Urban areas are the source of many of today’s environmental challenges – not surprisingly, since two out of three Europeans live in towns and cities. Local governments and authorities can provide the commitment and innovation needed to tackle and resolve many of these problems.

The European Commission’s green city awards include two titles. The European Green Capital (EGC) for cities over 100.000 habitants and the European Green Leaf (EGL) for smaller cities as of 20.000 habitants. The awards recognise and reward local action towards a transition to a greener, more sustainable future. Winning cities are including their citizens in this transition, improve the urban environment, combat pollution and mitigate and prepare for more resilience to climate change. A greener city is a place that attracts investors, tourists and provides a better quality of live for their citizens.

The awards give impetus to bolder actions and spur local pride. Frontrunning cities show us the way how the green transition can be done. We can all learn from them.

Discover previous editions of the Award below. Using the map, you can navigate through excellent role models for green cities all over Europe.

The European Green Capital Book collects the testimonials and visions of the past winning cities upon their EU Green Capital year experience. You can go through the Green Book here. Scroll over a city and find good practices, assessment reports and legacy reports.