The European Commission recently announced that 17 cities in 11 member states and Iceland are competing to become the European Green Capital for 2012 and 2013.
The Commission will announce the awards in October in Stockholm, which was the 2010 winner. There are four applicants in Spain (Barcelona, Murcia, Seville, and Vitoria-Gasteiz), two in Italy (Bologna and Rome) and two in Poland (Torun and Lodz), plus Antwerp (Belgium), Budapest (Hungary), Espoo (Finland), Glasgow (UK), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Malmö (Sweden), Nantes (France) and Nuremberg (Germany). The Icelandic capital, Reykjavík, is also competing for the award.
The scheme's objective is to reward cities with a good environmental record and promote best practice in areas such as tackling air pollution, traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. Hamburg will be the next green capital after Stockholm.
Sources: ENDs, European Commission
