Town Twinning Action Between the EU and Turkey

Dear colleagues, first of all please note that this is not an Erasmus+ project. As the Governorate of Bilecik, we are planning to conduct a Town Twinning project funded by the IPA Programme for Turkey.

For the ones who are not familiar with the term IPA, let me explain it simply first. The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) is the means by which the EU supports reforms in the 'enlargement countries' with financial and technical help. The IPA funds build up the capacities of the countries throughout the accession process, resulting in progressive, positive developments in the region.

Under the scope of the IPA Programme for Turkey, a new call for project proposals has been announced which supports Town Twinning Projects between the EU and Turkey. The Governorate of Bilecik, being the lead-applicant for this project, has already established a consortium for this project in the province. Our consortium consists of the Governorate of Bilecik, the Municipality of Bilecik, Bilecik Seyh Edebali University, Edebali Culture and Research Association and Bilecik Branch of Cyclists Association. We believe that our consortium represents a large diversity of community members and organizations which enhances our capacity in many fields. However, under the scope of our project we particularly focus on creating a partnership in the fields of management information system, participatory democracy, environment, culture and history.

In this regard, in order to create a sustainable partnership between a European town and our province, specifically in the fields mentioned above, we hope to co-operate with a local authority, a university and a CSO/NGO which are located in the same town or at least close enough to each other to collaborate during the project.

If you think that you can establish a consortium like ours in your own town and are willing to initiate a sustainable network with us, please email me ASAP.
Once we start communicating, you will be provided with more detailed information on the project.

Hope to hear from you soon. All the best.

Emre