Trenčín is Slovakia’s Environmental City of the Year for 2021

The municipality has won the national competition, ENVIROMESTO

On 18 February, the Slovak Ministry of the Environment and the Slovak Environment Agency awarded the City of Trenčín the ENVIROMESTO 2021 title. In other words, they have named it the Environmental City of the Year for 2021. This prestigious title, according to the municipality, reflects its positive, valuable and inventive approach to protecting the urban environment.

In a press release, the Ministry of the Environment explains why the evaluation committee chose Trenčín as the winner of the national competition, pointing to the municipality’s efforts to promote the circular economy, develop green infrastructure, and implement measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, among others.

Accepting the award, the Mayor of Trenčín Richard Rybníček praised the employees of the municipality, noting that the victory is the result of teamwork. Taking this further, he shared: “What I am really very proud of in my 12 years as mayor of the city is that I have managed to build a fantastic team of people, my colleagues, employees, people who can stand here and improve the quality of life in our city.”

Beyond this, he revealed that the victory is also the result of hard work as the municipality has drawn EU funds to implement projects in the field. Giving an example, the mayor pointed to the 13.5-hectare meadow, which is located in Trenčín’s centre and benefits fauna and flora.

Four award-winning cities

Although Trenčín is the overall winner of ENVIROMESTO 2021, it is important to note that the national competition awarded cities in four areas. The awards and their winners are:

1. “Transition to a green economy” – Trenčín
2. “Nature and landscape protection, green infrastructure” – Púchov
3. “Air Protection” – Nitra
4. “Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change” – Skalica

The Ministry of the Environment hopes that the four cities will inspire other municipalities in the country to strengthen their efforts and become greener. Mayor Rybníček also commented on this, noting that winning the award will motivate Trenčín to implement other projects in the field.