The European Commission has launched the competition for the highly prestigious 2027 European Green Capital (EGCA 2027) and the 2025 European Green Leaf (EGLA 2027) Awards. European cities and towns committed to sustainability are encouraged to apply by the 15 April deadline for this excellent opportunity. ICLEI Members in particular have a long history of winning these prestigious titles, having won 80 percent of European Green Capital awards to date. Most recently, ICLEI Member Guimarães (Portugal) was crowned European Green Capital 2026, while Member Águeda (Portugal) was named one of the European Green Leaf 2026 winners, alongside Vaasa (Finland).
These awards promote and reward efforts of European towns and cities striving to improve the quality of life for their citizens, while reducing their impact on the local and global environment. The European Green Capital Award is open to cities with over 100,000 inhabitants, while the European Green Leaf Award is open to all towns and cities with 20,000 to 99,999 inhabitants.
Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, said: “I am calling on our European cities to apply for the 2027 European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards. This is an opportunity to show how sustainable you already are and to share inspiring stories and best practices with other cities on becoming greener. Most Europeans live in cities, so let us make them healthy and pleasant to make living, working and doing business as sustainable as possible.”
The winner of the Green Capital Award will receive €600,000 and up to two cities will receive €200,000 each as Green Leaf winners. The financial prize contributes to supporting the winning cities in implementing initiatives and measures to enhance their environmental performance and reach out to citizens, especially during their winning year. Winning cities will also benefit from increased international profile, networking and new alliances, a sense of local pride, and the opportunity to become a part of a network of previous finalists and winners.
Learn how to apply for the 2027 European Green Capital or European Green Leaf here. Applications are due by 15 April 2025 at 23:59 CEST (GMT+2).