Ezine No. 29 - March 2019
Oslo kicks off its European Green Capital 2019 Year!
On 4 January 2019, Oslo held the European Green Capital 2019 Opening and Handover Ceremony to officially kick off its European Green Capital year. The Ceremony took place in Oslo’s iconic City Hall and was fully packed to receive guest speakers Mayor of Oslo, Marianne Borgen; Governing Mayor of Oslo, Raymond Johansen; European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella; Mayor of Nijmegen European Green Capital 2018, Hubert Bruls; and Oslo’s Vice Mayor for Environment and Transport, Lan Marie Nguyen Berg, amongst others.
At the Ceremony, Commissioner Karmenu Vella congratulated Oslo on becoming the 2019 European Green Capital and commended Oslo for putting people first, as well as the great steps they’ve made for the climate, including their ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. He also expressed his warmest thanks to Nijmegen for the excellent work they did during their 2018 European Green Capital year, being a very strong overall Ambassador of the Green Capital title. This includes in particular bringing the European Green Capital Network to COP 24 in Katowice to launch the Network’s ‘Call for Action’, which aims to inspire cities worldwide to become more sustainable and climate-resilient by creating a green movement.
Governing Mayor of Oslo, Raymond Johansen, also shared how proud the City of Oslo is of becoming the European Green Capital for 2019 and the importance of the title in spreading knowledge and inspiration across the globe. He expressed Oslo’s strong commitment to the city’s climate change agenda, underlining how combatting and adapting to climate change is the greatest challenge of our time and that “we need to act here and now – it cannot be left to someone else, at another time, in another place”.
The Ceremony ended with the symbolic ‘Turning of the page in the Green Book’ from European Green Capital 2018, Nijmegen’s page to Oslo’s European Green Capital 2019 page. Check out this video for highlights of the Ceremony. For those of you who missed the Opening Ceremony and official Opening of Oslo’s SALT Winter Village which kicked off Oslo’s European Green Capital weekend, check out some photos here.
Stay tuned to see what Oslo has in store throughout 2019 by checking their European Green Capital 2019 website here and Oslo’s European Green Capital activities on Twitter here.
Find out why Oslo won European Green Capital 2019
Want to find out all about Oslo’s green initiatives and projects that led them to become the 2019 European Green Capital? The best place to start is by reading Oslo’s brochure! From its ambitious targets to cut emissions by 95% by 2030 and the city’s ‘Climate Budget’, to the restoration of its waterways to being the ‘Electric Vehicle Capital of the World’, you can find out everything there is to know about Oslo’s sustainable urban projects, including future plans to continue being a Green Ambassador to inspire cities across Europe and beyond.
The Bold Climate Mayors of the Oslo Region
The 50 Mayors from the Oslo Region who signed the Declaration (Photo by Stine Østby/Oslo Region Alliance)
Oslo needs good neighbours to achieve its ambitious green goals - and the city has them! In February, 55 Mayors from the Oslo region signed a common commitment to become a leading European Capital Region through a 10-point action plan. The Declaration was initiated and drafted by the Oslo Region Alliance, inspired by Oslo’s status as European Green Capital 2019.
By signing the climate and environmental Declaration, the Mayors committed to working towards targets that require bold and comprehensive changes – in technologies, behaviours, values, systems and structures.
To achieve the necessary changes and speed up the green transition, you need people on all levels to commit. 13 Climate Mayors in the Oslo region have taken this to heart, embarking on a 30-day challenge to make a green change in their own lives – including the Governing Mayor of Oslo, Raymond Johansen.
Get to know the European Green Leaf 2019 title holders
Cornellà de Llobregat
From Left to Right: Cornellà Mayor Antonio Balmón with Joanna Drake from European Commission’s DG Environment unveiling the European Green Leaf 2019 plaque at Greening for Change Conference & European Green Leaf and European Green Capital participants at Conference
First, let’s go to the Spanish municipality of Cornellà de Llobregat, located in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, between the Llobregat River and the Collserola Mountains.
Cornellà is a highly urbanised area, posing certain environmental challenges regarding air quality, access to green space and nature conservation. With its plans to significantly increase the amount of green areas throughout the city, Cornellà is tackling these challenges head-on and striving to improve the quality of life of its citizens. Want to know more about Cornellà’s environmental plans and actions? Take a look at the European Green Leaf 2019 brochure and learn how this city is tackling climate change, reducing food waste, improving its water quality, and so much more!
Cornellà marked the start of its green year by unveiling its EGLA plaque at a two-day conference on 7-8 February 2019, which was organised with the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and in partnership with the European Commission under the theme Greening for Change: European Green Capital & European Green Leaf Cities’ Experiences. Demonstrating Cornellà’s commitment to upholding the EGLA 219 title, the municipality carried out an analysis of the total emissions produced from participants’ attendance at the conference and announced that it is offsetting this by planting 62 trees in Mexico. Check out the infographic here.
Follow Cornellà on Twitter here for their latest news and initiatives during their EGLA 2019 year.
Horst aan de Maas
From Left to Right: the Horst aan de Maas team unveiling the European Green Leaf 2019 plaque & Horst aan de Maas’s Mayor, Ina Leppink, giving the New Year’s speech at the Opening Even
Next stop: the Dutch municipality of Horst aan de Maas. This municipality of 42,000 inhabitants is surrounded by a wealth of natural spaces, with agriculture and nature tourism accounting for much of the municipality’s economic activity.
The city puts citizen engagement and collaboration at the heart of its environmental practices, for instance, through working with farmers to develop a climate change resilient agricultural sector, and involving citizens in sustainable transport planning. To learn more about Horst aan de Maas and why it was chosen to be a green Ambassador, check out their European Green Leaf 2019 brochure by clicking here!
Horst aan de Maas officially began its year as the joint European Green Leaf at an official ceremony on 4 January. Check out this link in Dutch about their Plaque unveiling. To stay up to date with Horst aan de Maas’s latest events and initiatives throughout 2019, you can follow them on Twitter here.
Looking forward to seeing what these three green cities have in store for 2019? You can also keep up to date by following the dedicated EGCA/EGLA Twitter and Facebook accounts & website!
Meet our new Experts
From Left to Right: Nathalie Cecutti, Sustainable Land Use Expert; César Asensio, Noise Expert; and Vesna Kolega, Energy Performance Expert
This year, the European Green Capital and European Green Leaf Awards’ Expert Panel welcomed three new experts: Nathalie Cecutti, César Asensio and Vesna Kolega. The Expert Panel is made up of 12 independent and international experts in fields relating to the environment and sustainable urban development.
Playing a vital role, the Expert Panel carries out the technical review of the applications submitted by applicant cities for the EGCA and EGLA competitions, determining which cities become finalists and enter the next round of the competitions.
To find out more about the new experts, click on his/her name, below:
Sustainable Land Use - Nathalie Cecutti
Noise - César Asensio
Energy Performance - Vesna Kolega
For the full list of the 12 experts and their expertise, visit our website here.
The Expert Panel is currently busy assessing the applications for the EGCA 2021 & EGLA 2020 competitions, and we aim to announce who the finalist cities are in April 2019. Stay tuned!
As we welcome our new Expert Panel members, we would also like to thank the exiting Expert Panel members for their valued contribution to the Awards - thank you!
A look back to 2018 with Nijmegen, Leuven and Växjö
As we enter into the first few months of 2019, it’s important to take a moment and reflect on all the positive events and activities that took place throughout 2018, thanks to the European Green Capital, Nijmegen, and joint European Green Leaf winners, Leuven and Växjö.
Nijmegen, European Green Capital 2018
Nijmegen 2018 in pictures (from left to right): Nijmegen’s Mayor Hubert Bruls opens the Wintertuin kicking off the city’s European Green Capital year & the European Green Capital Visitors Pavilion
Nijmegen had a very successful year full of activities, events and initiatives that would not have been possible without a great team, committed partners and engaged citizens. 2018 marked the start of a green wave for Nijmegen and they have only just begun! Let’s take a look at their 2018 year in numbers:
200 big and small-scale conferences, lectures and festivals organised
14,000 professionals welcomed
71,000 visitors at public events
16,000 people at the visitors pavilion
10,000 trees and bushes planted
190,000 tiles removed for a greener city as part of ‘Operation Stone Breaker’
Won Green Destination Gold Award 2018
Won the Circular Economy Award for best region in the Netherlands as Arnhem-Nijmegen
Led the signing of a Call for Action, along with 22 European Green Capital Network cities, to enhance sustainability in all cities around the World & presented Call for Action at COP 24.
If you want to relive Nijmegen’s year, check out this interactive and colourful website that is full of photos, videos and facts, telling Nijmegen’s story from the very beginning – from how they won the European Green Capital title all the way to the end of their year, as well as their plans for a more sustainable future.
Looking to the future - in 2019, Nijmegen is already planning on building on an even stronger sustainability network. This programme will focus on the themes healthy city, green city and circular economy. We can’t wait to follow their journey in the years to come!
From left to right: Citizens of Nijmegen enjoy a special European Green Capital concert at the Spiegelwaal & the European Green Capital year came to an end with Green Friday on 14 December 2018
Leuven, European Green Leaf 2018
From Left to Right: Delegation from Lille & Delegation from Latin American that visited Leuven during their EGLA 2018 year
Leuven also had a fully packed and exciting year as joint European Green Leaf 2018. Some of their key highlights include being one of six finalists of the iCapital Award, another European Commission initiative which rewards cities for their ability to harness innovation to improve the lives of its citizens.
In its work within the NGO Leuven 2030, Leuven contributed to the creation of a climate change Roadmap along with several experts across several environmental areas. The Roadmap illustrates the challenges concerning climate change for the city, how to take steps to combat it in 2025, 2035 and 2050, and how to become a carbon neutral city. With the help of every citizen, company, organisation, knowledge institution and government, the Roadmap delivers a plan consisting of eight ambitions with 13 programmes. For more information, visit this website (in Dutch).
Leuven also welcomed several international delegations to the city during its European Green Leaf year. Each delegation was shown around the city to get to know all the innovative sustainable projects in Leuven.
Joint European Green Leaf 2018, Växjö
2018 was a busy year full of environmental initiatives and events for Växjö, and it started with the right foot forward. After winning the European Green Leaf 2018 title, Växjö received international interest from journalists and students alike who wanted to find out more about the Swedish city. This created a strong sense of local pride amongst citizens and confirmed that Växjö is on the right path towards improving its city’s quality of life.
Växjö also organised and hosted several events for its citizens in 2018. These included Earth Week, which focused on the theme of Water, and attracted thousands of citizens, companies and organisations to take part in many sustainable activities, including activities related to sustainable food. Växjö also organised a ‘Biodiversity Day’, which provided the public with several activities including a 24-hour biodiversity cycling tour of the city.
Here are also some more highlights of Växjö’s concrete actions and decisions that were made in their EGLA 2018 year:
Decision to introduce recycling / separation of household waste in each home from 2020
Creation of a recirculation park to improve reusing and recycling
Inauguration of a new national park on the border of Växjö municipality
New nature protection area inaugurated – Hoyshaga Nature Conservation Area
Construction of bus lanes
Inauguration of “speed cycle lanes”
Overall, Växjö’s European Green Leaf year has been both successful and promising for the future of the Nordic city. Many small and big steps have been taken in the right direction!
Bus and cycle lanes that were constructed in 2018 in Växjö
European Green Capital Alumni: Essen and Vitoria-Gasteiz
Essen European Green Capital 2017 – a year in review!
Cover page of ‘Monitoring of Selected Action Fields of the European Green Capital Essen 2017’ Report
The City of Essen published a report reflecting on their year as European Green Capital 2017 to share best practices and assess the ways in which the activities of their European Green Capital year had a measurable impact within the city. You can find the full report in English here. To compile the report, the research team, made up of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy and the University Alliance Ruhr, interviewed and surveyed residents and participants from events held during Essen’s EGCA 2017 year to understand their level of interest, and to gauge the level of popularity and perception of Essen holding the title. Of the 1,885 people surveyed, almost all were aware that Essen was the 2017 European Green Capital and there was a high level of popularity for the city holding the title due to the mainly positive connotations that the residents associated with the European Commission initiative.
The report also includes an impact analysis on four selected fields of action which Essen identified before it took the title (green areas and climate change; local transport and mobility; air quality and C0₂ emissions; and eco-innovation and employment), to determine what impact holding the EGCA title had on these fields. Within these fields, Essen also set several goals, ranging from increasing public green spaces to improving the walkability and bicycle-friendliness of the city to improving Essen’s air quality and generating more opportunities for eco-friendly business. With these goals, Essen has established a strong framework and plan for what the city must do to continue to improve the quality of life of its citizens.
Congratulations to Essen on continuing the green work even after their year of 2017 European Green Capital!
‘Vitoria-Gasteiz, The European Green Capital 5 Years Later’: Report reflects on 5 years since EGCA 2012 title
Cover page of the Vitoria-Gasteiz Five Year Report
Five years after being named the European Green Capital 2012, Vitoria-Gasteiz published a report looking back on its experience of holding the title and shares all the green initiatives it has put in place ever since as well as plans on how it will to continue being a green Ambassador into the future. More specifically, this report begins by giving readers a glimpse into what contributed to Vitoria-Gasteiz becoming the 2012 European Green Capital by showcasing their green projects, like their commitment to biodiversity through the city’s famous ‘Green Belt’, how they used waste as a resource and the importance of political consensus.
It also gives an overview of their successful 2012 year by putting a spotlight on some of their key events and initiatives, such as the launch of their agri-food strategy, the ‘Plan Futura’ for water and the extension and environmental upgrades made to their Europe Congress Centre, to name a few. Finally, Vitoria-Gasteiz ends the report by outlining the challenges and goals for their next ten years, demonstrating that once a European Green Capital, always a European Green Capital! Some of these goals include becoming climate neutral by 2050, improving biodiversity and ecosystems and boosting their green economy.
Check out Vitoria-Gasteiz’s Report Vitoria-Gasteiz, The European Green Capital 5 Years Later to find out more about the sustainable urban projects the green city has been implementing over the past few years, the range of stakeholders involved to deliver them and their future goals. We hope this report inspires more European cities to apply for the European Green Capital Award, illustrating how you can make your city Fit for Life!
Mark your Calendars!
21-22 March: Nordic EV Summit in Oslo
21 March: Economist Sustainability Summit in London with EGCA 2020 Lisbon Mayor Fernando Medina and the European Commission’s Director General for Environment Daniel Calleja
28 March: ‘Road to 2050’ Conference in Leuven
April: EGCA 2021 & EGLA 2020 Finalists will be revealed – stay tuned!
9-10 April: Nordic Biogas Conference in Oslo
14 May: Launch of EGCA 2022 & EGLA 2021 competitions
22-24 May: Urban Future Global Conference in Oslo – EGCA Session on 22 May @ 12-1pm
27 May: EGCA 2022 Applicant Workshop & ‘World Café’ cocktail in Brussels (at European Commission’s DG Environment premises)
20 June: EGCA 2021 & EGLA 2020 Awards Ceremony in Oslo
25 June: ICLEI’s European Urban Resilience Forum in Bonn
14 October: Closing date of EGCA 2022 & EGLA 2021 competitions
