Matosinhos becomes the first UN Resilience Hub in Portugal
The city joins the Province of Potenza (Italy) as the newest role models for the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative
Dijon, Grenoble, Tallinn and Turin proceed to the final stage of the competition
The finalists of the next European Green City Awards have been announced. Four shortlisted cities will compete for the 2022 European Green Capital Award (EGCA) and another five urban areas have made it to the finals of the European Green Leaf 2021 (EGLA). All of them show brilliant results in terms of building urban resilience and sustainability.
This year’s high-flyers among the large cities (above 100,000 inhabitants) include two French cities – Dijon and Grenoble, one Italian one – Turin and the Estonian capital of Tallinn. One of them will become the next European Green Capital 2022 and will win EUR 350,000 to kick-start its green year.
Each of the finalists has been assessed by independent sustainability experts against 12 environmental indicators. At this stage of the contest, the cities will have to convince an international jury of their commitment to sustainable development and of their aptitude to truly serve as role models for other cities while also demonstrating a communication strategy capable of engaging local citizens.
The winning city will join a prestigious club of 12 other green capitals, which have won the title since the first edition of the awards in 2010 to 2021. Should everything go as planned, the award ceremony will take place in 2020's winner, namely Lisbon, Portugal this autumn.
Smaller towns and cities (20,000 to 100,000 inhabitants) will, of course, also win a similar recognition. After the success of the European Green Capital, the European Green Leaf Award was established in 2015 and is now looking for its 10th winner.
The urban areas that made it to the 2021 finals are Elsinore (Denmark), Gabrovo (Bulgaria), Lappeenranta (Finland), Nyborg (Denmark) and Ringkøbing-Skjern (Denmark). Up to two cities may win the award and receive EUR 75,000 each.
The environmental achievements of the five finalists have, too, been assessed by an international jury based on 6 environmental topic areas.
There can be up to two winners in the European Green Leaf 2021 award. Image: The European Commission
EGCA 2022 & EGLA 2021 are an initiative of the European Commission, aiming to promote the efforts of cities to become healthier places, resilient to the future crises caused by climate change, biodiversity loss and scarcity of resources. Learn more about the awards and which cities have been honoured so far on their official website.
The demand for affordable housing is still quite high, coupled with rising construction material prices, land purchase prices and a labour shortage
The partnership initiative was launched during the ICLEI World Congress Summit
Apart from car lanes, the 130-metre-long structure also features a 4-metre-wide bike lane
The Portuguese city is one of the participants in this exciting global initiative
The Smart City Alliance has been quietly building functional tools for both citizens and authorities since 2016
Part of an ongoing trend among these institutions to increase convenience for users
The Siberian flying squirrel is an endangered species whose biggest threat is forestry
They will develop or reconstruct cycle paths and pedestrian bridges
The partnership initiative was launched during the ICLEI World Congress Summit
The Portuguese city is one of the participants in this exciting global initiative
The demand for affordable housing is still quite high, coupled with rising construction material prices, land purchase prices and a labour shortage
Those between the ages of 9 and 13 can attend workshops to learn how to work with wood
These will be spread across 11 EU countries and will serve to support the EU Missions
The European Commission has accepted to develop the idea
An interview about AYR, one of the 2021 New European Bauhaus Prize winners
An interview with Nigel Jollands and Sue Goeransson from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
An interview with the President of the City of Athens Reception & Solidarity Centre
A talk with the Mayor of Malmö on the occasion of the city’s UN Resilience Hub status