UNION OF MUNICIPALITIES OF MARMARA
THE MARMARA REGION

The area of activity of the Union covers the Marmara Region, surrounding the Sea of Marmara, which is Turkey’s most developed region and a bridge between Europe and Asia. So the Union is the unique regional union of local authorities in the world which is active in two continents. Moreover, Istanbul, the centre of the union, is the only city having territory in both Europe and Asia.
Istanbul, a megacity with its 13,5 million inhabitants, is the most important city of the country and the centre of the Union. The Marmara Region with its total population of more than 20 million inhabitants is the economic and cultural centre of Turkey and represents 60% of the country’s economy. It is Turkey’s leading region from many aspects including industrial facilities, energy consumption, large transportation network, tourism incomes and has an above-average population density.

Our Union has 231 members and is active in 12 provinces around the Marmara Sea: Istanbul, Edirne, Kırklareli, Tekirdağ, Çanakkale, Kocaeli, Yalova, Sakarya, Bilecik, Bursa Bolu and Balıkesir.


UNION’S GOAL

The Union’s goal is to strengthen local authorities and democracy through development of cooperation and solidarity among municipalities; to make efforts to establish among the Turkish municipalities a concept of local government with democratic, participative, transparent and accountable nature and based on principles of individual rights and freedom.


UNION’S LEGAL BASE AND STATUS

The Unions of Local Authorities are public organisations with a corporate body established by the Constitution and the Law on Unions of Local Authorities. In areas indicated in the Union Statutes, the Union possesses the rights, authority and privileges held by municipalities. The Union is entitled to represent its members and to provide common services in areas where member municipalities vested authority in the Union.


MEMBERSHIP OF THE UNION

Municipalities in the provinces located in the Union’s (geographical) area of activity can become member of the Union after accepting decision of the Union Assembly taken upon municipal council’s decision for membership and acceptation of the Union’s Statutes. Membership to the Union is optional.


BRIEF HISTORY

The Union of Municipalities of Marmara was established on April 25th, 1975. The headquarters of        the Union was initially in İzmit. The General Assembly held on May 29th, 1977 decided to transfer the    Union’s headquarters to Istanbul.
The Union of Municipalities of Marmara is the oldest and most inclusive regional association of local authorities in Turkey. Its establishment echoes the decisions of the UN Conference of the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972, which emphasised the environmental matters. At the time, the mayors from the region responded to the raising awareness by uniting them with the objective of tackling environmental problems in the Sea of Marmara and its surroundings.  
The Union is forerunner in such areas as development of a democratic local government movement in Turkey, advancement of municipal authority and improvement of municipal resources, environmental consciousness-raising among local authorities, solution of municipalities’ common problems through cooperation, establishment of metropolitan municipalities and representation of municipalities in international local authority organisations.


UNION’S AREA OF ACTIVITY

The Union’s area of activity is described in the Statutes as follows:

* To establish cooperation and exchange of information among municipalities for sustainable and balanced development of the Marmara Region;
* To support and encourage municipal activities aiming to protect natural and cultural values of the Marmara Region;
* To strive to establish and generalise democratic, participative, transparent and accountable concept of local governance based on principles of individual rights and freedom;
* To provide permanent training services to the Union members’ elected municipal representatives and municipal staff on main issues regarding city planning and municipal governing;
* To realise activities and to provide consultancy aiming to develop member municipalities’ capacity for better municipal services to citizen;
* To work to elaborate the Union’s position on legal and administrative regulations concerning municipalities and to make necessary lobby work;
* To represent member municipalities in various national and international platforms; and to be their voice and protect their rights and interests;
* In context of integration process to the EU, to participate in and contribute to activities aiming to harmonise members with the EU Acquis.

INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE

Union Assembly

The Union Assembly is the decision making organ of the Union. It consists of mayors and members elected by municipal councils of member municipalities, number of which is determined in the Union’s Statutes. The Union Assembly adjudicates strategic plan, performance program, budget, annual work program, annual activity report and final accounts. It takes general decisions in accordance with objectives of the Union. The term of office of members of the Union Assembly is 5 years, which is the general term of municipal councils.


Union Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is the Union’s executive and deliberative organ which takes executive decisions, watches over the implementation of annual work plan and budget in light of the Union’s Statutes and decisions of the Union Assembly. The Union Executive Committee is comprised of seven members elected by the Union Assembly among its members and the Union President.


President of the Union

The Union President is elected from among the mayors who are member of the Union Assembly. The President is elected for an initial 2-year term following local elections and then a subsequent 3-year term. He is the President of the Union Assembly and the Union Executive Committee. He is the highest administrator and representative of the Union. Mr Recep Altepe, Mayor of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, is the current President of UMM.


Organisation

The organisation of the Union of Municipalities of the Marmara consists of Secretariat General and related units in accordance with the Permanent Staff Regulations of the civil service. The Secretary General of the Union is appointed by the President of the Union. The Secretary General accomplishes the tasks of the Union on behalf of and under the directives and responsibility of the President of the Union, in accordance with the regulatory provisions, objectives and politics of the Union, its strategic plan and annual programs.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

TRAINING ACTIVITIES ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE

From the beginning of its foundation, the Union always paid utmost attention to the training and qualification needs of local decision makers and municipal staff. It has accumulated an important knowledge in the field of training for local governments and has developed an efficient system in this field. The Union’s training activities are based on two models functioning in parallel. These are regular training seminars on one side and the Local Governance Academy on the other.


Training Seminars

The training seminars of the Union are regularly provided from the very beginning of its history. They are organised several times every year, depending on the demand from the member municipalities. The seminars focus mainly on technical issues that require permanent training for municipal staff.
Annually 15.000 municipal staff and local decision-makers in average benefit from the in-service training modules organised by the Union. The Union responds to developments in the regulations related to local government and tailors its training offer to the needs of member municipalities.

Local Governance Academy

The Local Governance Academy was established by the Union in 2005 in order to foster the development and generalisation of the modern municipal governing. The Academy aims to deliver high quality trainings to the top of the municipal management: mayors and deputy mayors, municipal councillors, municipal top managers. The trainings are given by university lecturers, researchers and local government experts. Besides the training centre in the Union headquarters, the Academy has opened its branch in Bursa/Yıldırım and plans to open in the coming years four more branches in different parts of the Marmara Region. Next to municipal decision makers and workers, every person interested in local governance and similar matters can attend the trainings and seminars of the Local Governance Academy.

In order to enhance further training programs, the Local Governance Academy develops cooperation with similar training organisations abroad.


INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION CENTRE

The Union has mission to represent its member municipalities in national and international platforms, to advocate their rights and interests and provide necessary support to member municipalities in the context of accession process to the European Union. In order to implement duties and therefore to act as bridge between municipalities and the world, the Union has established within its structure an “International Cooperation Centre”. This work is carried out in coordination and cooperation with similar units of member municipalities. Its intense international relations network covers Europe, Asia and Africa, while also extending to America and Australia.

Memberships in or partnerships with international associations / organisations

Europe:

• Member of the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South East Europe (NALAS) - since 2008
• Partner of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (currently in process of requesting observer status)
• Partner of the EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) -  since 2007
• Partner of the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) (currently in process of full membership)

Asia:

• Member of the Union of Turkish World Municipalities - since 2010
• Associate member of the Organisation of Islamic Capitals and Cities (OICC) - since 2010
• Observer at the Arab Towns Organisation (ATO) - since 2010. First Friendship and Cooperation Agreement concluded in 1982.

Cooperation agreements or MoUs:

• Northern Cyprus; Turkish Cypriot Union of Municipalities - since 2004
• Palestine; Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA)- since 2009
• Lebanon; Union of Municipalities of Al Fayhaa - since 2010
• Moldova; Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova (CALM) - since 2011
• China; The Fujian Provincial Government  - since 2011
• Bulgaria; National Association of the Chairmen of Municipal Councils (NAPOS) - since 2011

MoUs in Turkey:

• Ministry of EU Affairs - since 2009      
• Ministry of Environment  - since 2010
• Ministry of Social Policy - since 2010                                                         
• High Council for Ethics of Public Officials - since 2011

OVERSEAS CONTACT AND STUDY PROGRAMS

Our Union organises time after time overseas contact and study visit programs with participations of member municipalities in order to better understand the municipal services abroad. The objective of these kinds of programs is to allow our member municipalities to follow closely to the developments in the field of municipal services and to give them the opportunity to meet their foreign colleagues. During these programs, they examine activities of the visited cities in various fields, such as transportation, infrastructure, waste management and environmental policy, protection of cultural and historical values, social services, urban participation and rights of citizen. In addition, these programs give opportunity of meeting foreign municipalities and lay the ground for establishing bilateral cooperation and twin-town relations.


CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Centre for Environmental Management was preceded by the Turkish-German Centre for Environmental Management first established within the UMM following the approval of Turkish Ministry of Interior at November 21st, 2006, in the framework of the Technical Cooperation Agreement signed by Turkish and German governments. Since recent years the unit continues its work under the new name of “Centre for Environmental Management”. Its objective is to implement training and awareness raising activities in the field of environment all over Turkey and to foster public-private partnership. İts activities are focused on three main subjects:

• Waste Management,
• Water and Water Waste Management,
• Energy Management.

The Centre provides information for all private and public institutions; organises training programs; provides support in the phase of implementation of environmental projects.


CITY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT LIBRARY

Since 2009, the Union has established its City and Local Government Library, the first specialised multilingual library in this field in Turkey. Currently it has more than 20.000 entries (books, catalogues, reviews, dissertations..) in several languages (English, Turkish, French, Arabic, Russian...), thanks to the invaluable support by many institutions, associations, publishing houses and individuals. The library covers various fields related to urban development, local and regional government and other relevant issues (planning, urbanism, architecture, environment, history of cities, urban sociology, migration, public administration, local/regional government, local democracy, European integration, local economic and regional development ...). The library serves domestic and international students, researchers, municipal officials and other interested persons.

Contact Us:
Union of Municipalities of Marmara
Ragıp Gümüşpala Cad. No.10
Eminönü, 34134 Fatih, Istanbul / Turkey

Phone : +90.212.5141000
Fax : +90.212.5208558
E-mail : info@marmara.gov.tr
Website: www.marmara.gov.tr
Twitter: www.twitter.com/marmarabb