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Burgemeestersconvenan – Europa
  • News article
  • 28 November 2024

Guimarães, Águeda, & Vaasa win 2026 European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards

The three winners, all of them Covenant signatories, will receive prize funds, as well as the benefits of recognition, such as attracting investment opportunities and building a better quality of life for citizens.

View of the Guimaraes castle

This Wednesday (27 November), we were in Valencia, the 2024 European Green Capital, for the announcement of the 2026 European Green Cities Awards. By the end of the day, the Commission had declared the winners, all of which are CoM-munity members: Guimarães (Portugal) took the European Green Capital prize, and the European Green Leaf award for smaller cities went to Águeda (Portugal) and Vaasa (Finland).   

The jury recognised that Guimarães has successfully made sustainability part of its culture, with support available across the whole community, including to citizens, academia, and the private sector. This community engagement was a key aspect of Guimarães’ heat decarbonisation story, one of the inspiring cases from our Cities Heat Detox campaign. 

All Green Capital finalist cities were commended for their exceptional accomplishments and dedication. The jury recognised the tough competition among three outstanding candidates and acknowledged that they are an inspiration for other cities. 

Both Green Leaf winners, Águeda and Vaasa, impressed the jury with their unique approaches to engaging their communities in the green transition.  

Águeda was praised for its comprehensive and structured approach to sustainability, with numerous inspiring measures for all environmental areas. Its extensive communication and participatory strategy is supported by online dashboards available to the whole community.

The other winning city, Vaasa, was commended for its bold ambition to be “Carbon Neutral Vaasa 202X”, using its growing energy sector as an incubator and driver for systemic sustainable transitions.  

The jury praised all four Green Leaf finalist cities for their dedication with limited funds. They genuinely connected the local community and the city’s administration, and are warmly welcomed into the European Green Leaf network as an example to other similar cities.    

Guimarães will be granted a financial prize of €600,000. The award will contribute to the city’s actions aimed at increasing its environmental sustainability as the 2026 European Green Capital. Águeda and Vaasa, the 2026 European Green Leaf winners, will each receive a financial prize of €200,000.  

A total of 21 cities competed in this edition of the European Green Capital and Green Leaf awards. An international panel of seven independent urban sustainability experts evaluated the applications and shortlisted seven finalist cities.

The finalists were interviewed by an international jury comprising representatives from the European Commission, the European Committee of the Regions, the European Environment Agency, the Secretariat of the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, and Eurocities.

 

For more information: European Green Capital & European Green Leaf Awards

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Datum publicatie
28 November 2024