The Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (TBB) organized a Firefighting Curriculum Workshop to evaluate and improve the training curriculum of municipal fire departments. The meeting, held with the participation of personnel serving in municipal fire departments, addressed existing course contents and new curriculum proposals.
As a result of the work by the Firefighting Table—one of the working groups of the Training Workshop held in April at TBB—a draft training curriculum was prepared. Following these efforts, a Firefighting Curriculum Workshop was held at the Union’s main service building to standardize the titles and contents of the trainings to be provided to firefighting personnel.
The opening speech of the meeting, aimed at evaluating the existing training curriculum of fire departments and taking concrete steps within the scope of new curriculum work, was delivered by TBB Deputy Secretary General Dr. Şengül Altan Arslan.
Reminding that one of TBB’s most important duties is to increase the capacity of municipalities, Arslan stated that efforts to update the existing training system began after Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu took over the Union’s presidency in June 2024.
Arslan: “There are common problems we agree on in terms of legislation and training needs”
Highlighting that demands from the field have been decisive in firefighting-related work, Arslan said, “The firefighting group was one of the most effective and fastest-moving working groups. Each fire department has its own characteristics, but there are common problems we agree on in terms of legislation and training needs.”
Referring to TBB’s motto, “A better future will come from the local,” Arslan commented on the workshop process: “The contribution of local administrations—the ones actually doing the work—is extremely important.” Arslan also noted that the goal is to create a joint work agreed upon by all parties as of September.