Guides and Reports

• Good Practice Report – Award Cycle 2014 – A report detailing examples of good environmental practices currently undertaken across the applicant cities for the European Green Capital Awards Cycle 2014
• Environmental Best Practice & Benchmarking Report – Award Cycle 2012 & 2013 - A report show casing the best environmental practices currently undertaken in the shortlisted cities for the European Green Capital Awards Cycle 2012 and 2013;
• Making our cities attractive and sustainable – How the EU contributes to improving the urban environment – Overview of the ways the EU supports citizens and local governments in their efforts to make our cities sustainable, efficient, healthy, well managed, pleasant and clean;
• Catalogue of best practice – Urban sustainability – Learning from the best – A collection of best practice examples from the European Green Capital Award 2010 & 2011 finalists;
• Measuring urban sustainability- Analysis of the European Green Capital Award 2010 & 2011 application round, from Ambiente Italia;
• Publication on urban ecosystems – Part of a series of ’10 messages for 2010′. From European Environment Agency (EEA);
• Regions and cities on the road to Copenhagen – overview of the recent and ongoing activities of the Committee of the Regions and its Commission on Sustainable Development;
• Ensuring quality of life in Europe’s cities and towns - EEA report aiming to raise awareness of the various perspectives on the quality of life in cities and towns;
• The Urban Dimension in Community Policies - a guide for stakeholders and others interested in urban issues;
• Report on Sustainable Urban Transport Plans;
• Guidance document on integrated environmental management plans. Summary of best practice on integrated environmental management;
• Integrated and sustainable planning and management of the urban environment. Guidelines of the ENVIPLANS project (also available in Italian);
• The European Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) aims to tie better together all existing data gathering and information flows using modern tools such as the internet and satellite technology;
• The STATUS tool themes and targets gives local governments across Europe the opportunity to self-assess their own progress with sustainable development;
• The Guidance on Selecting and Setting Targets for the Urban Thematic Strategy accompanies and complements the STATUS tool but can also be used alone since it explains the relevance of setting targets for urban sustainable development;
• The Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities;
• The Aalborg Commitments Implementation Guide: a 5-step approach;
• The State of European Cities Report builds on a unique collection of urban statistics including data on the environment;
• The Urban Audit – a health check on 321 European cities produced in association with EUROSTAT;

Project examples

• LIFE projects relating to urban environment and quality of life;
• CIVITAS projects promote more sustainable, clean and energy efficient urban transport system;
• Many cities have enforced environmental management systems such as EMAS or ISO 14001.
• European Common Indicators – Towards a local sustainability profile.
• Local renewables web portal The Portal offers renewable energy and energy efficiency guidance and tools.

Networks

• ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability: international association of local governments that have made a commitment to sustainable development;
• The Green Spider Network of environmental communicators: experts in public awareness initiatives and citizens mobilisation