Our “Local Impact” workshops continued in collaboration with Kadıköy Municipality.
Since March, we have been focusing on three main topics in the social inclusion workshops held in Eyüpsultan, Sultanbeyli, Fatih, Sultangazi, Ataşehir, Beşiktaş, and Kadıköy Municipalities.
Identifying different groups with varying needs in the districts and determining the basic needs of these groups.
The most effective or innovative supports that the municipality can offer to these groups and possible improvements in existing programs.
Enhancing the impact of current social aid and support programs for these groups and further developing cooperation with non-governmental organizations.
DISADVANTAGED GROUPS
Kadıköy is the municipality with the oldest population in Istanbul, so the +65 age group, especially those living alone;
Families with low socio-economic status (specific parts of Dumlupınar, Merdivenköy, Fikirtepe, and Sahrayıcedid neighborhoods)
Similar intersecting groups in each district (children with special needs and their families, individuals with disabilities, those affected by the climate crisis) are generally the most disadvantaged groups in Kadıköy municipality.
Additional note: Street animals and issues specific to industrial animal husbandry/food safety/animal rights, particularly poultry.
MAIN FOCUS POINTS
✅ Developing intervention mechanisms for the problems of groups with different needs by focusing on the “prevention” notion of municipalities.
✅ Establishing specialized centers for these groups (e.g., “high-risk infants”, family counseling centers focused on autism)
✅ Localizing data through neighborhood-based mapping and institutionalizing the municipal memory via data collection.
✅ Increasing the number of kindergartens within municipal boundaries to ensure women have equal access to the workforce as men.
✅ Creating a rights-based, universal service approach that includes everyone, not based on aid (such as sidewalks, guide paths, ramps for transportation).
✅ Creating a transparent mechanism among district municipalities where good practice examples are shared, regardless of political stance.
✅ Increasing collaborations between municipalities, NGOs, and universities through joint project application structures.
✅ Localizing employment offices that are actively serving in metropolitan and provincial municipalities for district municipalities and developing innovative and applicable solutions for unemployment within their boundaries.
✅ Given the critical importance of food safety today, municipalities should carry out special studies to end the production and consumption of caged eggs.
Our workshops will continue with other district municipalities in Istanbul in the coming weeks.
