PROF. DR. OSMAN BALABAN

Town Twinning is an important tool for increasing both the interaction between the cities and mutual learning process. However, for the success of this practice, some steps should be taken during the initial process. The first step is to decide on the cities that will be connected. This decision should not be made based on random reasons; but it should be made with criterias; cities that have certain historic and cultural bond and common points should be connected. The next step following the decision process, is to firmly promote it among public. In this stage the executives, preferably the mayors, of the cities should explain the town twinning action to the public and call for their support. Throughout this process, the reasons for the town twinning should be explained by using the written and verbal media environments and the reasons of the partnership between the relevant cities and the expectations from the twinning practice also should be clarified.  The third step should seek to develop a corporate ownership to the twinning agenda. The local authorities should, develop and provide the corporate structure that will ensure the sustainability twinning agenda, meanwhile these structures should work in coordination and be accessible on the internet. In brief, the three steps in the initial stage of a good twinning practice should be the selection of cities, informing the public and ensuring the institutionalization.