Istanbul Focus Group Meeting for a Social Innovation Experiment Project for Building an Inclusive City (POT-A), which completed its first year under the leadership of Yıldız Technical University, gathered all the stakeholders of the project including UCLG-MEWA on Wednesday, September 11. In the program that started with the opening speeches, Prof. Buket Ayşegül Özbakır, Project Director, stated that “Thanks to this project, we had the opportunity to create big data about migration in Istanbul, Hatay and Izmir.” The first of the three workshops, which will be held in the three cities mentioned above, will take place in Istanbul with the participation of It was realized with the participation of local governments such as Kadıköy Municipality, Sultanbeyli Municipality, Zeytinburnu Municipality and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality; public institutions such as Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Migration Management, Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Family, Labor and Social Services; non-governmental organizations such as Sultanbeyli Refugees Association; and international organizations such as UCLG-MEWA and UNHCR. The workshop addressed the topics of the “Experiences of Urban Coexistence Practices and Local Adaptation Processes in Istanbul,” “Evaluation of the Field Findings of the POT-A Project” and “Presentation of the Living Laboratory Design and Evaluation of the Suggestions” as well as the use of smart applications in the integration of refugees.
POT-A Project aims to facilitate the integration of migrants in urban areas in migrant-taking cities such as Istanbul, Hatay and Izmir, analyze adaptation processes through the processes of integration in urban, economic and cultural activities, increase the inclusion capacity of cities and develop policies and practices based on the research findings related to management of social and urban cohesion processes at local level.