population

: 75 million (2010-2011)

Gross Nat. Income per capita

: 11,764$ (HDI-2010)

Human Development Index (HDI) Status Ranked 70th out of 169 countries & grouped as “High Human Development” Political Regime It is stipulated in the Constitution that Iran is an Islamic Republic. The powers are vested in the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive, wherein these powers are independent of each other. Constitution & Provisions on Local Authorities The Constitution of Iran, adopted on 24 October 1979, was amended on 28 July 1989. The Constitution has a significant number of provisions directly related with local authorities, including Article 7, and Articles 100-106. Laws on Local Authorities The Law on Municipalities, enacted in 1906, established the municipality as the base of local administration. It became the first post-Constitutional Revolution Law. Administrative Divisions The administrative structure of Iran encompasses ostans (administrative provinces), further divided into governorships, cities and villages. Types of Local Authorities In line with Chapter VII of the Constitution, the tiers of local government in Iran encompass the Higher Province Council, Province Council, City Council, District Council, Town Council, and Village Council. Electoral Processes & Local Elections All members of local councils, including the City and Village Councils are directly elected by the people. The Chairman of the City and Village Council is elected by the members of the Council from amongst its members.

Best Practices

Alanya Municipality is protecting its cultural heritage

Alanya district boasts an important cultural heritage with its geographical position, historic fabric and natural beauties. Alanya Municipality cooperates with government agencies and nongovernmental establishments to protect this historical and cultural heritage and hand it down to next generations as well as carries out important projects and aims to increase awareness of being a citizen by this work.

There are historical structures such as Kızılkule, Shipyard and Tophane in the Alanya Ancient City. In this area, as a part of Kızılkule – Tophane Axis Project, in accordance with the concept of modern museology, the Shipping and Maritime Museum with indoor and outdoor expositions is being built. The area also has archaeological remains and the Alive Museum, where visitors could find different activities, will In this context for the first time on district basis be created and the spaces with cultural functions in 2006 KUDEB (Offices of Protection, will be constructed. Application and Control) was founded. In 2009, As a result of the studies in the region, safe tour Center of Area Management was put into service routes were devised, environmental monitoring and the Plan of Area Management was prepared. and illumination were introduced, repair of The Plan of Area Management is the first of its exterior (in the Shipyard) was provided. Besides, kind in our country because it was carried out in partial renovation of harbor walls, storehouses, an area which has archaeological, urban and and structure of Tophane; restoration of natural features. undefined structures, which will be used for As a part of cultural heritage studies, some exposition and the conversation center; and works were conducted with the Ministry of restoration of the historical Girene Fountain Culture and Tourism and Alanya Museum to were completed. In this way the fountain was include Alanya Castle to the List of World made functional again. The inactive well in the Heritage. As a result of these activities, Alanya Shipyard was cleaned, as a consequence of the Shipyard and Castle were nominated to the list. cooperation between the Municipality of Alanya 21

Best Practices and 360 Degree Research Group, some "Hamamlı Ev" (Hammam Home) has been used expositing objects were located to five as the Alanya Municipality Directorship of compartments of the Shipyard and the Axis Culture and Social Affairs and Area Management after its restoration. A traditional Project's area. Kale Kapısı in the Tunnel position, which is one Alanya house in Alanya Castle was allocated to the six historical gates of the Ancient Alanya the Municipality for 20 years. The house was City, is an area dedicated to Alanya Municipality arranged in a way, which represents the with its bastions and walls. The area of traditional life, and it was opened as Ömürlü “Counseling and Information Center for Kemal Atlı Culture House. Restoration is not Visitors about Castle and Aspect Terrace” (in limited to historical structures. A registered the construction plan aims to protect the Alanya building in İskele Avenue was opened for visitors as the Alanya Municipality Culture Castle) is being repaired. House and Herbarium. The graffito are under guard Azakoğlu Mansion was allocated to the Thousands of graffito on the Historical City municipality by the owners for 15 years in order Walls make Alanya unique. Alanya Municipality to support the consciousness of being a citizen/ prepared a series of projects for protecting the urbanite and create city memory. Municipality graffito and opening them to the public. Besides started working to put the building into service the Municipality started identifying and as the Alanya Municipality Hüseyin Azakoğlu photographing the details of the gates, windows, City Museum. In this context, municipality is ceilings in the traditional houses. collecting materials for exposition and doing the Traditional Alanya houses are returning to oral history studies. life Alanya Municipaity is bringing life to the traditional Alanya houses. These houses are allocated to the municipality for a certain time by their owners or publicized by the Municipality. For example, the registered structure named

Ömürlü Kemal Atlı Culture House

Best Practices ‘‘Çankaya 1000 Children Chorus’’ Project by Çankaya (Turkey) Municipality

Being one of the most important projects of Çankaya Municipality for children, ‘‘Çankaya 1000 Children Chorus’’ is aiming to contribute to the culturel and artistic development of the children.

2- Support to the chorus and their instructors in the primary schools.

Chorus are important not only for bringing up artist and mucis lovers but also for artistic, intellectual and personal development of children. This is the reason of this Project. Founded in 2009 primarily to contribute to the culturel and artistic development of the children, 1000 Children Chorus aims to realize many social targets. Because local governments are suppose to work not only for the basic local servives but also for the artistic development of the society.

4- Provide opportunity for children to meet with international chorus through festivals and recognize foreign songs.

3- Support all chorus for children in Ankara, include them to the Project and unite them in different activities.

1000 Child Chorus is not only one chorus. It consist of 1400 members from 36 diffrent chorus which each of them have approximately 40 chorist from Çankaya Municipality, NGOs and Primary Schools. The principles of 1000 Children Chorus are: give priority to children and protect children’s rights, support childrens life and development, to respect the differences In this context, the mission of 1000 Children and do not disciriminate, develop participation, Chorus is to: freedom of expression, personality and abilities 1- Announce that all children – in accordance of children. with their ages – can sing. The basic education programme in the 23

Best Practices framework of 1000 Children Chorus Project bases on making the music popular. This education programme has two main points; ‘‘Basic Music Education’’ and ‘Chorus’’. “Basic Music Edubation”, aims that the children have basic theorical music information in a funny way by playing. Chorus consist of the implementation of these theorical information.

join ‘‘Youth Preparatory Chorus’’ Repertoire Commissin which consists of conductors, instructors and mucis teachers determines the repertoire of the chorus. The songs with educational and artistic qualifications are backbone of the programme.

The Chorus practises are realized between October 15 and May 15, once a week (Saturday Although we can not learn all languages, through or Sunday) and it lasts one hour. music we can communicate and be friends with The Project has been supported by different the children of the world. institutions such as: Hacettepe University, 1000 Children Chorus consist of art consultant, Ankara State Conservatiore, Ankara University conductor, instructors, children and State Conservatiore, Bilkent University Faculty coordinators. The age of children range from 09 of Music and Performing Arts, Society of Music – 12. Only with the approval of the instructor, Instructors, Sevda Cenap And Music younger children can join the chorus. All Foundation, Polyphonic Chorus Society and children with healthy voice can join on condition Ankara Polyphonic Music Society. that they pre-register and enter the placement test which is announced in the beginning of each 1000 Children Chorus had very big concerts in semester. Once children are accepted, they are 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. On 23 April 2010, placed to classes up to their age and knowledge the chorus with its 1200 members had a concert and get education as long as the instructors in company with Presidential Symphony approves with the parents knowledge until they Orchestra. are 14 – 15 years old. Members elder than 15 years old and willing to continue chorus may

Best Practices Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Directorate for the Inspection of Conservation Implementations (KUDEB)

AYRANCI STREET - Before

Suleymaniye is one of the four historical areas of Istanbul listed as ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’ since 1985 with Zeyrek district, Sultanahmet Archaeological Park and the Theodosian Land Walls. An important number of historical timber houses belonging to the late 19th - early 20th century exist in Suleymaniye and Zeyrek districts. These two significant residential areas of Historical Peninsula include numerous cultural properties of different eras such as archaeological remains, Byzantine and Ottoman monuments creating an organically shaped unique urban texture. KUDEB (Directorate for the Inspection of Conservation Implementations) has been established in 2006 under Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and is located in one of the most important historical timber houses in Suleymaniye, the World Heritage Site of Istanbul.

AYRANCI STREET - After

Due to the heritage and unique urban texture of these areas represent, ‘an integrated preservation approach’ based specifically on ‘authenticity’ and ‘sustainability’ of the heritage in terms of scientific principles, education system and responsibility of local authorities is required. Also, lack of finding talented and qualified people to be employed at restoration work usually occurs as a serious conservation problem. Regarding such issues, KUDEB managed to develop an education model by ‘Timber and Stone Training Workshops’as an alternative solution. Timber and Stone Training Workshops are established in order to educate the trainees about either the traditional techniques of these crafts (woodwork and stonemasonry) or restoration conservation idea and to provide ‘skilled and qualified teams’ for restoration works. 25

Best Practices Theoretical education and practical experience on site are integrated in approximately six months’ term; programmes are supported by seminars, symposiums, implementations and publications.

by the help of academics from several universities in Istanbul. Also professionals from different fields of public/private sector are invited to give lectures and share their experiences. Practical education part is mainly conducted by the experienced craftsmen and take place both in the workshop and the restoration sites. Trainees learn how to cut, give shape, carve, treat, protect and repair the material. Seminars and symposiums are focused on ‘why and how to preserve the heritage’ and restoration - conservation studies.

Within the framework of this education model, it’s aimed to integrate the ‘knowledge’ with ‘implementation’ in restoration - conservation field, to create an opportunity for young people to be involved in restoration activities, to help the cultural continuity via the traditional crafts and techniques and to raise the awareness on protection of common architectural heritage. This education project of IMM - KUDEB A wide range of subjects for both wood and represents a fine ‘coordination model’ of local stone including restoration and conservation authorities, academics, professionals and theo ries, docu me nta tion techniqu e s, students for the preservation of our common identification of traditional building materials, heritage, to be applied and spread throughout their characteristics, decay phenomena, the country and to be developed by other local conservation techniques such as surface authorities according to their unique values cleaning, partial reintegration or repair and their including arts, crafts, culture and architectural application methods are included in these unity. programmes. Trainees are chosen among the students or graduates from technical and vocational high schools in Istanbul. Theoretical education part is mainly performed

CUMHURİYET FOUNTAIN before and after 26

Best Practices Nilüfer Municipality ANATOLIAN BAZAAR PROJECT

Fellow citizen “Anatolian Bazaar” is a project aiming to present associations will operate in and keep all cultures alive and claim to be the owner the structures reflecting of disappearing civilization and traditional values of the original and regional architecture of their city. On the campus, in addition to arrangements made in automobile/bus parks, entrance and inspection facilities and other general necessity units, it is aimed to realize research, investigation and publication studies on places reflecting our “caravansaray” architecture for shared meeting, activity, general knowledge/ art displays, exhibition and gallery; “Toy( play-wedding) Garden” and “Relative Culture” geography extending into two needed subordinate units providing service for the arrangement of regional summer weddings; continent, from Balkans to Caucasus. handicrafts production and training centers, other In order to realize the project all regional and places where sporting activities take place apart territorial values of the institutional structure from the places in which “charity market” activities generated through gathering of “associations of to be held, regional cultures, tales, legends, plays, fellow citizen established in Bursa” are aimed to be languages, lingos, musics, traditions, from caucasus presented individually and integrated into the to the Balkans. tourism. Depending on the purpose of Anatolian The Project will enable all disappearing Bazaar’s being also a shopping center relies heavily personal values extending from the Balkans into the on regional products, it will provide selling section Caucasus to be presented and transferred from occasions to the firms in Bursa performing service generation to generation.The Anatolian Bazaar on this issue, along with enabling fellow citizens Project is implemented under the leadership of associations to create their regional markets. Nilüfer Municipality and with the active participation of Fellow Citizen Associations. The project is planned on 160.000 square meter land, recreation corridor of Bursa, Balat site on west of the Mudanya Highway. Thanks to the project as well as Bursa inhabitants native and foreign explorers will also gain cultural acquisitions by being acquainted with the unique values of culture, civilisation, vacation and experiencing architecture, handicrafts, cuisine and gift traditions , all regional product and personal wealth of our culture operating in the same place. 27

Best Practices Urban Renewal in Beyoğlu (Istanbul/Turkey)

Urban regeneration, as the actions being taken to improve the environmental conditions, aims to reconstruct the debris and amend the deterioration of the economic, social, physical and urban space. The objectives of the urban transformation can be defined as exploring the causes of the corruption of urban areas and social devastation, in order to become a continuum of exchanges that make up the fabric of the urban space. This way it can allow successful socio-economic progress to be delivered to the public, avoiding unnecessary urban development and ensuring the widespread use of urban areas.

cultural development. The buildings along the boulevard could not bring in large-scale commercial and cultural activities as a result of high crime rate and the deterioration in the area. The historical location of the major renovation project is essential for the restructuring of the potential of Beyoğlu. The launch of commercial activities associated with this renewal project will bring changes to the value of land, quality of life and the service in the area. Tourism and qualified investments in the service sector will provide an economic revival to the project area and its surroundings and will be an opportunity for the development of the entire Tarlabaşı Beyoğlu Municipality is one of those who took neighborhood. Thus, this project will rejuvenate serious steps on the course of urban renovation. the dormant part of the city and become the first Beyoğlu Municipality with the project of step to ensuring successful adaptation. ‘Tarlabaşı Yenileniyor ’ is a leading example in One of the most important goals of the project Turkey. In addition to this project, Beyoğlu is to complete regeneration of the aging Municipality is as well working on other projects infrastructure in an unhealthy environment due of urban renewal, namely, Kasımpaşa, to lack of maintenance that could meet the demands of modern life. Underground car parks Okmeydanı and Örnektepe. will be created for all dwellings and social The Case Of Tarlabaşı activity will be intensified by the creation of Tarlabaşı district, neighboring Taksim Square pedestrian areas. When the project is completed, and Istiklal Street, which are important centers, the city center of Istanbul will attain a new life. was unable to secure for itself economic and 28

Cover Increasing Energy Consumption and Wars for Energy Mankind has since 19th century transformed from an agricultural society to an industrial society. The transformation to the industrial society caused a shift of needs to development and sustainability of the state economy as well as the formation of countriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; economic activities in terms of this new order. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Energyâ&#x20AC;? is the foremost of those requirements.

the world. In contrast to that, the demand for the energy increases day by day. This situation causes both the increase of prices of goods and competition among energy-demanding countries. On the other hand, current political uncertainty, especially in the Middle East and African countries which have petrol, natural gas, coal, and Plutonium resources, is another reason which causes increasing prices and makes the supple of resource insecure. Therefore, there is a possibility that states could engage in armed interstate conflict for cheap and reliable resources in such a conjuncture.1

Energy demand that appeared with the Industrial Revolution formed the foreign policy of states. Until the middle of the 19th century, hegemonic states, which struggled to control trade paths and trade centers that brought benefit, began considering energy resources and/or energy Increasing Competition over Petrol and transit paths as an essential aim of their foreign Natural Gas policy, in order to keep up with industrialization. If we would analyze the market of petrol and In order to guarantee the resources for the natural gas, we would see more intensive supply of energy, countries implemented policies competition than is the case with other energy that had caused conflict throughout history, even products. Because of the shrinkage at the energy brutal wars. Lastly, the Gulf War, experienced in market and increasing energy prices, we can see our recent history (1990-1991), and the Invasion that demand and supply are becoming of Iraq (2003-2011), are good examples of brutal increasingly unrelated to each other, and in the wars that included the intention to control same way current competition becomes more energy resources. Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, aggressive. and thereby experienced wars in the Gulf and After the global economic crises of 2008-2009, Iraq with the intention of capturing petrol the global economy started to recover itself in sources, show how strongly industrial states 2010, and this situation also became an emphasize their energy supply. augmenting element for energy consumption. As The Iraq War neither was the first, nor will it be a result, energy demand of the member countries the last war aiming to guarantee energy supply to of the Organization for Economic Co-operation industrialized countries. Due to the current and Development (OECD) as well as energy situation at the energy market, it is believed that demand of non-member states of OECD such as there is a strong possibility of having reasons for China, India, which have always enjoyed conflict which may cause new brutal wars. Yet, economic enlargement, increased; energy import developed economies mostly need petrol, natural experienced a radical rise at a global scale. gas, coal at producing energy and a supply of If we work on the numbers, we can recognize Plutonium for nuclear energy, and they generally that the biggest surge of energy consumption cover their needs with import. There are limited since 1973 happened in 2010, with an estimates natural resources that are demanded all around increase of 5.6%.2 According to the report of 29

Cover USA Ministry of Energy which is known as "Energy Information Administration" (EIA), energy consumption will continue to rise rapidly until 2035; daily consumption of liquid fuel will reach 112 million barrels from 85 million barrels today.3

Generally, new-found reserves were in offshore locations, which are difficult areas for petrol extraction and it shows that more investment is required to do this.7 Consequently, working for petrol extraction in difficult geographies is another reason of rising costs and energy prices.

In addition to the increasing demand for petrol and natural gas, another factor that caused the increase of prices is the decrease of current reserves. Petrol and natural gas reserves are decreasing, especially in the North Sea, lying between England and the Continental Europe, and in Mexico. Instead of them, new inadequate reserves are being opened.4 If we analyze the volume of how much these mentioned country deposits decreased, we see that even though Norway was producing 3,422 thousand barrels of petrol in 2001 daily, in 2009 it produced only 2,350 thousand barrels of petrol daily. While England was extracting 2,087 m3 of gases from the North Sea in 2009 daily, this amount decreased to 1,988 m3 of gases.5 It is also known that other reserves all around the world are running lower day by day. According to many experts, petrol deposits mostly will run out in around 2040, due to the increasing petrol production if it continues to be consumed as it has been in the past.6

Developed economies in need of energy have started to consume natural gas because of the negative situation in the petrol market. Yet, countries that have gas reserves arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seen as reliable gas suppliers by Western developed economies. Nowadays, Russia with natural gas reserves amounting to 44.8 trillion m3 is the country with the biggest natural gas deposits in the world.8 Again Russia is a country that has world's second largest natural gas reserves and world's eighth largest petrol deposits.9 It is the second largest petrol producer with 10.2 million barrels daily, following Saudi Arabia.10 With these properties, Russia is an indispensible country, and as a result has political hegemony over the EU and other countries which import natural gas and other energy sources from Russia. This situation is not good for the EU11 as 36% of its gas need, 31% of its petrol, and 30% of its coal supply comes from Russia. Europe is concerned about the supply of natural gas from Russia because they have are already experienced difficulties such as the gas crisis between Russia and Ukraine, stopping the gas transfer from Russia over Ukraine to Europe. Hence, Russia can use it as a political trump. Thus, other gas producing countries should be found aside from Russia, first and foremost Nabucco12 and other projects.

Beside those two elements that caused the increase of petrol prices, another factor is that most of the known reserves are in the countries where political uncertainty exists. Political uncertainty in the Middle East, political depression in petrol producing countries such as Nigeria and Sudan in Africa affect the prices negatively, and there is suspicion about the safety It is quite difficult to find an alternative country of the delivery of imported petrol to consumers. to Russia in the natural gas market. Energy does Decision-makers of developed countries always not exist in every country and lucky countries encourage the search of hydrocarbon reserves in which have it (natural gas), might have political order to overcome from this negative situation. uncertainty or be located on a geography that 30

Cover approximately 70% of the world’s natural gas reserves. Lastly, another reason that causes the increase of prices is that developed and developing countries, especially India and China, are on the wait for those reserves.

experiences armed conflict. Among these countries, Iran is the most important. Iran is a country which has gas reserves of approximately 30 trillion m3. But as it is known, this country has serious problems with the West regarding its nuclear activities and may encounter an intervention at any time. Therefore, even though it is a rich country in respect of both petrol and natural gas, pulling down the prices of petrol and gas and accessing its resources without any trouble looks impossible.

It is known that there is a limited amount of petrol and natural gas reserves and that day by day they are even decreasing. However, increasing energy consumption, influenced by developing economies, and emerging regional political uncertainties in recent years make the energy more expensive. Neither energy derived from a nuclear reactor nor coal is an alternative to the energy produced from petrol and natural gas, due to their high cost and being a threat to the environment. For this reason, there will be a possibility for an interstate armed conflict unless much more is invested in wind power, solar power, clear and renewable energy such as biogas, and the over-use of energy in the light of current conditions is avoided.

Another country that has natural gas amounting to 25 trillion m3 is Qatar. Yet, this third country in the world regarding natural gas resources is located in the Middle East, which has political uncertainty. There is a risk in importing natural gas from Qatar especially due to the Arab Spring and to the closed Strait of Hormuz by Iran. Looking at their conditions, Iran, Russia, and Qatar13 aren’t considered to be sustainable energy suppliers, even though they have

1Ann

Florini, Benjamin K. Sovacool, “Bridging The Gaps in Global Energy Governance”, Global Governance, Vol. 17, 2011, p. 59. 2BP (British Petrolium), BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2011, http://www.bp.com/assets/bp_internet/ globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2011/STAGING/local_assets/ pdf/statistical_review_of_world_energy_full_report_2012.pdf., erişim tarihi: 4/8/2012 3EIA(Energy Information Administration), International Energy Outlook 2011, http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/ more_highlights.cfm#world, erişim tarihi: 4/8/2012 4Stuart Harrıs, “Global and Regional Orders and the Changing Geopolitics of Energy”, Australian Journal of International Affairs, 2010, Vol. 64, No. 2, p. 168. 5US. Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.gov/countries/country-data.cfm?fips=UK, erişim tarihi: 2/6/2011 6Gioietta Kuo, “Will Natural Gas Replace Oil”, World Future Review, Spring 2012, s. 8. 7Nikolay Kaveshnikov, “The Issue of Energy Security in Relations Between Russia and the European Union”, European Security, 2010, Vol. 19, No. 4, s. 588. 8CIA - The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ rankorder/2179rank.html, erişim tarihi: 5/8/2012 9Energy Information Administration, “Russia Energy Data, Statistics and Analysis – Oil, Gas, Electricity, Coal”, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Russia/pdf.pdf, erişim tarihi: 7/6/2012 10CIA - The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html, erişim tarihi: 1/8/2012 11Avrupa Komisyonu Resmi Web Sitesi, http://ec.europa.eu/energy/international/russia/russia_en.htm, erişim tarihi: 2/2/2012 12Bkz. Nabucco Gas Pipeline, http://www.nabucco-pipeline.com/portal/page/portal/en, erişim tarihi: 7.8.2012 13Stuart Harrıs, a.g.e., s. 169.

Cover European City Initiatives in Energy Efficiency Nation-wide policy is a crucial component for reaching goals such as sustainable development and the efficient use of energy. However, the actions taken on the local level is what makes an impact in the most direct way. Initiatives of municipal governments and cities on these issues are not only welcomed but nowadays are even expected and considered a part of what a real local government of the people ought to do. To varying levels it has certainly become a practice in Europe.

The city of Oslo (Norway) has recently decided to reap the benefits offered by energy-efficient street lighting systems. 10,000 High Pressure Sodium street-lighting columns have been installed in the streets of Oslo. These can be individually controlled from a central location and the lighting can be dimmed when appropriate, which helps to reduce energy consumption and extend lamp life. Tougher efficiency standards for street lighting and Municipalities of Vienna (Austria) and MĂźnster lighting control can have a significant impact on (Germany) have begun implementing city-wide the totality of cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s energy consumption and lead projects of energy conservation by introducing to significant reductions of energy use. quite stringent building standards and energy Producing energy from waste is yet another way of reducing CO2 emissions. This technology has been for years used by the city authority of Freiburg (Germany). The operating municipal anaerobic digestion plant converts 36,000 tons of household organic waste into 4 million m3 of biogas and 15,000 tons of fertilizer. In Gothenburg (Sweden) waste-to-energy production saves annually around 200,000 tons of CO2. The biogas is then burned generating 7 GWh of electricity annually. In Stockholm (Sweden) the efficiency requirements. The municipal program resultant biogas is used as a fuel source for inner in Vienna established a list of more than 100 city buses, garbage trucks and taxis. ecological requirements which are now mandatory Combined heat and power (CHP) systems can for all municipal procurement and contracting. also offer substantial improvements in efficiency. This has led to annual cost savings of about 17 There are two main approaches to CHP million Euros and 30,000 tons of CO2 emissions installation. The first uses waste heat, such as that reductions. The implementation of stringent arising from the process of electricity generation thermal performance requirements for residential itself, to heat building. The second approach buildings in MĂźnster resulted in the construction outputs a specific heat load and exports the of over 5,600 low-energy housing units and 85 electrical energy it generates to the local network. energy efficient commercial buildings, saving the The municipality of Helsinki (Finland) initiated city 13 million kWh and at least 3,400 tons of the construction of a CHP plant and is now able CO2 each year. to generate more than enough electricity to meet 32

Cover the needs of the city, therefore Helsinki Energy sells surplus energy to the Nordic grid. At the same time, it produces 92 % of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s district heating. All of this means higher efficiency of energy use, lower CO2 emissions as well as substantial economic profit.

and in the long run contributes to the reduction of pollution in the city. Due to the success of the communication campaign and the idea of the project in general, the Barcelona Solar Thermal Ordinance has become a model for other municipalities and many cities in Catalonia have adopted similar local regulations.

The municipal action plan of the city of Barcelona deserves special attention. This action plan consists of various management, supply and consumption, social and communication as well as economic and legal strategies which promote an environmentally sustainable city, reducing air pollution and the consumption of fossil fuels in the process. Concerning legal instruments, Barcelona is the first European city to have a Solar Thermal Ordinance. According to this by law, all new buildings and building undergoing major refurbishment are obligated to use solar energy to supply 60 % of their running hot water requirements. This has led to a major expansion in the surface of solar thermal square meters which in turn means a wider use of clean and safe energy

The dissemination of knowledge and good practice can encourage cities to invest not only in short-term projects dealing with immediate needs of the people but in long-term sustainable solutions that future generations could thank for. Cooperation between local governments, private businesses and citizens can immensely improve the quality of life, and this is especially true for big cities that require big decisions and actions. Local initiatives, local solutions, especially in this world of uncertainty, declining resources and increasing levels of pollution can make a great difference to the benefit of city dwellers and in turn, if combined, amount to global solutions.

WALD Belgium Princes Mathilde Visited UCLG-MEWA and WALD

United Cities and Local Governments West Asia and Middle East Section (UCLG-MEWA) and Word Academy for Local Government and Democracy (WALD) are attracting the celeb’s attention via realized projects.

trainings and to meet with the trainees from Turkey, as well as from other countries in the Middle East and West Asia and neighboring regions. Within the speech that Princes Mathilda gave in the beginning of the ceremony, she emphasized the importance of giving opportunities to the youth and also investing for their future. She also claimed that the leadership programs like UGLA improves the social skills and global knowledge of the young people. With this, she stated that she liked the slogan “we are not the leaders of the future, we are also the partners of today”.

After the Yoo (Ban) Soon’s visit on June 2012, who is the wife of Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki Moon, Belgiun Princes Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine d’Udekem d’Acoz paid a visit to the centre of both UCLG-MEWA and WALD where the trainings of International Youth Leadership Academy (UGLA) takes places on 16th of October 2012. UGLA Project which is realized by the cooperation of UCLG-MEWA, WALD, UNICEF and the Habitat Center for Development and Governance aims to give training to the youth aged between 15-30. UGLA provides training on entrepreneurship, communication, project management, intercultural learning, democratic governance, human rights, and participation in decisionmaking, protection of the environment, information technologies, gender equality, sexual health, reproductive health and conflict resolution topics within 3 years to the 3,000 trainees.

During the organization, Secretary General of UCLG-MEWA and Chairman of WALD Mr. Mehmet Duman, took the floor and stated that the trainings that are giving teenagers leadership skills will continue in order to raise leaders. After the speakers finished their speeches, the reception began in the garden of the UCLGMEWA and WALD center office. During the reception Princes Mathilda had a nice conversation with young trainees and had taken photos with them. At the end of this warm visit Princes Mathilda mentioned that she was supporting all UGLA activities from the bottom of her heart and would like revisit Turkey again.

By paying visit to this important project, Princes Mathilde had the opportunity to observe the 34

Activities UCLG World Council took place in Florence on 9-11 December 2011 At the invitation of Matteo Renzi, Mayor of Florence, the City of Florence hosted 500 local and regional representatives from over 40 different countries gathered in the UCLG World Council from 9 to 11 December. The gathering counted with the presence of mayors from cities around the world such as Rabat, Dakar, Paris, Stuttgart, Sevilla and with the participation of numerous mayors of Italian cities. It further brings together private partners and key international partners, representatives of Cities Alliance, UNFCCC and OECD. The Council was chaired by Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul (Turkey) and President of UCLG, and by the Co-Presidents Antonio Costa, Mayor of Lisbon (Portugal), Muchadeyi Masunda, Mayor of Harare (Zimbabwe), Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan (Russia), and Ted Ellis, Mayor of Bluffton (USA), Treasurer. The main decisions of the UCLG World Council focus on the definition of the UCLG Strategy for the coming six years and pay particular attention to the contribution of local and regional authorities to the international debate on sustainability around Rio +20.

UCLG-MEWA Executive Bureau and Council Joint Meeting took place in Tehran (IRAN) UCLG-MEWA Executive Bureau and Council Joint Meeting took place in Tehran (IRAN) on 24-25 of December 2011 at the kind invitation of Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf, Mayor of Tehran and Co-President of UCLG-MEWA. Representatives of 150 local and regional elected officials have met in Tehran.

Visit to Cairo and Gaza Mr. Mehmet DUMAN, Secretary General of UCLG-MEWA visited to Cairo and Gaza Strip between 29 April 2012-2 May 2012. In Cairo, Secretary General visited the headquarters of Arab Administrative Development Organization, Arab Republic of Egypt State Ministry of Administrative Development and Mr. AbdelKavi Khalifa, the Governor of Cairo. In Gaza Strip Mr. Duman attended a meeting on the problems of local governments in the region. Mr. Duman visited to Mr. Yosef ALMANSI, Minister of Local Governments in Gaza Strip, Deputy Mayor and Municipal Councilors in Gaza Municipality. Mr. Ismail Haniyya, the Prime Minister, received Secretary General in his office. Jabalia, Beit Lahia, Khan Yonis, Beni Sohaila, Absan, Alnosayrat,Deir Albalah, Aljadida and Absan Alkabira Municipalities were also contacted. Secretary General placed a wreath on monument of the fleet of liberty in Gaza Port. 35

Activities 6th World Water Forum

On the occasion of the 6th World Water Forum, held in Marseille from 12 to 17 March 2012, 350 local and regional elected officials from accross the 5 continents have met to increase international the mobilization of local and regional authorities on the issues of water and sanitation and to reinforce the commitments agreed upon in the Istanbul Water Consensus.

Throughout the days dedicated the local and regional authorities, the elected officials presented the concrete solutions they have implemented in the framework of the Istanbul Consensus. Mr. Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN Habitat, highlighted the importance of increasing urbanization in developing countries, particularly in Asia and Africa. "Local authorities must organize themselves to ensure universal access to basic services for all citizens, particularly those living in peripheral cities and informal settlements." He called for a more human urbanization, and put the emphasis on the need to develop alternative models of urbanization, independent of city size.

In the framework of the Forumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political process, United Cities and Local Governments organized, jointly with the World Water Council, the 3rdInternational Conference of Local and Regional Authorities. With 12 thematic sessions, this International Conference presented the advances realized under the Istanbul Consensus since its adoption during the Mr. LoĂŻc Fauchon, President of the World Water Council, 5th World Water Forum in 2009, and allowed participants to expressed his wish to follow local and regional authorities in exchange on key issues such as water and urbanization, the implementation of the Istanbul Consensus. He added that cooperation and solidarity, as well as regional governance. he was ready to personally follow up on the implementation On behalf of UCLG and before the 1,450 participants in the of the Consensus: "The best governance for water is the one political process, Co-President Muchadeyi Masunda, Mayor of that is defined close to the citizens." Mr Michel Vauzelle, Harare (Zimbabwe), reminded all of the constant President of the Region Provence-Alpes-Cotes dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Azue commitment of UCLG toward water issues, as well as the (France), expressed his wish to see regional authorities support of the World Organization to the United Nations reinforced in this process. resolution on universal access to water. He also affirmed the Mr. Serge Lepeltier, President of the Political Committee of need to reinforce the Istanbul Water Consensus and to fully the 6th Forum, Mayor of Bourges (France) and Ambassador, integrate the issue of water in the climate change negotiations highlighted the importance of placing water at the core of the that will take place during Rio+20. Rio+20 debates, in particular in the Ministerial Declaration, During the General Assembly of Local and Regional and he reminded the essential implementation of the right to Authorities, local and regional elected officials decided to water and sanitation. strengthen the political dimension of the Istanbul Water During this 6th World Water Forum, entitled "Time for Consensus, developing in particular projects of decentralized Solutions", local and regional authorities showed their cooperation, fostering the development of innovative commitment to bring their solutions to the essential global financing based on solidarity, and ensuring the issues of water and to reaffirm their key role in improving implementation of universal access to water and sanitation. access to water and to sanitation. 36

Activities The Launching Meeting of UCLG Committee for Urban Health Took Place on 6-7 May 2012 in Istanbul

The launching meeting of the Committee for Urban Health took place on 6-7 May 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey and was attended by representatives from cities such as Istanbul, Yalova, Izmir, Nevşehir, Tahran, Guanghzou, Kazan and organizations such as CEMR, UCLG Africa Section, UCLG-MEWA Section, Local Government Association from England (LGA), Organization of Islamic Capitals and Cities. The meeting was organized under the auspices of Dr. Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul, President of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey and President of UCLG.

Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Istanbul University took the floor and presented the specific problem we meet in urban health. Dr. Sur described the specificity of urban issues such as population growth and related health issues. He emphasized the importance of local governments as the mechanisms to present the solutions against the health problems increasing in the cities. Following the opening, the First Session of the meeting was chaired by Mr. Hasan Ünver, Mayor of Nevşehir and member of the UCLG World Council. Mr. Dinçer Çetintaş, Director General of Sağlik A.Ş. of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality underlined that Istanbul has a ever-growing importance in Healthy Cities Projects and their related services will increasingly continue.

In the welcoming speech Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul, President of the Municipalities of Turkey and President of UCLG, said : ’’I sincerely believe that the decision taken in this meeting will build a richness to solve the problems humanity suffer and added: ‘‘Regarding the global health issues and solutions, as UCLG we have established this committee and we aim to take advantage of the energy and synergy of local governments in terms of realizing main targets pointed out by UN and World Health Organization.

First part of the second session was chaired by Mr. Tansel Kaya, Councillor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and political representative of the Committee for Urban Health who introduced the work plan of the Committee for Urban Health. The second part of the Session Two on “Organizational Issues of the Committee for Urban Health” was chaired by Mr. Mehmet Duman, UCLG-MEWA Secretary General. The organizationall structure of the committee was agreed as in the following; Istanbul will chair the committee and vice presidency will be persued by Kazan (UCLG Euro-Asia), Tahran (UCLG-MEWA) ve Goungzhou (UCLC ASPAC).

Mehmet Duman, Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Section (UCLG-MEWA) underlined the importance of health issue in the Millenium Development Goals and added: ‘‘the work the Committee initiated in Istanbul would be an important contribution to the improvement of urban health policies in all cities of the world’’. 37

Activities Decentralization : Strong Instrument for Local Democracy and Development

Nearly 200 representatives of local and central governments, regional and international organizations and members of the Tunisian National Constituent Assembly gathered in Tunis, Tunisia on 28-30 May 2012 to debate decentralization and the constitutional process in Tunisia. The conference was jointly organized by the National Federation of Tunisian Cities (FNVT), UCLG, the Diputación de Barcelona (Barcelona Provincial Government), the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF) and the Arab Town Organisation (ATO).

of Interior in charge of the Reformation, reaffirmed on behalf of the Minister of the Interior that decentralization is an essential option for the future to consolidate the unity of the State. Dr. Kadir Topbaş reaffirmed the commitment of UCLG to assist the authorities and local actors to consolidate Tunisian local democracy.

After a first general discussion on issues of decentralization, the participants developed, in three parallel workshops, debates about the balance between decentralization and devolution, the role of local authorities in The conference was opened in the presence of development and their relationships with civil representatives of central government, the society. President of the Local Government Commission In the first workshop, Mr. Mehmet Duman, of the Tunisian National Constituent Assembly UCLG-MEWA Secretary General, made a and Dr. Kadir Topbaş, President of UCLG and speech presenting the region and the actual Mayor of Istanbul. Mr. Saifallah Lasram, Mayor situation in terms of decentralization, by of Tunis and FNTV, recalled in his opening underlining UCLG-MEWA activities serving to speech the principles that should be included in the strengthening of local democracy and the new constitution to strengthen the role of decentralization in the Middle East and West local government and local democracy. Mr. Said Asia region. Mechichi, the Secretary of State in the Minister 38

Activities Dr. Ahmet N. Helvac覺, former sub-governor and former mayor from Turkey, presented the Turkish experience of local government and decentralization.

spheres of government; the need to strengthen and diversify the local tax system and ensure a transfer of resources to local authorities on transparent and predictable basis, improving transparency and efficiency of management and the creation of a local government service as well. Regarding civil society issues, the participants considered that participative democracy must go hand in hand with representative democracy. Participants officially recorded the changing role of civil society as associations of allegiance to a role of intelligence. It was also noted that a third of the country is not yet municipalized and priorities should be to give to all citizens the same rights.

A general consensus has emerged on the need to promote anchoring of political, administrative and financial decentralization in the new constitution of Tunisia to enshrine the principles of local autonomy, to create different levels of local communities and ensure an appropriate split of responsibilities and resources between different levels of government, encourage citizen participation and provide a legalisation of controls on local government. During the three workshops, participants discussed several issues such as the status of regions as territorial level management to reduce regional disparities, the weakening of the controls exercised by central government on local authorities and the relevant place to establish the best connection between local administration and central government for more constructive collaboration between the different

In conclusion, local authorities have warned against neglect they face and called on parliamentarians to receive constituent local authorities to establish a dialogue on the constitutional process. They also proposed to promote pilot projects of citizen participation to help developing the new legislation.

Activities The Partners Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations took place in İstanbul The Partners Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UN AoC) convened in Istanbul, Turkey on 31st May – 1st June 2012, at the invitation of Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey, and was co-chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. A special session of the Forum, entitled as “The Alliance of Civilizations, Cities, Citizens” was dedicated to cities, local governments. 70 countries, 15 international organizations, and a significant number of corporations, foundations and NGOs took part in the Forum, affirming the Alliance’s position as a global platform for crosscultural dialogue and cooperation at a time of growing global interdependence. More than half of those present pledged new support for the Alliance’s work – both financial and in kind, thereby enabling the Alliance to better plan its future activities and consolidate existing projects. Additionally, participants discussed a wide range of topics relevant to the mandate of the Alliance, including commonly shared values essential for coexistence, cities and diversifying local governance, and the role of the private sector in supporting cross-cultural activities. Moderated by Mr. Josep ROIG, UCLG Secretary General, the Session on “The Alliance of Civilizations, Cities, Citizens” had Dr. Kadir TOPBAŞ, Mayor of Istanbul, Turkey, President of UCLG and UNACLA; Mr. Khalifa Ababacar SALL, Mayor of Dakar, Senegal and the UCLG VicePresident for Africa; Ms.Linda LEES, Founder and Director, Creative Cities International, USA; Mr. Lütfü SAVAŞ, Mayor of Antakya, Turkey; and Ms. Snezana SAMARDZIC-MARKOVIC, Council of Europe's Director General for democracy, as main speakers.This session dedicated to the local authorities was organized by UCLG-MEWA. President TOPBAŞ renewed to President SAMPAIO, UN Alliance of Civilizations High Representative, UCLG´s commitment to the work of Alliance and the promotion of peace and dialogue.

Activities UN First Lady Yoo (Ban) Soon-Taek visited UCLG-MEWA

The spouse of UN Secretary General Ban KiMoon, Mrs. Yoo (Ban) Soon-Taek visited the International Youth Leadership Academy (IYLA) located in the UCLG-MEWA building in Istanbul, Turkey on 1st June 2012.

and Local Governance Sezai Haz覺r delivered welcoming speeches. Following the presentation about IYLA, Mrs. Yoo (Ban) Soon-Taek took floor and answered the questions of young people.

The International Youth Leadership Academy is a partnership among UNICEF, Save the Children, Habitat Center for Development and Governance (an NGO from Turkey), Corio, United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Section (UCLG-MEWA), and the World Academy for Local Government and Democracy (WALD). In the framework of a protocol signed by UCLG-MEWA, UNICEF and WALD, trainings are conducted in the UCLG-MEWA building. UNICEF and Save the Children contribute in the international curriculum of the academy.

86 young people from 43 different cities in Turkey have been volunteer trainers in IYLA since 2010. Presently, 1.572 young people between the age of 15-30 have been trained by volunteer trainers in the scope of IYLA. Furthermore high school students, under the age of 20, disadvantaged youth (young people who are vulnerable to crime, young women, and teenagers in orphanages) are also involved in trainings.

UCLG-MEWA Secretary General Mehmet Duman, UNICEF Deputy Resident Representative Regina de Dominicis, CORIO Representative of Turkey Esra Yal癟覺n and Honarary President of Habitat for Development 41

So far, trainings on different topics such as ICT Literacy, CISCO IT (Cisco Information Technologies) Networking, Communication, Project Management, Financial Literacy, Discrimination and Hate Speech on New Media, HIV/AIDS, Documentary Movie Making and Social Responsibility, Conflict Resolution, Negotiation and Mediation have been organized.

Activities UCLG Co-President Wan Qingliang Visited President Kadir Topbaş

Mr. WAN Qingliang, former Mayor of Guangzhou and Vice President of China Association of Mayors came to İstanbul on 17th18th July, 2012, and visited Kadir TOPBAŞ, the president of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). During his visit to İstanbul, Mr. WAN Qingliang's, the CoPresident of UCLG, was accompanied by TIAN Kaisheng, Consulate General of China in Istanbul, CHEN Gugui, Senior Vice Mayor of Guangzhou Municipal Government, WANG Xudong, Director General of Guangzhou Economic & Trade Commission, LIU Baochun, Director General of Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office, LI Ming, Director General of Bureau of Urban Planning of Guangzhou Municipality, ZENG Kaizhang, President of CCPIT Guangzhou, YUAN Zhimin, Chairman of Guangzhou Federation of Industry & Commerce, Chairman of Kingfa Sci. & Tech. Co., Ltd., HUANG Hehong, Party Secretary of CPC Conghua Committee, Director General of the Standing Committee of People’s Congress of

Conghua City, TAN Zhixiang, Director General of Guangzhou Cooperation Office, Zhang Fangyou, Chairman of Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group, LI Chuyuan, Vice Chairman & General Manager of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. and FANG Jizhang, Vice Mayor of Conghua City Government. WAN Qingliang, the Co President of UCLG, inaugurated İstanbul Guangzhou Day, which was held in Four Seasons Hotel, with a vast group of businessmen with him on the first day of his visit. Distinguished persons from the business world made speeches in this ceremony, as part of the "China Year in Turkey" event for 2012. Co-President WAN was accompanied by Kadir TOPBAŞ, President of UCLG, and Josep ROIG, General Secretary of UCLG, in his twoday visit. On the last day, after the lunch hosted by Kadir TOPBAŞ, İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, he visited President TOPBAŞ in his office.

Activities In the meeting, the issues on the agenda of UCLG World Organization were discussed the most extensively. The details connected with the Press Conference of International Guangzhou Urban Innovation Awards, which was arranged right after the meeting, were finalized. After this concilium, the events passed on to the Press Conference that was to be held in İstanbul City Hall. In the Press Conference, where International Guangzhou Urban Innovation Awards were advertised, the signing ceremonies (Sister City Protocol between İstanbul and Guangzhou and the Memorandum of Understanding between UCLGMEWA and Directorate for External Relations of Guangzhou (GZFAO) Municipality) also took place. CHEN Rugui, Guanghzou Deputy Mayor; Adem BAŞTÜRK, General Secretary of İstanbul Metrpolitan Municipality; Josep ROIG, General Secretary of UCLG; WAN Qingliang, Guanghzou Province General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and Co-President of UCLG; Kadir TOPBAŞ, İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and President of UCLG; TIAN Kaisheng, İstanbul Deputy ConsulGeneral of People’s Republic of China; Mehmet DUMAN, General Secretary of UCLG-MEWA; LIU Baochun, Director of External Relations of Guanghzou Municipality, were present in the meeting. After the speeches of WAN, CoPresident of UCLG, and TOPBAŞ, President of UCLG, the conference passed on to the signing ceremony.

organizations, was signed by Mehmet DUMAN, General Secretary on behalf of UCLG-MEWA, and LIU Baochun, General Director, on behalf of GZFAO. The Protocol of Cooperation is intended to promote the International Guangzhou Urban Innovation Awards in the region of MEWA, encourage members of MEWA to participate in the competition. It also aims to show the support and encouragement of the Guanghzou Office for the activities arranged

by MEWA General Secretariat.

Press Conference ended with Josep ROIG, General Secretary of UCLG, Qingliang WAN, Co-President of UCLG, and Kadir TOPBAŞ, President of UCLG, answering journalists’ questions. After the last official event, which was the Press Conference, Co-President WAN was sent off by TOPBAŞ, ROIG, General Secretary of UCLG, and DUMAN, General Secretary of UCLG-MEWA. Then President TOPBAŞ, Josep ROIG, General Secretary of UCLG, and Mehmet DUMAN, General Secretary of UCLGMemorandum of Understanding between MEWA, exchanged evaluations about the UCLG-MEWA and GZFAO, which aims to agenda of the organization. support the cooperation between the two 43

Activities Local and Regional Authorities gearing up to Habitat Agenda Over 200 Mayors and local practitioners gathered in Naples on 1-7 September at the World Urban Forum called for the Third Conference of Sustainable Human Settlements (Habitat III) to revise the international governance architecture for urban and development issues. Dr. Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul and President of UCLG presented the commitment of the UN Advisory Committee for Local Authorities (UNACLA) to significantly contribute to shaping the new Habitat Agenda. As inheritor of the Habitat II process, which set the basis for the creation of the World Organization of Cities and Local Governments, UCLG called all local government partners to unite and define the priorities of local and regional authorities internationally. The new Habitat agenda needs to be people centered and help us move away from the dichotomy of rural versus urban. It will need to put cohesion among territories at the forefront of our future work, said the UCLG and UNACLA President. The Mayor of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrad called for a change in the international financial architecture, allowing direct financing of local governments. The Mayor of Naples, di Magestri, asked for local authorities to unite and call for global rights with the development of culture as corner stone for sustainable development. Mr Carrasco, Vice-President of FOGAR underlined the need to make territorial cohesion a priority in the agenda. Representatives of local government associations from Sweden, Canada, Colombia, Senegal and the Philippines, among others, ratified the need to focus on the empowerment of local authorities around the world in order that they can comply with their responsibilities towards citizens. The round table of Mayors celebrated and embraced the UNACLA Habitat III statement that requests Habitat III to address representational deficits faced within global governance and policymaking instruments.

Activities UCLG Urban Health Committee Attended to the UCLG’s Committees and Working Groups Meeting The annual meeting of the UCLG’s Committees and Working Groups Secretariats meeting held in the head Office of UCLG in Barcelona, on 12 – 14 September 2012. In the first two days of the meeting, “City to City Learning” named program which was organized with the cooperation of UCLG and Metropolis, was held. In the meeting UCLG Urban Health Committee was represented by Dinçer Çetintaş (Secretary General of Urban Health Committee), Prof. Haydar Sur, Dr. Ali Osman Soluk and Vefik Mehmet Aksu. First day, the learning process of Local governments, working groups and metropolises and the most efficient ways for them to share their knowledge between each other was debated. The purpose of this discussion was contributing these entities on acquiring knowledge in order to enhance their effectiveness in their services. During the debates held in first day, participants addressed tree main questions: “How we learn, what we learn and who needs to learn?” and tried to answer them. Second day of the meeting the UCLG’s Committees and Working Groups’ – UCLG Urban Health Committee was one of them – ideas and proposes were listened. At the same day, the UCLG’s connection role that is about knowledge and experience sharing between members was identified. Tim Campell who is specialist in “Learning Cities” concept also involved the second day meeting and made a small presentation about his book “Beyond Smart Cities”. The last part of the second day meeting, short, medium and long term targets for acquiring information and sharing information effectively were determined by the attendees. According to these targets in the short term, working on the subjects which are Facilitating Peer Learning, Communication and Visibility, Knowledge Management and Brokering/Intermediation were agreed. In the medium and long term, participants agreed on monitoring and evaluating learning outcomes and working on joint efforts for resource mobilization.

At the UCLG Committees and Working Groups Secretariats Meeting, UCLG Health Committee presented his activities and announced that Committee’s meeting will be organized in Bagdad within the framework of UCLG-MEWA Statutory Meeting. UCLG Committees and Working Groups Secretariats Meeting was held on 14 September 2012 in the afternoon. At the meeting, participants discussed about the ways of improving their mutual communication and agreed on the necessity of developing UCLG’s active role in their intercommunication. Participants also decided to use internet more active for sharing knowledge and communication. According to this subject, Prof. Haydar Sur who took the floor on the behalf of UCLG Urban Health Committee, emphasized the importance of creating web site or/and improving the existing ones for the committees and working groups. Professor Sur, also announced the Urban Health Committees web page which is under construction phase. Accept Urban Health Committee’s web page, Prof. Haydar Sur announced the academic bulletin which is considered to be issued in the soonest time by Urban Health Committee. He also claimed information support for bulletin from working groups and committees. Additionally at the same speech, the meeting of UCLG Urban Health Committee which is going to be organized on January 2013 in Bagdad, was announced by Professor Sur.

Activities UCLG Committee for Urban Health Gathered in Africa The third institutional meeting of UCLG Urban Health Committee was held on 5 December 2012 in Dakar, Senegal. The meeting was conducted by Tansel Kaya, Councilor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Political Representative of the Committee for Urban Health who represented Dr. Kadir Topbaş, UCLG President and Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in the meeting. The meeting began with the announcement of the agenda and introduction of the participants.

After Tansel Kaya, Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Istanbul University and Deputy Secretariat General of UCLG Committee for Urban Health took floor and gave information about the activities that the committee realized from its establishment to the meeting. Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur also made a presentation about the role and effectiveness of local governments in the field of urban health. In Prof. Sur’s presentation it was expressed that more than half of the world population lives in the cities in today’s world and therefore mega cities have formed where there are more than 10 million inhabitants. As a result in a world that urbanization escalates so rapidly the local government’s responsibilities on health issue increases relevantly. Another important subject that Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur underlined was the issue of slum areas. According to his presentation, increasing in the slum areas are directly related with rapid urbanization and slums that have unhealthy conditions provides available environment for epidemics. With regard to these information Prof. Sur specified good governance. For him, a local government which doesn’t let increase in slum areas could be considered as good government. During the presentation Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur remarked the unhealthy housing and working conditions that more than one billion people have in the world and the inability of undeveloped and emerging countries governments about fulfilling the essential requirements 46

Activities of these people. He pointed out the ability of developed countries on meeting its citizens’ needs and related to this the 75 years or more life expectancy of the citizens in developed countries. He also mentioned the contrary situation in the cities where there is poor urban governance and said that the expectancy of human life can reduce to approximately 35 years at that countries. Additionally in the presentation the main factors that are shorten the human life and arise from poor governance are specified. These are: insufficient and unhealthy food, epidemics, environmental pollution, air pollution and as its outcome severe acute respiratory syndrome, traffic accidents, urban violence like crime and psychological effects of poorness. At the third meeting of UCL Committee for Urban Health, Dr. Muzaffer Saraç, Head of the Department for Health and Social Services of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, took the floor after Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur. Dr. Muzaffer Saraç made a presentation in order to give information about the health services of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. He stated that 34 women and family center, 12 psychological consultation center and 3 monitoring center has established in order to serve woman and family health. He also expressed that free health service has provided to 1.446.417 citizen from 2004 to 2012 and besides all these, with the establishment of ALO 153 Call Center, 1700 appointment has given to the women and 3.961 cancer patients (women) have cured successfully until present. Dr. Saraç kept on informing participants about the services implemented for all citizens of Istanbul and remarked on health education services provided by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. At his presentation 398.969-hour psychological consultation service and 2.230.969 hour health education service, which have given to the citizens until 2012 by IBB, had pointed out. Apart from all these, establishment of 16 stop smoking clinic in Istanbul had announced in the presentation. In the second part of his presentation, Dr. Saraç gave detailed information about free health services which are being implemented in the citizens own house who are incapable of going to hospital like handicapped, elderly, poor, extremely sick people. He mentioned that from 2004, 97.240 people have received this free charge health service. He also gave information about the 108.296 hour health education service which includes nutrition and wound care and treatment has given to this people at their own home too. At last free accompaniment service that is given by Head of the Department for Health and Social Services of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for the needers had briefly explained in his presentation. Finally Dr. Ali Osman Soluk made a small presentation about the web page of Committee (www.uclg-urbanhealth.com) which is newly created and under development stage. During his presentation the contribution from members also claimed like receiving their academic researches in order to enhance the content of committee’s web page. At the last part of the meeting, the speakers answered the participants’ questions about the presented topics and the considered meeting of UCLG Committee for Urban Health on 14 January 2013 in Bagdad which is announced during the meeting.

Activities UCLG President stresses the role of local and regional governments in addressing inequalities

The 2nd UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda took place in London from 29 October to 2 November hosted by the British Prime Minister David Cameron. Dr. Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul and President of UCLG, voices the views of local and regional governments in this important forum which will play a key role in defining the international development agenda for the coming decades. The London debates paid special attention on poverty eradication, job creation and the promotion of sustainable development. The previous and first meeting of the High Level Panel was held in New York on 25th September and highlighted the need to identify catalyst that will enable achieving the targets set by the existing Millennium Development Goals in 2015 but that will also contribute to the definition of the new development agenda. The second meeting of the Panel in London stressed the need to work towards “an open, transparent, and inclusive Post 2015 process”. The London meeting stressed the need to target individual and household level poverty. UCLG´s President stressed the importance of addressing inequalities at local level, through the provision of basic services, adequate infrastructures and the definition of local development strategies. Dr. Kadir Topbas declared: “many of the challenges we face require an integrated territorial approach and the improvement of urban planning.” He further stressed : “Territorial inequalities should be addressed by the future Post 2015 agenda”, Following up his commitment to represent the broad constituency of local and regional authorities and their diverse networks, the UCLG President has invited local government sister organizations to join a Task-force that will prepare inputs for the 2015 process. He further proposed the High Level Panel to have a dedicated sub-group on sustainable urbanization which will address development targets from the holistic approach of cities and will path the way for the new Urban Agenda to be defined at the Habitat III Conference. The next meetings of the High Level Panel are due to take place in Monrovia and Bali in the first quarter of 2013. The final meeting is envisaged to take place in New York in May. This will be the occasion in which the Report to the UN Secretary General will be delivered. 48

Activities AND THE GUANGZHOU AWARD GOES TO… KOCAELİ

The Guangzhou Awards Ceremony was held in Guangzhou, China between 14-17 November 2012 on the occasion of Metropolis Board of Directors. The first edition received a total of 225 initiatives of application from cities of 56 countries and regions throughout the world and the awards were handed out to five winners representing each Regional Section. From Middle East and West Asia Region Kocaeli (Turkey), from Africa Lilongwe (Malawi), from Asia Pacific Seoul (South Korea), from North America Vancouver (Canada) and from Europe Vienna (Austria) gained the prizes. Kocaeli Municipality won the prize with its “Prepare before it’s too late: Learn to live with earthquake” Project. 30 Projects were also declared as “Deserving Initiatives” and Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Kadıköy (Turkey), Mashhad, Tehran (Iran) and Zouk Mikael (Lebanon) are the cities in this category from MEWA Region. The Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award), which is defined by Mr. Kadir TOPBAŞ, President of UCLG, as “the Nobel Prize of UCLG” and will be delivered biennially, is co-founded by the City of Guangzhou, the World Association of the Major Metropolises (Metropolis), and the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), with the aim of promoting the sharing of urban innovation experiences, recognizing the successful practices of cities and local governments on urban innovation, and advocating scientific approach to urban innovation, thus pushing forward the comprehensive, harmonious and sustainable development of cities around the world.

Activities Third Asian Mayors Forum took place in Bangkok Asian Mayors Forum 3rd General Assembly Meeting on Local Governance: Urban Initiatives for Progress&Justice was held on 28-29 November 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and President of United Cities Local Governments (UCLG) attended the meeting through a video message. Mehmet Duman, United Cities Local Governments Middle East and West Asia (UCLG-MEWA) Secretary General; Tansel Kaya İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Councilor and Selamettin Ermiş Director of Foreign Relations Department of IMM also took part in this Forum. Mr. Topbaş expressed that he regards Asian Mayors Forum as a friendship meeting, saying: ‘‘we all are like different branches of a tree; our roots, lands and aims are the same.’’ Mr.Topbaş said: ‘‘In order to provide a better world for the next generations, we have taken important steps and we have demonstrated the impact and power of city diplomacy. Mayor Kadir Topbaş also reminded his last visit to Guangzhou, China on the occasion of Metropolis Board of Directors on November 16th saying: ‘‘We made important contacts. We planted a friendship tree. I believe that this tree will fruit as more cooperation, a better future and permanent peace. Even if we speak different languages, we share the same feelings. During my visit to China, Presidency of the Urban Transformation Commission was offered to me. I accepted this offer on behalf of the whole UCLG family. I believe that we will succeed much better works together. On every occasion I mention the importance of collaboration among Asian cities. Please be aware of this power.’’

Activities UCLG World Council was held in Dakar, Senegal Over 300 UCLG members from over 40 countries gathered at the UCLG World Council, held in Dakar (Senegal) from 4th to 6th December 2012, at the kind invitation of Mayor Khalifa Sall and UCLGA.

Local and regional leaders focused on discussing the impact of local and regional governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daily work in development and called UCLG to work to ensure that this message is convened to the international community in the preparations of the new Millennium Development Goals and Habitat III. Basic services, equality, local development have been identified as areas where Local and Regional Authorities are key actors if we want to improve the quality of life of communities. The UCLG membership recalled that the New Urban Agenda should be based on four key pillars: new methods of partnership between central and local governments in order to regulate the urbanization and metropolization processes; supporting innovation and economic development of

Activities towns and cities in order to improve the quality of public services; the promotion of strategic urban planning and resilient towns and cities; the engagement of citizens in local decisions. Special emphasis was put in improving the life of women and empowering them as motors of development. Members of the World Organization furthermore committed to participate in the 4th UCLG World Congress, Summit of Local and Regional Leaders to take place in Rabat from 1 st to 4th October 2013. Imagine Society, Build Democracy will be the red line of a gathering that should be inclusive and open to all partners and sister organizations. Fathallah Oualalou Mayor of Rabat (Morocco), stressed the desire of his city to facilitate dialogue and exchange that should contribute to a peaceful future for all. UCLG members requested the agenda of the Congress to include strong accent on Culture as fourth pillar of sustainability and gender equality. The President of UCLG, Kadir Topbaþ, Mayor of Istanbul, recalled his determination to have the voice of local and regional authorities heard in the international development agenda, and to follow the mandate and aspirations of UCLG to facilitate the diversity of local and regional voices to enrich the international agenda in particular through the High Level Panel of the United Nations. “The Post-2015 Agenda is critical for our Organization, but also for the citizens that we serve”. “The Habitat III Conference will be a decisive moment that should recognize the maturity of our movement at global level,” he concluded.

Activities Joan Clos, Under Secretary General of the UN, stressed the need to pay attention to medium size cities in middle income countries which are rapidly growing and being the target of many of the urban challenges. The UCLG leadership welcomed the increased participation of Regional Authorities in UCLG through the creation of the Forum of Regions and renewed partnership with ORUFOGAR aiming at creating a Section of Regions. The World Forum of Regions adopted a Declaration that calls upon all spheres of government to coordinate and contribute to the provision of basic public services. They further stressed the need to unite to work towards food security, and self-sufficiency of territories.

The UCLG Executive Bureau was chaired by Muchadeyi Masunda, Mayor of Harare (Zimbabwe) who stressed the need to partner with all actors and highlighted the role of local authorities as catalyst of alliances and development. Wolfgang Schuster, Mayor of Stuttgart (Germany) praised the work carried out by the organization in 2012 and encouraged members to mobilize and get involved next year providing inputs for the Local and Regional Authorities Post2015.

Notes