ICLEI Member and current European Green Capital, Lahti (Finland), has recently launched a series of panel discussions to be held once a month on environmental solutions, and innovation and cooperation models available for European cities.

The panel discussions, together referred to the ‘European Dialogue for Sustainable Cities’, will bring together urban experts, researchers, businesses, NGOs and students to debate solutions for European cities in the midst of an ecological crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. Each discussion will also introduce one of the previous European Green Capital winners from 2010–2020 – all but one are ICLEI Members.

Speaking about the new dialogue series, Programme Director Saara Vauramo from the Lahti European Green Capital 2021 project, said “The global ecological crisis does not respect the borders of nation states; instead, the challenge of resolving the crisis is shared by the whole of Europe and the world. The majority of Europeans live in cities, which underlines their role in implementing and developing environmental solutions. It is critically important to open direct talks between cities.”

The first panel discussion will be held on Wednesday, 3 February 2021, 14:00 (CET), with the theme: sustainable mobility in cities.
Among the speakers is Miguel Feliciano Gaspar, Deputy Mayor of ICLEI Member and European Green Capital 2020, Lisbon (Portugal).

For more information about the dialogue series, and to join the first event, click here.