EC Launches European Green Capital Award

May 28, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

The award is intended to help European cities become more attractive and healthy places.

Stavros Dimas, EC environment commissioner, said, "I hope that this award will act as a powerful incentive for local governments and authorities to improve living conditions for Europe's city dwellers."

"Many cities are already committed to improving protection of their environment; I am confident that this award will encourage many more to follow suit," he added.

Urban Europe
The European Green Capital Award has been conceived as an initiative to promote and reward these efforts. The award shows that a city wants to - and does - solve environmental problems so as to improve the quality of life of its citizens and reduce the burden they impose on the global environment.

The award provides an incentive for cities to inspire each other and share best practices, while at the same time engaging in friendly competition.

Environmentally friendly frontrunners
Starting in 2010, one European city will be selected as the European Green Capital of the year. The award will be given to a city that:

• Has a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards.
• Is permanently committed to ambitious action, further environmental improvement and sustainable development.
• Can act as a role model to inspire other cities and promote best practices in all other European cities.

Green cities of tomorrow
The award is open to the 27 European Union (EU) member states, candidate countries (Turkey, FYROM and Croatia) and European Economic Area countries (Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein). All EU cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants can apply for the European Green Capital Award via an online application form.

Entries will be assessed on the basis of 10 environmental criteria, including efforts to address climate change, transport, air, waste and water problems. The deadline for applications for both the 2010 and 2011 titles is Oct. 1, 2008, with jury selection leading to a decision later this year.

The jury is composed of representatives from the EC, the European Environment Agency, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, the European Federation for Transport and Environment, the Union of Capitals of the European Union and the Committee of the Regions.

Frequently asked questions
Answers to frequently asked questions are provided below.

1. Why is the EC launching this new annual award?
The European Green Capital Award is the result of an initiative taken by 15 European cities (Tallinn, Helsinki, Riga, Vilnius, Berlin, Warsaw, Madrid, Ljubljana, Prague, Vienna, Kiel, Kotka, Dartford, Tartu and Glasgow) and the Association of Estonian cities on May 15, 2006 in Tallinn, Estonia.

Their green vision was translated into a joint memorandum of understanding establishing an award to reward cities that are leading the way with environmentally friendly urban living. Currently, more than 40 major European cities, including 21 EU capitals, support the initiative.

The establishment of this new award is timely since Europe is now essentially an urban society, with four out of five Europeans living in towns and cities. Most of the environmental challenges facing our society originate from urban areas, but it is also these urban areas that bring together the commitment and innovation needed to resolve them. The European Green Capital Award aims to promote and reward these efforts.

2. What are the award's objectives?
The objectives of the European Green Capital Award are to:

• Reward cities that have a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards.
• Encourage cities to commit to ongoing and ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development.
• Provide a role model to inspire other cities and promote best practices and experiences in all other European cities.

3. What is the policy background of the award?
The Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment of Jan. 11, 2006 outlines the EC's commitment to support and encourage Europe's towns and cities to adopt a more integrated approach to urban management. This will ensure that they become better places to live in and reduce their environmental impact on the wider environment. The strategy also invites local and regional authorities to exploit the opportunities offered at the EU level.

Since this strategy does not contain legislative measures and because incentives are important, the European Green Capital Award will play a useful role here.

The renewed Sustainable Development Strategy for an enlarged EU aims to identify and develop actions that will enable the EU to achieve continuous improvement of the quality of life of both current and future generations. This can be done through the creation of sustainable communities, which is precisely what the European Green Capital Award is intended to create.

4. What is the award's message?
The main message is that Europeans have a right to live in healthy urban areas, and that towns and cities should therefore strive to improve the quality of life of their citizens and reduce their impact on the global environment. This message is brought together in the slogan "Green cities - fit for life."

5. Will this award help cities improve the quality of their environment?
It is important to reward cities that are making efforts to improve the urban environment and move towards healthier and sustainable living areas. Progress is its own reward, but the satisfaction and pride involved in winning a prestigious European award will spur cities to invest in further efforts and will boost awareness in other cities. The award will enable cities to inspire each other and share best practices, in the context of a friendly competition.

Winning the title of the European Green Capital will also bring advantageous side effects, such as increased tourism, more investment and an influx of young professionals. Therefore, it is in a city's interest to become a prosperous place to live and work.

6. What is the budget of the award, who is the secretariat and how was the contractor chosen?
The award has a budget of €300,000. The Green Capital secretariat is currently run by COWI, a Danish company, and the visual identity has been contracted to COWI with Rumfang as subcontractor.

This choice followed an open call for proposals published in the EU's Official Journal in June 2007. Several tender proposals were received from different companies/consortia for the secretariat and the development of visual identity.

7. How is financing handled?
The European Green Capital Award does not include any direct funds to support the participating cities, since the underlying principle is that cities should be committed to resolving environmental problems for the benefit of their citizens and the wider environment.

Local authorities may, however, explore and exploit the numerous funding opportunities that already exist at the EU level. They can apply for grants through the LIFE+ programme, the EU's Environment Directorate-General's main instrument for financing environmental projects, and they can also find financial support through the CIVITAS programme.

Cities can take advantage of the structural funds by forming a thematic urban network under URBACT II or by making use of the European Urban Knowledge Network, for example.

Furthermore, one of the specific programmes under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (2007-2013) is Cooperation, which includes a distinct theme on the environment.

The possibility of hosting pan-European annual events, such as Green Week or Mobility Week, in their town or city can also help European Green Capitals secure financial aid.

More information
For more information, see the EC's web site for the European Green Capital Award and its web site on the Urban Environment.

Source: European Commission.