All future residential buildings in Montpellier must feature works of art
And the value of the artworks can’t be lower than 1% of the price paid for the land lot
Finally, some good news from the Aegean Sea this month
The small island of Tilos, part of the Dodecanese Archipelago, in the Greek Aegean Sea is now certified as the world’s first zero-waste island. The pioneering feat was achieved after a two-year journey, which underscored the intent of the local authorities and residents to transform their beautiful isle into a place free of trash.
July has been hellish, to say the least, for some of the popular Greek islands like Rhodes and Corfu, which have been scorched by horrendous wildfires causing unprecedented evacuation efforts. This news, unfortunately, overshadowed the amazing success story of Tilos.
That island is located west of Rhodes and is the home to some 745 inhabitants divided among four communities. However, in terms of environmental performance, it might as well be in another universe when compared to its neighbours.
It all started in 2021, when the municipality, together with Polygreen, a Piraeus-based network of companies promoting a circular economy, implemented a waste management program called Just Go Zero that allows its local community to dispose of almost all types of waste through a sorting and recycling system.
What followed was a period not only of raising awareness but directly teaching the residents the basic principles of waste sorting and circularity. The households and businesses were given QR-code-marked special bags to separate their trash. A door-to-door system of waste collection was then implemented to ensure that trash doesn’t go off-track.
The result has been truly impressive. 90% of the island’s waste is recovered and/or composted and all the landfills have been decommissioned. Two years before, that same amount of waste ended up in said landfills.
In the words of Tilos’ mayor Maria Kamma: “The [island] has achieved a green revolution beyond comparison.”
From 770 kg of municipal solid waste per inhabitant per year being produced before the implementation of the Just Go Zero Tilos project, the municipality’s figure now sits at 440 kg – a 43% reduction. Of this, only 54 kg is considered residual waste.
The above achievements were enough to merit 4 out of 5 stars in the Zero Waste Cities Certification. That was created by Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) and run by its sister organisation Mission Zero Academy (MiZA). The goal of the NGO is to accelerate the transition to zero waste and the implementation of the circular economy in European towns and cities.
The price of monthly passes, however, will remain the same so that regular commuters won’t have to worry
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It will cost 39, instead of the regular 49 euros, in a bid to make public transit even more accessible
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The price of monthly passes, however, will remain the same so that regular commuters won’t have to worry
It will cost 39, instead of the regular 49 euros, in a bid to make public transit even more accessible
The Spanish island town gets high marks for creating an urban environment fully inclusive of people with disabilities
The Dutch capital is vigorously trying to remake its image and reputation and put forward what makes it a breathing livable city
Apply by 10 November and do your part for the transformation of European public spaces
This one could be a real game-changer for our built environments and the way they look
The practical art objects are competing for one of the 2023 New European Bauhaus Prizes
An interview with a member of the No Hate Speech Network team
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An interview with the president of the European Federation of Journalists