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What we do

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Development

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Belgium / Development

This Belgian town will pay you to protect your home from burglars

And it will also advise you on the right way to do this

Jun 28, 2022 17:02
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France / Development / Public Spaces

This bench stores water and irrigates plants while you rest

The innovative project received funding from the participatory budget in Lille, France

Jun 24, 2022 14:06

Economy and Finance

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Bulgaria / Economy and Finance

Three Seas Initiative acquires large share in Port of Burgas

This is the first investment in port infrastructure by the international forum’s development fund

Jun 21, 2022 10:33
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Lithuania / Vilnius / Economy and Finance

Vilnius honours local start-up unicorns with bus stop name

The symbolism belies the city’s vision to transform the Naujamiestis district into a globally-known tech industry centre

Jun 20, 2022 15:31

Politics and Reforms

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Czechia / Politics and Reforms

Czechia takes over the Presidency of the Council of the EU

As France’s term of the rotating Presidency ends on 30 June, it is time for the second member of the trio to carry out the European agenda

Jun 30, 2022 15:02
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Czechia / Prague / Culture and Tourism / Politics and Reforms

Prague getting ready to become the “capital of Europe”

The Czech city is in active preparation for the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU which will start on 1 July and will last for six months

Jun 23, 2022 16:00

Innovation and Research

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Finland / Vantaa / Green City / Innovation and Research

Finnish air-fed protein could solve world hunger

The invention promises to be revolutionary as it can decouple food production from agriculture and its environmental impacts

Jun 27, 2022 15:50
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Spain / Innovation and Research / Mobility

Lleida Airport will serve as research centre for drone traffic management

Commercial unmanned aerial vehicles will far outnumber their crewed counterparts by the end of the decade and solutions are urgently needed

Jun 24, 2022 12:58

Digital transformation

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Croatia / Digital transformation

Croatian town covers banking fees for utilities in digitalization bid

The town of Makarska has recently launched a new mobile service, aiming to cut down on paper use and stimulate citizens to go contactless

Jun 27, 2022 16:00
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Italy / Rome / Culture and Tourism / Digital transformation

Rome VR Bus will carry tourists 2000 years back in time

Unique technology and design convert the vehicle into a mobile, multi-sensory cinematic hall

Jun 22, 2022 17:52

Energy efficiency

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Finland / Energy efficiency

Finland to establish a national hydrogen network

The country wants to become a leader in hydrogen production and export

Jun 27, 2022 14:41
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Belgium / Antwerp / Energy efficiency

Antwerp will offer citizens heat without emitting a single gram of CO2

City authorities just announced that they would develop a central heating grid that will use waste energy from industry and will cover half of the city by 2050

Jun 21, 2022 14:22

Mobility

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Germany / Munich / Culture and Tourism / Mobility

Lufthansa cancels further 2,200 flights

The cancellation hits in the middle of the travel season and is caused by serious labour shortages coupled with a sudden rise of Covid cases

Jun 24, 2022 13:33
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Spain / Innovation and Research / Mobility

Lleida Airport will serve as research centre for drone traffic management

Commercial unmanned aerial vehicles will far outnumber their crewed counterparts by the end of the decade and solutions are urgently needed

Jun 24, 2022 12:58

Public Spaces

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Italy / Turin / Public Spaces / Social City

Turin snatches an ex-mafia castle

The property, together with others that have been confiscated, will be converted for social welfare uses

Jun 28, 2022 16:05
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Lithuania / Vilnius / Culture and Tourism / Public Spaces

Vilnius’ bus stops host the city’s largest art gallery

The splendid initiative that turns advertising spaces into art canvases is back for its third edition

Jun 24, 2022 17:56

Culture and Tourism

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Lithuania / Vilnius / Culture and Tourism / Public Spaces

Vilnius’ bus stops host the city’s largest art gallery

The splendid initiative that turns advertising spaces into art canvases is back for its third edition

Jun 24, 2022 17:56
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Germany / Munich / Culture and Tourism / Mobility

Lufthansa cancels further 2,200 flights

The cancellation hits in the middle of the travel season and is caused by serious labour shortages coupled with a sudden rise of Covid cases

Jun 24, 2022 13:33

Education and Sport

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Portugal / Braga / Education and Sport / Green City

Braga offers а free bio-shredding service

The city also led awareness-raising actions to show the impressionable youths how circularity is created first-hand

Jun 28, 2022 13:31
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Sweden / Education and Sport / Green City

Linköping gets a weather-sensitive air dome

The inflatable sports arena provides flexibility and cost effectiveness and is a good alternative to permanent construction

Jun 22, 2022 15:22

Welfare and Health

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Finland / Helsinki / Green City / Welfare and Health

How Helsinki’s air quality has improved over the past 30 years

Dust particle concentrations can still present a tough challenge to beat, though

Jun 24, 2022 15:55
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Spain / Green City / Welfare and Health

It’s official: Seville starts giving names to extreme heat waves

This makes the Andalusian city the first in the world to raise warnings about the harmful weather phenomenon

Jun 23, 2022 15:06
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Portugal / Matosinhos / Interviews

Luisa Salgueiro: Climate resilience work is never completed, it’s a continuously upgraded project

Jun 23, 2022 12:41
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Interviews

EBRD's aim is to support increased climate ambition within cities

May 18, 2022 13:33
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Greece / Athens / Interviews / Welfare and Health

Melina Daskalaki: Our mission is to promote the social reintegration of homeless individuals

May 16, 2022 11:04
Svilena Iotkovska
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Sweden / Interviews

Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh: Malmö Resilience Hub will have the potential to connect cities on the Baltic Sea

May 11, 2022 15:26
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Bulgaria / Blagoevgrad / Interviews / Politics and Reforms

Ilko Stoyanov: Municipalities face the brunt of global crises

Apr 28, 2022 10:43
Denis Balgaranov
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Portugal / Matosinhos / Interviews / New European Bauhaus

Catarina Selada on the first-ever platform that assigns credits for saved carbon emissions

Apr 26, 2022 13:25
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Croatia / Dubrovnik / Zagreb / Digital transformation / Interviews

Tanja Polegubic: The rise of digital nomads will reshape cities in 3 ways

Mar 23, 2022 11:13
Svilena Iotkovska
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Spain / Interviews / New European Bauhaus

A garden is a laboratory of coexistence, where humans and non-humans interact to create more diverse, rich and resilient environments

Feb 18, 2022 13:44
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Spain / Interviews

Inés Rey: We’ve been a 15-minute city even before the term became widely known

Feb 16, 2022 12:46
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Croatia / Jastrebarsko / Interviews

Zvonimir Novosel: Our main obligation is to serve our citizens and justify their trust

Feb 15, 2022 11:09
Svilena Iotkovska

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Finland
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Vantaa

Vantaa
Ritva Viljanen
Mayor

Ritva Viljanen

Biography
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Vantaa has a rich history that dates back to the Stone Age. Before Swedish colonisation of the area and after the so-called second crusade to Finland in the 13th century, the area was inhabited by Tavastians and Finns proper.

Prior to the name Vantaa being taken into use in 1974, the area was known as Helsingin Pitäjä. The earliest record of the area is as Helsinge in 1351 when king Magnus II of Sweden granted salmon fishing rights on the river Vantaa to the Estonian Padise monastery. The rapids of river Vantaa were known as Helsingfors, from which the current Swedish name of Helsinki derives. Early settlement in Vantaa was centered around the river, and from it the city's current coat of arms derived its imagery. 

Since the 14th century, the road between Turku and Vyborg, King`s Road, has run through Vantaa. The road brought significant attention to the city, and its location on the salmon rich river led to a permanent population.

In 1862, the railway between Helsinki and Hameelinna was constructed, and one of its 7 stations was built in Tikkurila, on its intersection with King's Road. The Swedish architect Carl Albert Edelfelt designed a Renaissance styled station building, which is the oldest extant station building in Finland and (as of 1978) has been adapted into the Vantaa City Museum. The railway brought industry and induced population growth.

Helsingin Pitäjä gained municipality rights in 1865, after which it was named Helsingin maalaiskunta ("Rural Municipality of Helsinki").

In 1952, the new international airport of Helsinki opened in Vantaa for the 1952 Summer Olympics.

In 1972, the municipality was renamed Vantaa. In 1974, the town got full city rights as Vantaan kaupunki/Vanda stad or "City of Vantaa".

The city grew rapidly starting from 1960's and a railway line was built to the western side of the city in 1970's.

In 2015, an extension to the existing railway line, the Ring Rail Line opened, providing service to the airport and new residential and working districts.

Source: Wikipedia

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Finland / Vantaa / Green City / Innovation and Research

Finnish air-fed protein could solve world hunger

The invention promises to be revolutionary as it can decouple food production from agriculture and its environmental impacts

Jun 27, 2022 15:50
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Finland / Espoo / Helsinki / Vantaa / Education and Sport

Helsinki Metropolitan Area offers residents 125 guided tours in nature

Excursions will be free of charge

Apr 26, 2022 14:36
Svilena Iotkovska
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Finland / Vantaa / Innovation and Research

Vantaa Innovation Competition: Applications open on 14 April

The Finnish city will allocate EUR 300,000 for the realisation of the best ideas

Apr 13, 2022 11:53
Svilena Iotkovska
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Finland / Espoo / Helsinki / Pirkkala / Tampere / Vantaa / Welfare and Health

Which are Finland’s most vibrant cities?

Ramboll conducted a study based on the 15-minute cities concept and its LIVCY index

Oct 04, 2021 17:01
Svilena Iotkovska
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Belgium / Finland / Germany / Ireland / Lithuania / Netherlands / Portugal / Spain / Braga / Brussels / Dublin / Vantaa / Vilnius / Innovation and Research

European Capital of Innovation Awards 2021 semi-finalists announced

16 cities from 10 countries have made it to the semi-final stage

Sep 02, 2021 16:26
Svilena Iotkovska
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Finland / Vantaa / Culture and Tourism

Vantaa invites residents to participate in a photography competition

The Vantaa Museum Photo Marathon will take place on 11 September as part of the European Heritage Days

Aug 26, 2021 17:04
Svilena Iotkovska
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Finland / Vantaa / Digital transformation / Education and Sport

Vantaa modernises its early childhood education services

Intelligent automation will help pinpoint the best pre-schools and kindergartens for each child

Aug 10, 2021 13:08
Svilena Iotkovska
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Finland / Vantaa / Development

Vantaa will revitalise its city centre with a modern building

The future establishment will offer retail space, cultural facilities, offices, and apartments

May 19, 2021 11:00
Svilena Iotkovska
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Finland / Vantaa / Welfare and Health

Vantaa will invest 1 million euros to help unemployed youth

COVID-19 has doubled the number of young, unemployed people

Apr 12, 2021 13:28
Svilena Iotkovska
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Finland / Vantaa / Development / Welfare and Health

The City of Vantaa to begin Child Friendly Cities work

As of this year, Vantaa will begin implementing UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities model to guarantee the fulfillment of children’s rights.

Feb 23, 2021 11:23
Svilena Iotkovska
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Finland / Espoo / Helsinki / Vantaa / Culture and Tourism / Green City

Helsinki’s libraries ditch plastic book covers

Instead, bio coating will be used in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen

Feb 12, 2021 16:10
Aseniya Dimitrova
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Espoo / Helsinki / Tampere / Turku / Vantaa / Energy efficiency

Multicity project offers environmental solutions to Finland’s urban areas

A landmark initiative involving 6 cities has allowed them to find new ways to further combat climate change on their premises

Dec 27, 2020 15:09
Anton Stoyanov
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Espoo / Helsinki / Tampere / Turku / Vantaa / Mobility

Finnish cities band together for massive railway projects

The plans for these projects were approved by the Finnish government earlier this year but work is now set to finally begin

Dec 09, 2020 11:48
Anton Stoyanov
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Espoo / Helsinki / Vantaa / Welfare and Health

Finnish cities launch campaign to encourage mask wearing

The campaign is specifically aimed at the country’s youth

Nov 19, 2020 10:43
Anton Stoyanov
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Vantaa / Energy efficiency

Vantaa is committed to becoming a carbon neutral city by 2030

Mayor Ritva Viljanen focuses on the major goal of the upcoming EU programme period

Oct 22, 2020 10:59
Monika Dimitrova
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Espoo / Helsinki / Vantaa / Welfare and Health

Espoo to offer municipal employment trials with the cities of Helsinki and Vantaa

The social initiative will start in spring 2020

Nov 14, 2019 10:15
Monika Dimitrova
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Vantaa / Welfare and Health

Vantaa Municipality offers free park lunch for children

This summertime good practice will cost around 25,000 euros

Jun 19, 2019 08:49
Monika Dimitrova
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Espoo / Helsinki / Tampere / Vantaa / Development

Six Finnish Smart Cities work together

They are building a model for sustainable urban development

Apr 05, 2019 12:17
Monika Dimitrova
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Espoo / Helsinki / Vantaa / Mobility

Espoo and Helsinki have launched the shared-use bicycle season

Vantaa and Oulu launch in June

Apr 03, 2019 13:26
Monika Dimitrova
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Espoo / Helsinki / Vantaa / Mobility

The first self-driving bus for all weather conditions will go through the streets of Espoo in April

It will begin operating in Hämeenlinna, Vantaa and Helsinki later in 2019

Mar 12, 2019 11:57
Monika Dimitrova
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Vantaa / Mobility

The city of Vantaa is rolling out 1000 shared city bikes next year

Shared city bikes are increasing across Finland

Dec 14, 2018 14:26
Monika Dimitrova

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