EGCA & EGLA E-Zine #24

Ezine No. 24 – November 2017

 

One Step Closer to finding the European Green Capital 2020 and European Green Leaf 2019 Winners!

28 towns and cities from across 21 European countries are officially competing to win the 2020 European Green Capital and 2019 European Green Leaf Awards. We have great reason to celebrate this year: the European Green Capital Award celebrates its 10th Anniversary and we received an impressive number of applications; thus cementing both the European Green Capital and European Green Leaf Awards as a green badge of honour for European towns and cities committed to sustainability. We are delighted to see such commitment and we wish each applicant the very best of luck!

Which towns and cities entered the competition?

What happens next?

A panel of twelve independent, internationally acknowledged experts will now carry out a technical assessment of the applications based on twelve environmental indicators for the European Green Capital Award (EGCA) and six topic areas for the European Green Leaf Award (EGLA).

In April, the Expert Panel will select a shortlist of cities that will go onto the next stage of each of the competitions to present their case to an international jury. Next summer, one city will win the European Green Capital 2020 title and up to two towns or cities will be awarded the European Green Leaf 2019 Award.

For the first time ever, to celebrate the 10th year of the initiative, there will be a financial incentive for the winners. The 2020 European Green Capital Award winner will receive €350,000, while the winner(s) of the 2019 European Green Leaf Award will receive €75,000, to jump start their environmental programme for the year[1].

Stay tuned!

[1] Subject to the approval of the EU 2018 Budget and approval by the College of the 2018 Financing Decision for the EU LIFE Programme.

New Expert Panel

Earlier this year the European Commission launched an international call to recruit six new environmental experts to join the Expert Panel that evaluates each of the European Green Capital Award and European Green Leaf Award applications. There was a high level of interest and the Commission would like to thank all those who applied.  

The recruitment process has concluded with six newly appointed Experts in the areas of climate change: mitigation, climate change: adaptation, air quality, water, green growth and eco-innovation and governance. The following is the Expert Panel that will evaluate the European Green Capital 2020 and European Green Leaf 2019 Awards:

• Dr. Matthew Kennedy, Climate Change: Mitigation
• Ms. Birgit Georgi, Climate Change: Adaptation
• Dr. Ian Skinner, Sustainable Urban Mobility
• Dr. Annemieke Smit, Sustainable Land Use
• Mr. David Jamieson, Nature and Biodiversity
• Mr. Joan Marc Craviotto Arnau, Air Quality
• Prof. Dr. Diogo Alarcão, Noise
• Mr. Warren Phelan, Waste
• Mr. Christof Mainz, Water
• Mr. Marc Okhuijsen, Green Growth and Eco-innovation
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Fischedick, Energy Performance
• Mr. Alex Minshull, Governance

 

 

Nijmegen Launches European Green Capital 2018 Programme

Left: (L-R) Margot Ribberink, Advisory Board Member of Nijmegen Green Capital, and Harriet Tiemens, Vice-Mayor of Nijmegen, launching the Manifesto and Programme for Nijmegen European Green Capital 2018        Right: Excited audience hearing about Nijmegen’s European Green Capital 2018 Programme

Throughout the course of next year, Nijmegen’s European Green Capital 2018 programme will focus on the five key themes below in order to build awareness, engage citizens and raise Nijmegen’s international profile.  

Each theme has its own route map and points of interest. These city maps will allow everyone to see at a glance the different activities that will be happening in relation to a particular theme. Find out more in Nijmegen’s European Green Capital 2018 programme.

We are very excited for Nijmegen and look forward to seeing their programme unfold over the course of 2018! Check out a short video of the city’s European Green Capital Award programme launch (in Dutch).

 

‘Ljubljana. For You.’ Ljubljana Publishes Report Reflecting on its Year as European Green Capital 2016

Cover page of ‘Ljubljana. For You.’ Report on their year as European Green Capital 2016

Ljubljana published a report to reflect on what it was like to be a European Green Capital in 2016 and help share best practices. If you are wondering what it takes to become a European Green Capital, this report is a good place to start. It gives insight into the benefits of being a European Green Capital Award winner, the people who made it happen, along with the various projects that helped the city live up to its European Green Capital title. Congratulations to Ljubljana European Green Capital 2016 for a job well done!

 

Before and after photographs of new pedestrian zone in Ljubljana

 

 

The Faces of European Green Capitals

 

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live in a European Green Capital winning city? We spoke to several citizens from European Green Capitals to find out first-hand what their experiences have been like, how they’re contributing to greening their cities and the benefits of living in a European Green Capital. You can read their stories by clicking on the photo above. Enjoy!

 

 

European Green Leaf Network at CIVITAS Forum 2017

On 27-29 September 2017, European Green Leaf Award (EGLA) winners, Mollet del Vallès, Torres Vedras and Galway, were present at CIVITAS Forum 2017, an annual event which brings together hundreds of mobility experts, actors, and stakeholders to discuss sustainable urban mobility in cities. Hosted in the 2015 European Green Leaf city, Torres Vedras, Portugal, this year’s theme was ‘Small Communities, Big Ideas’ and it brought over 475 international delegates from across Europe and beyond to help address urban mobility issues.

It also included a European Green Leaf Panel Session, where three EGLA winners, Mollet del Vallès, Torres Vedras, and Galway, presented their latest sustainable mobility strategies and good practices.

European Green Leaf Winners at EGCA/EGLA stand (from left to right: Arlene Finn, Galway, Jordi Guimerà and Maria Busquets Feu, Mollet del Vallès, Sandra Pedro, Torres Vedras and Ben Caspar, European Commission) 

An informal European Green Leaf Network (EGLN) meeting was also held where the three network member cities attending discussed updates on their work. The EGLN is open to all winning and shortlisted European Green Leaf towns and cities to share ideas and experiences. The EGLN currently includes Mollet del Vallès, Torres Vedras, Galway, Leuven, Växjö, Cornellà de Llobregat, Ludwigsburg and Mikelli.