Public Disclosure Authorized Project Name Region Sector Project ID Borrower(s) Report No. PID10755 TURKEY-Community Development & Heritage (@) Europe and Central Asia Region Other social services (45%); Central government administration (35%); Sub-national government administration (20%) P058480 REPUBLIC OF TURKEY Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Implementing Agency Environment Category Date PID Prepared January 10, 2003 Auth Appr/Negs Date May 2, 2002 Bank Approval Date April 29, 2003 Address MINISTRY OF CULTURE Ministry of Culture Address: Ataturk Bulvari No. 29, 06050 Ankara, Turkey Contact Person: Undersecretary Mustafa Isen/Ms. Fusun Ersoy Tel: 90 312 211 2061 Fax: 90 312 3244197 Email: fusun.ersoy@kultur.gov.tr B 1. Country and Sector Background Turkey has been suffering an economic crisis that has dealt a blow to the country's social and economic development. In 2001, GNP growth was estimated at -9.4%, unemployment increased to 8.5%, and the overall budget deficit was estimated at 17% of GNP. The Government is concerned with the impact of the crisis on the less advantaged parts of the population particularly those living in the less developed areas in the southeast region of the country. With the onset of the crisis, the government strengthened efforts to support Local Agenda 21 (LA21) program launched under the auspices of the UNDP. Local Agenda 21, was created out of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 as a global action plan for socially, economically and environmentally sustainable development for the twenty first century. LA 21 supports the development and implementation of local sustainable development action plans with a long-term perspective, built on a consultative process and the partnership of local stakeholders. Turkey adopted the LA21 in conjunction with the UN Habitat conference held in Istanbul in 1996 and launched the program in September 1997. Forty eight partner cities were involved in Turkey's LA21 process as of June 2001. Throughout the crisis, the tourism sector has continued to thrive, partly due to the devaluation of the Lira. Tourism plays an important role in the economy of Turkey. It generates about 4% of GNP and about 30% of Turkey's foreign exchange. Although overall international tourism suffered a setback in 2001 and overall arrivals dropped by 11%, in Europe international arrivals dropped by only 0.7%, while in Turkey, there was an estimated increase of 12%. It is notable that the shift in international travel during 2001 favored tourism and accommodations away from large
cities. Given Turkey's wealth of cultural assets, which are spread across the country and are found in areas that are not always easily accessible, the government's strategy is to involve the communities in the protection and management of cultural assets to improve the livelihoods of the communities, while at the same time addressing the difficult task of protecting the wealth of cultural assets that are significant not only to Turkey, but to the world at large. The Government is also now paying particular attention to the poorer southeast region of the country and aims to strengthen peace and prosperity in an area that possesses unique tourism and cultural potential which had not been explored. National efforts to protect and utilize community cultural assets have been constrained by bottlenecks in implementation and enforcement, budget constraints, the large number of sites and their wide geographic spread. While relevant legislation is in place, implementation of the laws has often been problematic due to lack of public engagement in management initiatives. In recent years, national policy has come to recognize that historical and cultural wealth present broader economic opportunities than those considered in the past. The project has identified the following interrelated issues that revolve around the country's traditional centralized approach and lack of community involvement in cultural asset management: n Turkey is trying to alleviate the impact of the recent economic crisis, particularly on the more vulnerable parts of the population, and the Government intends to use the country's strong tourism and culture assets to mitigate this impact. n The sheer volume of heritage assets in Turkey is beyond the Government's capacity to manage in a centralized fashion. This difficulty is exacerbated by the current severe budget constraints, and will necessitate a change in MOC's traditional approach to adopt new methodologies that ensure the success of protection and enhancement efforts initiated by the Government. 2. Objectives The project development objective is to improve local socioeconomic development through a replicable pilot upgrading of the urban heritage site of Mardin utilizing a community partnership approach to the management of cultural assets. The project will harness community participation in urban upgrading and cultural site management. It will pilot this approach in the historic urban site of Mardin, and will strengthen the country's institutional capacity to manage cultural assets with an eye to local development. 3. Rationale for Bank's Involvement The Bank's contribution has been to work with the government to realize the potential additional benefits that could come from engaging communities in maintaining and developing their cultural heritage. The Bank has facilitated contacts with international expertise in the development of the project. The Bank has emphasized the need for effective management as a basis for sustainable exploitation of cultural assets. The Bank's value-added during implementation would include - 2-
facilitating the introduction of international "best practices" in cultural management, in order to help Turkey retain and improve its distinct advantage, to leverage the resources of the Ministry of Culture and improve efficiency, and to diversify the tourism strategy to strengthen the role of cultural tourism, particularly in the more remote and unique areas of the country, as well as supporting partnerships such as with private and academic stakeholders and with UNDP in Mardin. More importantly, the Bank's intervention during project preparation has allowed the government to assess its own role in determining how the country's cultural assets could be used and managed as economic assets. 4. Description The project would consist of the following components: A. Mardin Urban Upgrading Component. The activities under this component address community aspirations revealed in the social assessment, which indicated the desire to improve the urban environment and living conditions as well as to preserve a community heritage, a public good, through restoration of buildings and through improvements in infrastructure services. This component was developed in partnership with UNDP with the objective of improving livability, local economic and environmental conditions, and preserving the town's architectural legacy. The component includes: Small Grants Program: to provide for exterior restorations of building envelopes to preserve structures and protect them from deterioration and eventual loss; grants would be available to homes, shops and pious foundations; Public Building Restoration/conservation: to protect, conserve, and restore public buildings with architectural and historical value that are key to Mardin's sense of community, and to adapt them to community uses; Streetscape and Urban Services Improvements: to undertake repair and repaving of the main route from the citadel to the market including squares, facades and landscaping; during street repaving, minor repairs to water and wastewater piping system to stop leakages will be undertaken. An offsite water storage tank will be built to enable Mardin to more effectively manage water distribution in the Old Town. Minor equipment and planning assistance for waste management within the town is also included; Community Program: to support community programs initiated under Local Agenda 21, including training, public information, support for ongoing youth and women programs, and support to the Citizens Council. The Municipality of Mardin will receive technical assistance in municipal management particularly in the area of cultural heritage and basic services management. This sub-component includes support to the Citizens Council to continue participatory implementation; monitoring and evaluation of socio-economic and environmental impact of the project is also included; Project Implementation: to support the operation of the Mardin Project Implementation Unit to implement the project. - 3 -
B. Institution Strengthening (IS) Component. The objective of this component is to strengthen Government's capacity to manage heritage sites by addressing intra-governmental procedural and jurisdictional constraints and by developing a framework for a more broad-based participation with non-government organizations, universities and international entities to further capture the economic/community development benefits associated with the country's cultural heritage assets. The component includes: Policy Oriented Activities: to review the Cultural Heritage legal framework and role of government institutions, and to establish a dialogue among government agencies and non-government stakeholders to better streamline responsibilities. This activity will enable the Ministry of Culture to undertake its responsibilities as the custodian of Turkey's cultural heritage wealth in cooperation with interested stakeholders in order to leverage the Ministry's resources. This sub-component includes an elaboration on a proposed cultural policy for Turkey. It also includes financing of an international advisory services in the areas of modern site management; Custodial/Curatorial Management: to strengthen the role of the Ministry of Culture in undertaking its critical functions in conservation and inventorying through partnerships with interested non-governmental stakeholders. The project supports (i) strengthening the nationwide conservation system to revive and utilize traditional conservation techniques, and (ii) coordinating the establishment of a nationwide inventory system to identify and map archeological/cultural assets according to modern curatorial criteria and local economic development potential; Project Implementation: to support the project management unit, and includes consultancy services for technical expertise, project monitoring, mid-term and final studies for monitoring and evaluation, travel, training and equipment. 5. Financing Total ( US$m) BORROWER $6.30 IBRD $12.20 IDA Total Project Cost $18.50 6. Implementation The MOC will have the main responsibility for the overall and day-to-day implementation of the project and relations with the World Bank. The Ministry will coordinate the project with other national and international agencies. The Ministry will take the lead on coordination with UNESCO (Mardin is a candidate for the World Heritage list). A National Steering Committee (NSC) chaired by MOC and comprising permanent members from agencies in the central government who are involved in the project (Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Tourism, Treasury) will be established to provide strategic direction to ensure overall coordination among government agencies involved and to ensure timely decisions and actions. In addition, the committee will call on members who are specifically concerned with the question at the MOC. Particularly for the Institutional Strengthening component, the NSC will also include leaders -4 -
from academia, organizations outside the Ministry of Culture and the government, and the private sector for participation in this component. A Central Project Management Unit (CPMU) within the Ministry of Culture has been established and was operating during project preparation. The CPMU will act as the executive arm of the National Steering Committee to manage the project on a daily basis, and will have the main responsibility for ensuring that the project is being implemented in accordance with legal agreements with the World Bank and within the strategy and quality standards of the Ministry of Culture and other agencies. Ultimately, the CPMU will retain full responsibility for the fiduciary aspects of the project (procurement, payment, disbursement, and financial management). The CPMU will have access to funds to hire specific skills in the cultural, engineering, environmental or social areas to assist in project implementation and monitoring. A local steering council is established in Mardin; the Citizens Council, established through the UNDP's Local Agenda 21, has been active in the preparation of the project since October 2000. The Council has its own formal charter which defines its functions. The role of the Council will be formalized for the implementation of the project through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Culture and the Citizen Council. The council will act as a sounding board for the community, and will represent the latter and reflect its desires to the Ministry of Culture to influence decisions on project developments as long as such decisions are within the project objectives and framework. The CPMU will report directly to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture who will be ultimately responsible for project implementation on behalf of the Ministry of Culture. The CPMU will have full responsibility for the procurement and financial management activities for the Institutional Strengthening component, for the large contracts in Mardin, as well as for the overall oversight of the Mardin component. The CPMU assisted in project preparation, and gained some experience with Bank procedures and requirements. However, due to considerable staff turnover, the CPMU needs considerable strengthening to be able to apply new approaches and concepts in the project. The Ministry has appointed an MOC staff as Project Manager, who serves as interface between the CPMU and the Ministry, and is familiar with the programs and strategy of the Ministry of Culture, as well as with Turkish government procedures. The ministerial staff working on Mardin will also work with the CPMU on a daily basis. The CPMU minimum staffing, required by project effectiveness, will include a Project Manager with planning/architectural background and proven experience in managing large scale projects in an international context, one full time procurement specialists with engineering background and experience in international procurement, who will be assisted during the first year of the project with a procurement advisor, an architect/conservation specialist with knowledge and experience in the Turkish context, and an experienced financial manager. The CPMU will have funding to secure the services of additional technical specialists as the need arises. The CPMU technical staff will be drawn from skilled Ministerial Staff working on the specific issues under the project. Procurement and financial management staff with knowledge and experience in Bank and international procedures will be hired from outside the Ministry with funds available from the loan. To assist the CPMU in the daily implementation of the Mardin component, a Mardin Project Implementation Unit (MPIU) will be located in Mardin, and will report to the CPMU and the Mardin Citizens Council. The UNDP will - 5 -
have specific responsibilities within the MPIU for implementation of the Grants and Community Development Programs, which would require considerable community participation in their implementation. The MPIU will be responsible for the procurement, disbursements, payments and financial management of these components, with full reporting responsibility to the CPMU. In addition, the MPIU will assist the CPMU in the implementation of the larger sub-components, including the financial reporting for the Mardin component, with the CPMU retaining final procurement, disbursement and payment responsibilities. The CPMU will review the procurement and financial transactions of the MPIU. The Mardin PIU, will be fully established prior to effectiveness, and will include a manager with urban planning background and experience in managing large projects, a procurement specialist with engineering background, an accountant, and a community outreach staff. 7. Sustainability This project relies heavily on the community participation in the project design and implementation to sustain the project investments in Mardin, and on introducing modern approaches to cultural management for the long term change and sustainability of the sector. The community of Mardin has worked together under Local Agenda 21 to come up with the needs of the communities, and developed an action plan to implement priorities. Part of the action plan is to mobilize local resources, talents and leadership to maintain the momentum, to develop project proposals, and to continue to maintain the investments while avoiding a retreat to past behavior of illegal and improper building in the historic core. Community monitoring of the developments will be key to sustainability. The project provides the seed capital for the Mardin community to further develop and continue its involvement with local government. Sustainability will therefore also depend on the willingness of the government to implement a more decentralized approach than is customary in this sector, while maintaining high standards of restoration and site management quality. Cultural assets are abundant in Turkey and scattered all across the country affecting, directly or indirectly, the lives of the local population. Looting and site maintenance difficulties are problems observed particularly in the remote areas of the country, where it is difficult for the central government to protect the sites. Public information, training, and collaboration with the communities is seen as a way to increase their involvement and interest in the sites to alleviate these problems. Government efforts and funds are not sufficient to ensure meaningful protection of the sites, particularly at times of budget constraints. Government resources are too scarce to continue the centralized process of the past. The Mardin component will also be one of the larger scale pilots of the Local Agenda 21 in Turkey. The LA 21 program, spread over 48 cities in the country, has attracted the commitment and interest of the government as a way for recognizing the importance of community participation in local economic development. Mardin will provide a test case for potential replication of priority projects identified through the LA 21 program. The Institutional Strengthening component coupled with experience in Mardin is expected to lead to a strategy that can more effectively manage the heritage assets of the country, and give a higher sense of ownership to those who benefit most. Longer term sustainability is dependent on the government's willingness and ability to effectively engage outside interested stakeholders to advance the mandate of cultural heritage protection. - 6 -
8. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector The project has benefited from the Bank's extensive work and literature on community participation in establishing priorities for local economic development. The preparation of this and other Bank financed projects sharpened the realization that cultural heritage projects by themselves can be justified on economic development grounds when seen within the context of community development. The project treats heritage as an asset with economic and social value that can more effectively be enhanced and preserved with the involvement of the communities where it is located than through traditional centralized approaches alone. The Bank-wide urban strategy draws attention to the link between heritage conservation and urban strategy goals. In designing the Mardin component, it is recognized that heritage conservation and management can be an effective means to strengthen this linkage. Protecting a city's positive physical characteristics through upgrading and maintaining traditional public spaces such as central squares and marketplaces preserves essential qualities of socially and economically important spaces, helps to maintain positive patterns of social and commercial interaction, and promotes mixed use activities that support daily life. Urban infrastructure improvements that preserve neighborhoods make productive use of existing built assets to improve standards of living. Economic globalization has changed and intensified the nature of competition among cities, and those with a unique sense of place, history and living culture are highly prized. Protection, adaptive reuse, and cultural activities maintain the distinctive character of communities and provide them with additional means of attracting investments such as those in tourism. It is often observed that women, the elderly and the poor possess the traditional crafts and performance skills that are the basis for culture- and community-based tourism. Providing finance and technical assistance in business planning and marketing for crafts people as part of urban revitalization projects can generate jobs and incomes for these groups. With appropriate training and support, communities can expand on their existing strengths to become more active participants in the development of their own communities. World-wide experience in developed and developing countries, in traditional urban upgrading, or development of eco-tourism, point to the need for collaboration with the community to ensure the success of projects and programs. If carefully planned, the principles of community development can help local communities to: n create new income generating enterprises based on the unique social and cultural assets represented by historic and natural sites; n increase local capacity and incentives for sustainable management of cultural and natural resources; and n validate and preserve traditional knowledge and cultural identity through community involvement and economic interests. Community projects have put great emphasis on increasing community responsibility in project planning, implementation, maintenance and evaluation to enhance development effectiveness. Additionally, world wide, public, private and non-government organizations are more cognizant of the importance of involving local communities in designing programs. Lessons learned indicate that local populations desire participation in -7 -
programs that would benefit them. Results show a positive economic impact, with increased revenue generation, job creation, increased visitation, and positive environmental impacts due to the increased awareness in community and visitors of the value of the resources and their participation in conservation management efforts to mitigate the negative impact of increased visitation. 9. Environment Aspects (including any public consultation) Issues The construction activities will have some transient negative impacts. Even though the proposed works are small, extra caution will be applied when carrying out these works since the project is located in a sensitive urban area. The site will be surveyed and exact scope of works identified so that appropriate mitigation measures can be designed and incorporated into the project. Construction supervision will pay particular attentin to environmental issues. The Mardin component has a small grants scheme to provide funds for minor renovation and repairs to improve the facades of homes, religious buildings and shops. Public buildings and space will also be renovated. Proper procedures will be established for the implementing agency to ensure that the grants are not given for any hazardous activity, and that the recipients will use the funds in an environmentally appropriate manner. Care will be taken in the selection of construction materials, use of paints and varnishes, disposal of construction debris etc. A list of activities/materials not eligible for the grant has been developed and is included in the Environment Management Plan (EMP) to help the implementing agency in screening the proposals. The EMP pays particular attention to addressing infrastructure services such as in the rehabilitation of the water system. 10. Contact Point: Task Manager Maha J. Armaly The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington D.C. 20433 Telephone: 202 473 7057 Fax: 202 14 0901 11. For information on other project related documents contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http:// www.worldbank.org/infoshop Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not be necessarily included in the final project. - 8 -