Digital Services Workshop in Collaboration between Melikgazi Municipality and Druskininkai Municipality of Lithuania

Melikgazi Municipality, which has received grants from the European Union for many projects, was selected as one of the 6 projects out of 98 with its project "Increasing Digital Municipality Services for Climate Change Mitigation - DigiEdu," submitted to the Turkey National Agency.

Melikgazi Municipality Mayor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Palancıoğlu stated that they continue to set an example for local governments with the projects they have initiated with the support of the European Union. He said, "Under the European Union Erasmus+ Adult Education Program, Melikgazi Municipality will collaborate with Druskininkai Municipality of Lithuania. The aim of the project is to increase digital services of municipalities for combating climate change and to ensure active utilization of these services by the society through the development of educational modules. Climate change, which we feel the effects of more and more every day, leads to an increase in the greenhouse effect and consequently, the emergence of environmental and climate-focused issues. Pollutant gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect are emitted into the atmosphere, especially from vehicles using fossil fuels. Reducing vehicle usage and preferring bicycles and public transportation play an important role in cleaning the world's atmosphere from pollutant gases. By choosing nature-friendly methods for transportation, a significant portion of the 5 billion tons of pollutant gases emitted into the atmosphere from all over the world each year can be mitigated.

Mayor Palancıoğlu stated that the project, which will contribute to the fight against climate change, will reduce human mobility and associated vehicle usage by increasing the number and quality of digital municipal services and raising the usage rate of these services. He said, "In order to achieve the goals of the project, workshops aimed at increasing digital services for both Melikgazi Municipality and Druskininkai Municipality were planned within the partnership. The first workshop was held at Druskininkai Municipality in Lithuania from February 5th to 11th. The delegation from Melikgazi Municipality and the delegation from Druskininkai Municipality worked on problem analysis and solutions in five different areas. During the workshop, discussions were held on which services of municipalities could be made available online, how to promote these services to people, and particularly how to facilitate the use of online services. Solutions were proposed accordingly. The second workshop of the project will be held in our Melikgazi district from March 3rd to 9th, where joint efforts will be made with the delegation coming from Druskininkai Municipality. Additionally, our delegation visited Ambassador Görkem Barış Tantekin to inform him about the project.

Mayor Palancıoğlu also expressed that as municipalities, they are obliged to take all necessary measures and initiate any possible efforts for climate change. He said, "As a municipality, we have already provided many municipal services to our citizens. With these services, our citizens can perform municipal transactions remotely using devices such as phones and computers without leaving their homes. With the project we have implemented, we aim to transfer more municipal services to the digital environment to reduce human mobility and decrease the exhaust gases released into the environment. I hope that the project we have prepared in the context of combating climate change will be beneficial for our district and our country.