Territory/city

Malkara is a town of 28000 people with a further 30000 within its boundaries in surrounding areas. The municipality was established in 1915. It is famous for agricultural products, particularly dairy, as well as its many cultural activities such as Romani dance and music. It is an historical place that dates back to the 5th century BC. There is a migrant population of Bulgarian, Balkan and Greek origin. The main employment is agricultural and dairy production. Malkara is one of the best dairy producing regions in Turkey. It has an area of 1250 km² which is the largest in Thrace.

It is experiencing a prosperous period in municipal affairs in terms of employment, economy, modern structural planning and social council affairs. The Malkara municipality is the leader of Thrace and perhaps even the whole Marmara region. Infrastructural development is currently very important and will continue for one year more. This will provide 50 years of benefits. There is now being built an 80-bed hospital, a new bus station and a modern closed marketplace. This makes economic sense. In addition, the municipality has secured 3 investors for a new industrial area. Malkara youth will find new job opportunities; it will be beneficial overall for young people in Malkara.

In terms of social issues the municipality runs diverse projects for children, disadvantaged groups, the elderly and disabled people. This is the purpose of council administrations – to deliver the best service to citizens and to work for the development of humanity. They like to work with other municipalities in co-operation on different projects. Throughout the modern ages, larger cities have been in competition with each other but today it is the small towns that are in tough competition, trying to do their best. The mayor of Malkara is a spatial architect for structural buildings and wants Malkara to be a brandmark town. He has a mission for Human Rights, Rule of Law and Democracy.

Coordination group (citizen’s assembly)

The Citizens’ Assembly was established in 2009 with a General Assembly composed of 76 people. 2 general assemblies per year, 1 monthly steering committee. There are 7 people in the steering committee: Commerce and Trade, Youth Council… and 7 working groups that hold quarterly meetings: Agriculture and Animals; Commerce & Industry; Cultural & Social Affairs; Health; Training & Education; Women, Disabled & Children; and Youth. Any citizen can apply and request to be included in a working group. There are also children’s, women’s and youth Committees. Several projects have been carried out by Women and Youth, with the youth projects even winning some awards.

Process

Projects carried out: The women’s council received demands from members for handicraft and folklore training. A new project for women, which involves baking cookies for gifts (income generation and job skill development), was developed but it is not yet as productive or effective as it could be. Projects come into play by requesting project proposals from citizens, assessing those proposals and applying them. There has consequently been training delivered in computing, establishing shops to introduce handicrafts, etc.

Malkara has a research and development team of 3 members.

Participation in Responding Together project (1st cycle)

18 people attended the Responding Together Project Training on 6th March 2013. After the first meeting with Assembly members, where information was given about social cohesion, members were asked to volunteer to be involved in the project and to form a coordination group. Indirectly, people are reporting to the Citizens’ Assembly. They have understood that they need to tackle the hierarchy in the Citizens’ Assembly and the projects are aiming to be more free. The prepared suggestions for activities in the JP were:

1. A learning English project – volunteers offer a language course in the summer from 1 July to 31 August, 3 days per week from 15h – 17h: offered at the town hall 2. Recycling waste to produce art 3. Weaving baskets – building on traditional Romani handicraft techniques; Roma participants’ idea to appreciate gypsy art and culture coordinated in co-operation with Roma Association 4. A toy making project – using waste materials to design toys for educational purposes 5. Recognition and fight against addictions – working with former addicts to build on an awareness campaign already carried out with them in previous years 6. Renovating schools project – 10 schools in Malkara with different income levels: involves defining what well-being is, SPIRAL methodology in schools could be carried out… (send video to Malkara development group) 7. Babysitting and patient care education programme – in addition to the building of the new hospital, a project could be run to make use of the new premises and interact with patients and old people: care home development which involves vocational training in a public form… it avoids discrimination and stigmatisation because it trains with the actual patients and encourages interaction between patients and marginalised participants in the training 8. Creation of a gypsy dance group – Roma participants’ idea to appreciate gypsy art and culture coordinated in co-operation with Roma Association