Green Cities Fit for Life
FAQs
- Why has the European Commission launched the European Green Capital Award?
- What are the award’s objectives?
- What is the policy background of the award?
- What is the award’s message?
- What do the branding and logo represent?
- Will this award help cities improve the quality of their environment?
- Who is the Secretariat and how was the contractor chosen?
- EU funding for cities
Why has the European Commission launched the European Green Capital 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 & Glasgow) and the Association of Estonian cities on 15 May 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.
At a meeting on 29 June 2006 with the father of the initiative, Mr. Jüri Ratas, a former mayor of Tallinn and current Vice-President of the Estonian Parliament, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas expressed his support and offered to contribute to the development and implementation of the award scheme. President Barroso also wrote to the Mayor of Tallinn supporting the Green Capital initiative.
The establishment of this new award is timely since Europe is now an essentially urban society, with three out of four 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.
What are the award’s objectives?
The objectives of the European Green Capital Award are to:
a) Reward cities that have a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards;
b) Encourage cities to commit to ongoing and ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development;
c) Provide a role model to inspire other cities and promote best practices and experience in all other European cities.
What is the policy background of the award?
The Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment of 11 January 2006 outlines the European Commission’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 EU level.
As the Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment 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 European Union 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.
What is the award’s message?
The main message is that Europeans have a right to live in healthy urban areas, and 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”.
What do the branding and logo represent?
A graphic identity has been developed to promote the winning European Green Capital and the actual award itself. The graphic identity aims to give winning cities a dynamic and unique branding platform which, at one and the same time, benefits the cities and increases awareness of the award.
A key element of the graphic identity is the logo showing a row of city buildings in greens and blues. The colours are intended to represent clean air, a green approach to the environment and a positive attitude to city living. The leaf embracing the city symbolises how candidate cities care for their citizens by improving the environment in which they live. The stars refer to the European Union. The logo is complemented by a frieze with different plants to be used in all promotional material to create a strong and coherent feel.
Will this award help cities improve the quality of their environment?
It is important to reward cities which 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. It is therefore in a city’s interest to become a prosperous place to live and work.
Who is the Secretariat and how was the contractor chosen?
The Green Capital Secretariat is currently run by RPS Group Plc, Ireland. RPS is Ireland’s leading multi-disciplinary, all island consultancy providing Planning, Engineering, Environmental and Communications services. This appointment was made following an open call for tender published in the Official Journal in April 2010. The evaluation of the tenders was based on the criteria laid out in the technical annex, including the principle of ‘best value for money’.
EU funding for cities
The EU supports local authorities in their efforts to achieve sustainable urban development and promotes sustainable cities through a range of funding programmes including the Cohesion Policy funds, LIFE+ for environmental projects, the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development (FP) and the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (for SMEs).
The LIFE+ programme finances innovative environmental and nature conservation projects. The programme supports pilot projects in cities that develop new technologies, policy approaches, methods and instruments for urban environmental management, in line with the Thematic Strategy on the urban environment.
LIFE+ is the successor to the LIFE Programme, which financed over 3000 projects across all fields between 1992 and 2006. For example, in 2005 LIFE supported Elefsina 2020, a project to regenerate this environmentally degraded port and city in Greece. LIFE+ has a total budget of €2 billion for the 2007-2013 period.
Promoting sustainable urban development has been at the heart of the EU’s regional policy since its inception in 1989. Through its structural funds – the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund – regional policy invests in projects that promote good local governance, ensure a sustainable urban environment, foster social inclusion and equality, regenerate urban areas and boost economic growth and jobs.
The EU Cohesion Fund finances environmental infrastructure in the poorest EU countries including urban wastewater treatment plants and public transport.
The European Regional Development Fund finances infrastructure as well as a range of other investments such as supporting environmental business in southern Sweden (InnoEnvi project).
The European Social Fund promotes employment in the EU and helps improve citizens’ skills and job prospects. An example of one such project is a training programme in the Czech Republic to support environmental job skills.
Between 2007 and 2013, around €30 billion will be spent on urban projects within region policy programmes. In addition to the policy’s financing for infrastructure and people-based actions, the European Territorial Cooperation objective (formerly “INTERREG”) can be used by cities to develop joint cross-border or transnational projects.
The Commission also provides special support for cities to work together through the URBACT programme, which is a European exchange and learning programme promoting sustainable urban development.
In the current programming period URBACT offered financial support to 289 cities participating in 44 different projects. The programme enables cities to jointly develop solutions to major urban challenges, reaffirming the key role they play in facing increasingly complex societal changes.
Under the system, Member States and regions develop the Operational Programmes that set out specific goals addressing areas of concern, including for cities. Support from the funds can be supplemented by lending opportunities through the European Investment Bank, and innovative financial instruments such as JESSICA combine resources from the funds and the EIB.
Did you know…? The Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion (2007-2013) set sustainable urban development as a major objective, underlining the vital role cities play in achieving social, economic and territorial cohesion as well as environmental sustainability.
Furthermore, one of the specific programmes under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (2007-2013) is ‘Cooperation’ which includes a distinct theme on 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.
The EU’s Research Framework Programmes support research and development. The current 7th Framework Programme (2007-2013) provides financial support for projects related to a broad range of topics for urban areas, from research on cultural heritage to the clean-up of brownfield areas. Cities can benefit from recent projects such as ALTENER on renewable energy, CIVITAS-plus on green urban transport, and STEER on transport.
The EU is currently targeting funds at ‘eco-innovation projects’ as part of its Environmental Technologies Action Plan. The aim is to support innovative products, services and technologies that make efficient and sustainable use of our natural resources such as recycling urban waste to develop high performance lightweight aggregate for concrete.