For the first time, the EU Green Week (May 21-25) will not take place exclusively in Brussels (Belgium), but instead the opening ceremony will take place on May 21 in Utrecht (The Netherlands), the closing ceremony will take place on May 25 in Madrid (Spain) and the mid-week events will take place, May 22-24 in Brussels.

The opening event, which ICLEI is proud to be part of, will be co-hosted by the City of Utrecht, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, and the European Commission (DG Environment).

During the opening event, ICLEI will organise two sessions as part of the plenary programme: a European Mayor’s roundtable on nature-based solutions and a Young Councillors’ Debate on the future of green cities.

The Mayor’s Roundtable brings together the Mayors of Utrecht, Wroclaw (Poland) and Tirana (Albania) for a diverse look at how urban green contributes to wellbeing in their cities and how they plan to accelerate these efforts.

The Young Councillor’s Debate will see high school students from the Utrecht area share their vision for a green future, and engage in a friendly and interactive debate with young and committed municipal councillors from across Europe.

ICLEI’s activities at the EU Green Week Opening Event are taking place under the umbrella of the EU Horizon 2020 NATURVATION project, which seeks to contribute to realising the potential of nature-based solutions for responding to urban sustainability challenges by working with communities and stakeholders.

ICLEI will also play an active role in the Brussels events from 22 until 24 May, speaking on topics such as sustainable public procurement, sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs) and green city transition. During the week, ICLEI will manage an interactive stand related to nature based-solutions and our 2018 Transformative Action Award.

For more information and to register, please click here.