CitYzen Diaries

Have you wondered what it’s like to live in a European Green Capital? Now you can hear from some of the cityzens who are doing just that. We will be posting interviews with residents of our Green Capitals and Green Leaf cities to see how achieving the title has impacted on their lives.

Oslo, European Green Capital 2019

Heidi Neilson, Port of Oslo Environmental Manager – Dreaming of being redundant

Benjamin Appiah, Oslo’s Cargo Cyclist

The Huseby Kindergarten, Oslo's first green kindergarten

Magnus Gommerud Nielsen, Oslo’s electric gardener

Trine Johnsen, guardian of Oslo’s rivers

Trond Gustav Sømme is Oslo’s first electric taxi driver.

Nijmegen, European Green Capital 2018

Lars Westra is a consultant in sustainable growth and an advocate for the inclusion of children’s voices in global issues.

Matthijs de Gruijter is the manager and owner of the nature kindergarten ‘Struin’.

Jos Sluijmans is the director of Fietsdiensten.nl and a cycling consultant.

Nick Albers is the manager at Nijmegen’s Kinderboerderij de Goffert (Children’s Farm).

Arne Broekhoven is a resident at IEWAN, Nijmegen’s Social Housing Eco-Village.

Carlo Buise is the Sustainability Advisor at Radboud University in Nijmegen.

Bart de Bruin is the CEO of  Dar, Nijmegen’s Waste Management Centre and Company.

Essen, European Green Capital 2017

Dominique Ellen van de Pol works in the area of sustainable fashion.

Nils Mosh is as a sound designer, composer and field recordist, who undertook an interesting project to record the sounds of his home city, Essen.

Jörn Hamacher is a freelancer working in sustainable development and has been actively involved with the ‘Transition Town’ initiative across Germany since 2011. His passion for taking care of our cities and creating community gardens has led him to join Essen’s European Green Capital Project Office where he raises awareness of the city’s sustainability initiatives.

Teresa Deckert is a Project Manager for the greenApes App, helping to show citizens that sustainable change can start with small, committed steps via a simple mobile phone App.

Ljubljana, European Green Capital 2016

Tine Mahkovec is a cycling enthusiast and President of his local cycling club in Ljubljana

Alenka Kreč Bricelj is a Project Manager at Smetumet, a Design and Upcycling Organisation in Ljubljana

Pia Poljanšek is part of a group of students that set up ‘Kabiné Šerinjon’, the first ever Slovenian clothing library

Vitoria-Gasteiz, European Green Capital 2012

Brian Webster works as a volunteer biodiversity conservationist at the Citizen Science Scheme in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Being green doesn’t stop after a city’s winning year and we can see that Vitoria-Gasteiz continues to be a role model for prospective European Green Capitals.

Antonio Fernández is responsible for the Red Cross’s Environmental Plan in Vitoria-Gasteiz