Pendik Municipality

Pendik Municipality is the third greatest district within Istanbul Metropolitan area. . According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK)'s 2024 data, with more than 2.300 employees, Pendik Municipality serves to 749.356 citizens in its borders. In addition, there are more than 210.000 young population in Pendik. In parallel with its scope of work and population and in order to accomplish all the responsibilities and sustain the budget, the municipality is composed of 23 directorates with more than 100 units. Some of the directorates and units that highly involve the projects are; Strategy Development Directorate designs municipal strategy in parallel with feedbacks from directorates and surveys conducted to citizens with objective, statistical evaluation. Prepares, implements, and follows up project proposals for EU and other funds; manages foreign relations with twin towns and other local, national and international organizations. Media & Publication Directorate works for publicity, and visibility of activities that other directorates of municipality implement. It has graphic designers, social media workers, cameramen, photographers, and reporters. It publishes a local newspaper monthly and journals per three months. IT Directorate provides IT support to directorates and it follows up online e-municipal applications. It has 11 software developers and 9 technical personnel for hardware issues. Park and Gardens Directorate provides parks and recreation services and organizes green areas enhancement activities about the environment. Procurement and Purchase Directorate organizes calls for tenders and purchases that directorates’ request and is responsible for the well-functioning (cleaning, procurements etc.) of municipal facilities. Constructions Control Directorate is responsible for inspecting new constructions made by companies and third parties to ensure that the buildings are met with the criteria determined by law. Human Resources Directorate is responsible for hiring, termination of contracts and education of staff. Cultural Affairs Directorate is responsible for organizing all kinds of social events, hobby courses, education etc. Finance Directorate provides financing to actions taking by directorates; it also generates income by collecting taxes. Mayor’s Office is responsible for designing and following up Mayor's daily programme and activities. Social Relief Directorate provides assistance (such as food, shelter, monetary aid etc.) to citizens with low income. Cleaning Services Directorate provides cleaning services to whole city (garbage collection, cleaning streets etc.) and encourages recycling and organizes awareness raising activities about environment. Editorial Directorate organises incoming and outgoing of official letters in parallel with regulations. Municipal Police Directorate is responsible for inspections for commercial activities and takes action when it is necessary. It provides supporting legal force. Youth and Sport Services is responsible of managing sport arena, playgrounds, and other sport areas within the district. It has well-experienced trainers, mentors, and professionals in the directorate. Since 2006, Pendik Municipality has performed many projects on the context of national and international grants programs. The municipality has expertise in all kind of Erasmus+ projects, town-twinning projects, EUREKA, ITEA 2 and 3, and newly glad to part of H2020 project on environment, energy, transportations, and so on. In 2012, our municipality established Department of Project and Fund Management as responsible for the production, implementation and follow-up of European Union and national projects and it employs 10 staff in this context. 4 of these personnel have at least 4 years’ experience in writing and conducting national and international projects. At the same time, all of our personnel have at least one foreign language. In our department, personnel who are qualified in English are employed. Developments in Europe and projects are monitored by this directorate and regularly reported to managers. Our institution has 12 years of experience in projects. As a municipality, we have search and rescue team that called PEAK. As PEAK, there have been many disasters that have occurred in different cities in our country. For example; fire in Antalya, flood in Kastamonu, earthquake in Hatay. In addition, many psychological supports are provided as a municipality. Pendik Municipality implemented several EU, national, international funded projects with different partners from different countries on various topics that include rehabilitation of disabled people and inclusion of them to life. Pendik Municipality provides a full equipped facility called as Pendik Education and Rehabilition Center in which we offer training and rehabilitation activities for individuals with physical and mental disabilities. All of our free activities are offered through special education teachers, expert instructors, physiotherapists, psychologists and pedagogues. In the center, we organize handicrafts (painting, marbling, felt, wood burning, jewelry, kilim weaving, rag doll, phylography), folk dances, music, short film, sign language, computer, waitresses trainings for handicapped individuals. In the scope of rehabilitation services, we perform physical therapy, hydrotherapy, sports therapy, sensory integration, language therapy, special education support, individual and family therapy, psychological support and pedagogical support services. For these services, our center includes hydrotherapy pool, motor skill room, dance and gymnastics class, private and individual group therapy rooms, wooden, pottery, handicrafts, kilim weaving, instrument, painting and kitchen workshops for the purpose of physical development. It is necessary to have at least 40 percent disability report in order to apply for free courses in 12 different branches. The other important facility for disabled people is Barrier-Free Workplace. Gift items such as bird nests, picture frames, candle holders, and nameplates from wooden materials are produced by disabled individuals in the way of not tiring them in this facility. The products produced are sold to firms through Pendik Municipality and non-governmental organizations in Pendik. Therefore, disabled people are employed and they can be easily included to life and society. In the Barrier-Free Workplace, 18 physically disabled individuals are recruited into society by employment. Pendik Municipality has experienced staff capable of coordinating, participating actions, events, activities on a multinational level. Coordinating directorate in Pendik Municipality will be Foreign Affairs Department with 10 people that specialized on the project proposal, implementation, follow-up, evaluation, quality control. It is also supported by different directorates specialized on their own business areas (such as IT, people relations and publications, finance).