Barcelona is the European Forest City 2022

As the winner, the city will also host the European Forest Institute annual conference

Earlier this year, the European Forest Institute selected Barcelona for the title of European Forest City 2022. On 6 October, Mayor Ada Colau will receive the award at the Barcelona Design Hub.

The event will take place as part of the scientific seminar 'Biocities at the Design Museum of Barcelona', which recognizes and endorses the work of Barcelona and its metropolitan area in the management, conservation and maintenance of forests, a fundamental part of the green metropolitan infrastructure. The seminar is part of the EFI Annual Conference, taking place 5-7 October.

Throughout the year, Barcelona has also hosted a series of events and activities for professionals and the general public that will deepen the discussion on Biocities and a new way of designing and managing cities, building upon the principles of Circular Bioeconomy.

Another recognition for green efforts at the local level

Since 2014, the European Forest Institute has granted the title of ‘European Forest City’ to the city which hosts the EFI Annual Conference. The award to Barcelona recognizes the management of the city and metropolitan area which includes conservation, protection, and development of forest areas, as well as research into a new urban model that promotes nature-based solutions.

In that framework, the city of Barcelona and its metropolitan area will encourage public participation in activities related to this year’s topic of reflection: Bioeconomy for cities. How can biocities transform the way we live on the planet?

The granting of the title also seeks for the laureate city to promote awareness of the role of Europe’s forests. Previous European Forest Cities include Bilbao (2014), Saint Petersburg (2015), Vienna (2016), Oslo (2017), Sardinia (2018), Aberdeen (2019), Bonn (2020) and Prague (2021).