‘Yılmaz’ means ‘dauntless’. ‘Argüden’ means ‘honorable’, ‘guide for integrity’ and is pronounced as ‘argue then’, as in the phrase “if you don’t agree, argue then.”
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Stratejist, Yönetim Kurullarının Doktoru Strategist, Governance Guru

Municipality Governance Scorecard Recognized Globally

Argüden Governance Academy, a non-profit foundation dedicated to improving governance of public and private institutions attracts global attention with its Municipality Governance Scorecard©. Speaking to Ekonomi daily, Argüden Governance Academy Chair of Trustees Dr. Yılmaz Argüden states that OECD’s Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) picked the Municipality Governance Scorecard© as a best-in-class example of innovative approaches for local governments and a letter from Harvard indicated that ‘it is cutting-edge research on good governance.’

The Municipality Governance Scorecard© incorporates the UN Sustainable Development Goals, OECD’s Better Life Index, European Council’s Good Governance Principles, and EFQM’s Excellence Model. Scorecards do not measure the performance of municipal administrations, but rather measure the way policies, resource allocation, and implementation are conducted. Therefore, the Model helps speed up peer learning among municipalities.

The original research was conducted in 2018 before the last local elections. Following a recommendation of the 2018 research, Kadıköy, a famous İstanbul district, adopted Integrated Reporting and became the first local government to do so globally. The 2023 version that includes comparisons with the previous version will be made public in January 2024, just before the next local elections and will provide insights for better governance.

The Academy, whose publications include an Integrated and Inclusive Strategic Planning Guide, a Local Development Guide that encourages business and NGO participation in public decision making, was accredited by the Council of Europe to lead the process of European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) in Türkiye. Utilizing the Integrated Municipality Governance Model© developed by the Academy, two İstanbul district municipalities, Sultanbeyli and Şişli acquired the right to utilize the ELoGE for a year in 2022. 2023 applications from not only district municipalities but also some metropolitan municipalities are already received by the Academy and after the review of an Independent Jury, the 2023 awardees will be announced in December.

Also in September 2023, the Council of Europe, İstanbul Citizens’ Council, and the Academy collaborated to conduct the first Participatory Democracy School in Türkiye. The Academy also has other innovative programs such as ‘Governance for Kids’, a game based approach to teach good governance to elementary school students, a vibrant ‘Governance Youth Network’ with members from over 40 universities, as well as ‘Sustainability Governance Scorecard©’ that analyzes over 200 Global Sustainability Leaders from 7 different stock exchanges to help improve peer learning on sustainability, which was picked among good examples to improve the sustainability on a global scale at the G20 Tokyo.

Dr. Argüden says “Trust is the essence of good governance and foundation of sustainable development” and the Academy’s purpose, mission, and vision are:

Purpose: Improving quality of life and sustainability of the future.
Mission: Improving quality of governance to improve trust for organizations.
Vision: Being ‘a center of excellence’ for development and widespread adoption of good governance culture.

TRMonitor
November 13, 2023