Imece Izmir Program

Izmir sits at the core of the Aegean region as the home of democracy. In Turkish “imece” refers to co-working of members of a community to solve a shared problem. For centuries “imece” has been used as a principle and as a method to encourage active citizenship for the welfare of communities. Imece is underpinned by harmony between people that draws its strength from local democracy.

Imece Izmir Program of IZPA aims at strengthening the cooperation culture via developing tools and events for active citizenship. In order to achieve this goal, the program establishes partnerships with other stakeholders of the city through the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality.

Compared to the closed spaces, the open spaces of the city offer much greater opportunities for the communities with different socio-economic characteristics to co-exist. From this point of view, the Imece Izmir Program defined open spaces of the city as the main ground to encourage public participation. We support local democracy via activating open spaces and organizing events that connect socially separated neighborhoods and people.

Some of the key events and projects include:

Izmir Literature Festival
Yaşar Kemal Symposium
WeIzmir Movement
Izmir Earth Citizens
The Yamanlar Road
Capital of Democracy City Network
Congress for Future's Economy
Neighborhood Gardens