On December 12, 2024, in Ankara (Türkiye), 13 municipalities on the Metropolitan, provincial and district level acquired the right to use The European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) for the 2024-25 period. Under the coordination of the Argüden Governance Academy, accredited by the Council of Europe to lead the process in Türkiye, the were assigned by a Platform including the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (UMT), who hosted the ceremony, ALDA and Altınbaş University.
The European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE), granted by the Council of Europe to local governments that embrace and commit to developing a culture of good governance. Represented by Mr. Niall Sheerin, Vice President of the Council of Europe’s Center of Expertise in Good Governance, the CoE expressed their satisfaction for the number of Turkish municipalities who are actively committed to local democracy and are engaged to crown these efforts with the award of the ELoGE label.
As underlined by ALDA former Governing Board Member Mr. Mario Žuliček in his speech, ELoGE can also be used as a tool for assessment and self-improvement: in his past role at the Association of Cities of the Republic of Croatia, and currently as well, he is involved in the attribution of the award to Croatian cities and he could see the positive impact of this initiative on local democracy in the country. In his view, democracy is not a specific level that we need to reach, but an effort of constant development in many different areas.
However, no matter the different motivations that can push a municipality to apply to receive the label, the ELoGE winners are always the citizens who can benefit from better services and more space for participation.
Mr. Žuliček also took the chance to underline the need to advocate for decentralisation in all countries, in order to further enhance policies and services at the local level, and mention the Local Democracy Agency in Edremit as an example of ALDA’s concrete engagement to good governance in the country.
Considering their efforts and commitments, the Municipalities that acquired the right to use the Label are Adana, Amasya, Ankara, Avcılar, Bağcılar – to which Mr. Žuliček had the honor to hand the award, Balıkesir, Eskişehir, Etimesgut, Gaziantep, Kadıköy, Melikgazi – to which Ms. Giulia Sostero, coordinator of ALDA’s MEA department, had the honor to hand the award, Niğde and Sultanbeyli.
As ALDA, we are looking forward to further support the diffusion of ELoGE in the country for a stronger, more solid local democracy.
