Whether it’s floods, droughts or climate change, the issues around water never stop flowing. We partnered up with Euronews for a live discussion about how to get wise with water. Watch it here.
EC initiative that showcases how the use of public procurement can help to achieve far-reaching social goals. Have a look at the next training events
The Bordeaux European Exchanges symposium is taking place on 7 June. This event is an opportunity to exchange perspectives between European stakeholders in regional public procurement on responsible European public procurement and their commitment to promoting regional economic development.
This set of resources by the Embedding Project helps you understand the portfolio of practices you can employ to embed sustainability across your value chain. The sustainable procurement practices wheel identifies the practices required to embed sustainability into your procurement life cycle, shares what others are doing, and curates a selection of the most relevant resources and tools to help you get started.
Published in March 2024, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Report highlights the importance of monitoring progress on green public procurement (GPP) and offers some recommendations and methodologies for improvement. The report is focused on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and showcases GPP monitoring good practices from countries such as South Korea, Japan, Slovenia, Denmark, Malaysia and the Netherlands.
A draft of the Guide on Green and Sustainable Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Procurement for the SDGs was presented on 8 May in the 8th UNECE International PPP Forum. The session reviewed the draft guide and provided insights for its further development and finalisation. PPPs involve long-term agreements between public and private actors, offering governments an opportunity to incentivise SDG-driven projects and to monitor the performance of these projects in terms of their environmental and social impact.
The city set the challenge of achieving a school building “friendly to the environment and people”, capable of creating favourable spaces for study and in harmony with the surrounding houses. The project specifically focused on exceeding the standards of a nearly zero-energy building (nZEB) and incorporating sustainable building practices.
A more energy-efficient building stock would help curb GHG emissions, energy consumption and support climate targets. Since 2021, all new buildings in the EU should reach the target nearly-zero energy building (or nZEB) standard, as defined by national governments. So, to help public authorities leverage their purchasing power, the EU-funded nZEB Ready project has developed a Public Procurement Guide.
A total of 21 cities applied for the prestigious green titles, nine of which nine are going for the European Green Capital Awards and twelve for the European Green Leaf Awards. The applications closed on 30 April 2024.
Save the date for the upcoming events that will take place in June in Valencia, the current European Green Capital. The capital of the Valencian Community will host: 25-26 June - Annual Cities Mission Meeting 26-27 June - EnergyCities Annual Conference 26-28 June - European Urban Resilience Forum and on 27 June a Green Capital/Leaf Network meeting
The 2024 European Green Leaf winners, Elsinore and Velenje, have been displaying their great enthusiasm by organising various events since the beginning of the year.
Do not miss this year’s EU Green Week, which focuses on water resilience. The European Commission’s initiative is supported by 179 partner events across Europe, and will be spearheaded by the Brussels Conference from 29-30 May 2024. Join it online to follow the discussions on a systemic shift towards water resilience, creating a water-smart EU economy, ensuring clean and affordable water and sanitation for all, restoring and protecting the broken water cycle, cooperating internationally and across borders, governance and implementation of the water legislation. We will be there as well with our green cities stand – please come visit it, if you attend in person, or check out the partner events in your country!
From 11-13 June, the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) will take place online and in Brussels. Various stakeholders from all over Europe will come together to discuss the EU energy transition, including public authorities, private companies and NGOs. Participants can attend conferences and key sessions on various sustainability topics.
Get ready for the upcoming LIFE Awards 2024, which will take place in Brussels on 30 May and highlight inspiring projects in the fields of nature, environment, climate and circular economy.
In its latest report, Urban Adaptation in Europe, the European Environment Agency evaluates the state of urban adaptation across Europe. The report highlights the actions cities are taking to address increasing climate risks and showcases successful strategies that are already in place. The press release and the EEA report are now available. The European State of Climate Report 2023, published in late April 2024, presents a concerning overview. The year was marked by extreme weather events across Europe, including severe heatwaves and widespread wildfires, as well as significant flooding and drought.
The vast majority of bathing water sites in Europe met the European Union's most stringent ‘excellent’ bathing quality standards in 2023, according to the latest annual bathing water report published today. This represents 85% of Europe's popular bathing waters. As much as 96% of all officially identified bathing waters in the EU met the minimum quality standards, with only 1.5% rated as ‘poor'.
Add this to your calendar to never miss upcoming events on urban sustainability.
The EU Ecolabel was launched 30 years ago, and it is now the official label for products' environmental excellence. Discover how it helps citizens make informed choices with the EU Ecolabel’s 2023 Showroom on Wheels, which kicked off its 2024 tour on 15 April in Brussels. The EU Ecolabel Showroom on Wheels will be at the EU Green Week in Brussels on 30 May 2024.
The new edition of the European Capital of Innovation Awards was launched in Linköping, Sweden, the European Rising Innovative city 2023. This prize is awarded to the European cities that best promote innovation in their communities This year, the winner of the 2024 European Capital of Innovation category will receive EUR 1 million and the first two runners-up in this category will be rewarded with EUR 100 000 each. Deadline for applications is 18 June!
Netzerocities' collaborative space is open to all cities, not only the 112 selected under the mission! New tools are constantly being developed alongside a thriving online community. Currently, the mission’s website has 3 880 portal members.
