TheMayor.EU logo 
The big highlights of the project are two cycling highways, one leading to Lower Austria in the south and another leading to Donaustadt
Sântana has only 11,000 residents, yet several municipal buildings will get connected to a renewable geothermal reservoir deep underground
With a decline in passengers due to Covid-19 and the energy crisis, among other factors, the city will focus on increasing the quality of service
The idea dates back even to Antiquity, but how feasible is it?
While the new health policy will fund the morning-after pill and various progesterone treatments, it will not cover condoms
The cultural and victim remembrance facility will be located in Rome
The city wants new approaches to developing the urban environment and is willing to fund the best solutions
Around 75% of German CO2 emissions come from the private sector, yet less than 1% of businesses are considered fully sustainable
City officials found that simple messages about respecting residents’ sleep were most effective if coupled with the right presentation
The city has a strategy of putting 10,000 human-controlled and autonomous shuttles on the streets by 2030
The city has learned a lot from an ongoing project for a solar roof on the Altonaer Museum
Sântana has only 11,000 residents, yet several municipal buildings will get connected to a renewable geothermal reservoir deep underground
With a decline in passengers due to Covid-19 and the energy crisis, among other factors, the city will focus on increasing the quality of service
The big highlights of the project are two cycling highways, one leading to Lower Austria in the south and another leading to Donaustadt
It will open its doors in 2024 and offer cremations and burials
The building will be on the site of Plato’s Ancient Academy
The city has learned a lot from an ongoing project for a solar roof on the Altonaer Museum
The city has arranged four tailor-made programmes for the different residences as a way to reconnect with patients’ life and memories
The city has developed its own way to teach young people how to react when they witness unjust treatments
The city will supply and maintain 138 dispensers in public buildings
While the new health policy will fund the morning-after pill and various progesterone treatments, it will not cover condoms
City officials found that simple messages about respecting residents’ sleep were most effective if coupled with the right presentation
Supposedly, the answer lies somewhere in the Baltics and two capitals are vying for the honour
Come Christmas and two Baltic cities start arguing which one of them was the originator of the tradition of placing a Christmas tree on the public square - so widespread now around the world that it seems like it has always been a thing. Both of these cities are capitals: Tallinn, of Estonia, and Riga, of Latvia. Riga seems to be more assertive, but Tallinn might just have the better case.
If you’re wondering when the first Christmas tree was erected for public enjoyment, we would have to transport you somewhere at the cusp between the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Curiously enough, although the actual first city to display a Christmas tree might be somewhat lost to the fogs of history, what’s sure is who started the whole idea. And whatever the case might be, in both cities the originator was the so-called Brotherhood of Blackheads, a medieval fraternal society that welcomed unmarried merchants to its fold.
Supposedly, it was a unique organization that served both as a town defenders’ militia and a fraternity for those merchants and artisans who were too young, inexperienced and unmarried to join the Great Guild of the city.
Yes, it was these Baltic bachelors that came up with the idea of bringing a Christmas tree out in the open and making it the focus of festivities. Being something of a gentlemen’s club, they celebrated the end of the navigational season and Christmas with libations and merriment.
Decorating a tree at home was probably some kind of a ritual that likely dated back even to pre-Christian times, but it was in 1441 when the fraternity members decided to take the party outside and bring the tree with them. This happened at the City Hall Square in Tallinn (then known as Reval).
There are archival references that the placing of the tree (spruce, if you want specifics) also happened in 1442 and 1514. In 1584, chronicle Balthasar Russow wrote that young men “went with a flock of maidens and women, first sang and danced there and then set the tree aflame”, pointing to the tradition having taken root already in Tallinn.
As for Riga, the first documented case of this goes back to 1510, however, the organizers behind it were also brothers from the local branch of the Blackheads. Back then, Tallinn and Riga were part of the land of Livonia, controlled by a crusaders’ military order and the Holy See. Both cities also preserve the medieval headquarter houses of the Blackheads guild – although the Riga one was reconstructed from scratch in the 1980s.
Riga authorities, however, in modern times have also taken it up to themselves to more aggressively market the city as the birthplace of the Christmas tree. For this purpose, they have even placed a plaque commemorating the 1510 event, even if records show that rather than a tree it was more of a tree-shaped wooden candelabrum decorated with dried flowers, fruit and vegetables.
But, it’s the thought that counts, right? Plus, one could argue that they predicted how things were going to start playing out in the 21st century.
This is evident from the Regional Competitive Index (RCI) published by the European Commission
It’s unclear when it will reopen
While the new health policy will fund the morning-after pill and various progesterone treatments, it will not cover condoms
City officials found that simple messages about respecting residents’ sleep were most effective if coupled with the right presentation
The city has a strategy of putting 10,000 human-controlled and autonomous shuttles on the streets by 2030
Last week, the Chinese app was banned for Belgian federal employees for an initial period of six months
These were the original carriages used when the Polish capital’s subway was launched in 1995
The heritage district has four times less verdant spaces per person than the rest of the Basque capital
The city has learned a lot from an ongoing project for a solar roof on the Altonaer Museum
These were the original carriages used when the Polish capital’s subway was launched in 1995
Social inclusion through gastronomy in one of Italy’s most dangerous neighbourhoods
It’s unclear when it will reopen
The new itineraries are part of the DiscoverEU programme, which lets 18-year-olds travel by train between important European sites
The European Commission has published its first progress report charting the achievements of the socio-cultural movement that combines beauty, inclusion and sustainability
The 2023 edition of the creative initiative promises to be bigger, bolder and more inclusive
A talk with the head of Mission Zero Academy on the benefits for municipalities if they go the zero waste way
A talk with Nicolae Urs, one of the key figures behind the city's new data platforms and online services strategy
Veni Markovski’s take on dealing with disinformation in the European Union's poorest country – Bulgaria
