Marmara Municipalities Union — Local Government Academy & Mentor Programme

Founded in 1975, the Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU) is Turkey's first regional union of municipalities, now with more than 190 members across 11 provinces, including 6 metropolitan municipalities. Its Local Government Academy and Mentor exchange programme provide standing, institutionalised peer-learning infrastructure rather than a one-off project.

MMU coordinates 11 topic-based peer platforms (IT, environment, law, human resources, etc.), a Gender Equality Solutions Lab that has trained 26 senior managers from 11 metropolitan municipalities, and a 'Golden Ant Awards' scheme recognising transferable good-practice projects. In 2025 it launched the İNŞA Climate-Neutral Cities Network with 55 member municipalities, and its 'Reclaiming Streets' programme with the Global Designing Cities Initiative transformed 15 streets (around 10,000 m²), expanding toward 26 municipalities by 2025.

The Academy and Mentor programme reach more than 16,000 people annually, a documented participation figure, though downstream policy or behavioural change from the training is not documented.

All substantive figures come from MMU's own reporting or partner press releases (UNDP, GDCI); no independent third-party evaluation was found, and MMU's description of İNŞA as 'the largest network of its kind in Europe' is a self-made claim that could not be independently verified.