The finalist cities for the 2021 European Green Capital have been announced and all of them are ICLEI Members – Lahti (Finland), Lille (France), and Strasbourg (France). Another ICLEI Member, Lappeenranta (Finland), is a finalist for the 2020 European Green Leaf award. This title is similar to the Green Capital, but for cities with populations of less than 100,000 inhabitants.

The European Commission’s Green Capital award is now in its 12th year. This prestigious title recognises one European city per year that has demonstrated that it is making great efforts to improve the sustainability and health of its urban area. Winning cities have worked to “improve the quality of life of their citizens and reduce their impact on the global environment” (European Commission).

All but one of the past winners of the European Green Capital award have been ICLEI members. Annually, starting in 2010, these have been: Stockholm (Sweden), Hamburg (Germany), Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country), Nantes (France), Copenhagen (Denmark), Bristol (United Kingdom), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Essen (Germany), Nijmegen (The Netherlands), Oslo (Norway), and Lisbon (Portugal).

The winner of the 2021 title will be announced in June 2020 in Europe’s current Green Capital, Oslo.

For more information about the award, click here.