The European Green Capital Award is an EU initiative which aims to reward cities' effort to promote environmentally-friendly urban living. To date, nine cities have been awarded the title of European Green Capital since its inception in 2010.Stockholm, Sweden won the inaugural title, followed by Hamburg, Germany in 2011, Vitoria-Gasteiz,Spain in 2012, Nantes, France in 2013 and Copenhagen, Denmark in 2014 and Bristol, UK in 2015.
The 2016 European Green Capital, Ljubljana, Slovenia will now pass the title to Essen, Germany for 2017, followed by Nijmegen in the Netherlands in 2018.
Tomorrow, the European Commission will hand over the title of European Green Capital at an official ceremony on Saturday 21 January 2017 which will be followed by Essen’s official Opening Ceremony, marking the official start of Essen’s year as European Green Capital 2017. The event will open with a stimulating high-level panel discussion on environmental sustainability in cities, and the latest developments in urban policy in the EU and globally – with participation from the European Commissioner for Environment, Karmenu Vella, German Federal Minister for Environment, Barbara Hendricks, the Minister for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Remmel, and the Head of Environmental Protection Department within the City of Ljubljana, Ms Nataša Jazbinšek-Seršen. It will be followed with a one-off citizens’ festival in the Grugapark in Essen, which will showcase local creativity, offer a wide range of entertainment, and will demonstrate how Essen has gone from being an industrial powerhouse to one of the most sustainable cities in Europe. The event will unite more than 1,200 participants at the Opening Ceremony with 5,000 citizens of Essen!
For more info: https://www.essengreen.capital/startseite_essen_egc.de.html
