Environmental problems affect the quality of life and health of many inhabitants in the largest towns and cities in Europe. Today, the European Commission launched the European Green Capital Award in Brussels in the hope that it may help to improve the quality of the environment in urban areas.
The award will be presented once a year, starting in 2010, to a city that makes significant efforts to improve the environment and to create a healthier and better quality of life for its inhabitants. Air pollution from traffic, noise, waste and CO2 emissions are just some of the common environmental problems encountered in urban areas. The winning town or city must put forward innovative action plans for sustainable development in a total of ten indicator areas, and be prepared to disseminate its experience to other towns and cities.
The competition to become the greenest capital in Europe is aimed at the 200 or so European towns and cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants. The winners for both 2010 and 2011 will be nominated in December 2008, and the two cities will therefore have plenty of time to implement their proposed improvements. Towns and cities who are interested in the award must apply to enter the competition.
COWI has been chosen to run the Green Capital Secretariat on behalf of the Environment Directorate-General of the European Commission, and will be responsible for administering the procedure to select the winner, as well as for marketing and communication.
“This is a highly ambitious prize, which will hopefully play an important role in improving the urban environment in the largest towns and cities in Europe. Words and visions alone are not enough. The winning town or city must demonstrate that it has implemented actual and ambitious initiatives to create a greener environment,” says Anders Richelsen, Project Manager at COWI. By Eva IsagerPublished: 26.05.2008