Jury Report for the European Green Capital Award 2015 June 2013 www.europeangreencapital.eu
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION... 1 1.1 THE ROLE OF THE JURY... 1 1.2 JURY MEMBERS... 1 1.3 EUROPEAN GREEN CAPITAL AWARD 2015 JURY ASSESSMENT... 1 2 JURY CONCLUSION... 3 2.1 BRUSSELS... 3 2.2 GLASGOW... 3 2.3 LJUBLJANA... 4 2.4 BRISTOL... 4
1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 THE ROLE OF THE JURY The Jury s role is to select the winner of the European Green Capital Award, which rewards cities that are leading the way with environmentally friendly urban living, on the basis of the technical assessment work and proposals provided by an Expert Panel together with the information provided as part of the Jury Assessment. 1.2 JURY MEMBERS The Jury is composed of representatives from key European and international organisations in the environmental field and is chaired by the European Commission (Directorate-General for the Environment). Jury members cover a wide range of expertise and have in-depth knowledge of the issues involved. The Jury for the European Green Capital Award of 2015 includes the following organisations and their representatives: European Commission: Karl Falkenberg, Director-General, DG Environment European Parliament: Matthias Groote, Chair of Environment Committee (represented by Mr Huber Andreas, Head of Unit of the ENVI secretariat) Committee of the Regions: Ilmar Reepalu, Mayor of Malmö / Representing the Chair of Environmental Commission European Environment Agency: Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability: Gino Van Begin, Secretary General Covenant of Mayors Office: Kristina Dely, Head of Office European Environmental Bureau: Jeremy Wates, Secretary General 1.3 EUROPEAN GREEN CAPITAL AWARD 2015 JURY ASSESSMENT The Jury received the Technical Assessment Report as prepared by the Expert Panel at the end of March 2013. The Jury considered this report and noted the technical comments and proposals as presented by the Expert Panel. The Jury expressed its appreciation of the excellent work carried out by the Expert Panel. On the 24 th May 2013, the four finalist cities presented their vision, action plans and communication strategies to the Jury. The Jury assessed these cities based on the following evaluation criteria: 1) Overall commitment, vision and enthusiasm as conveyed through the presentation. MDR0763Rp00025 1 F01
2) Capacity to act as a role model to inspire other cities, promote best practices and spread the EGC model further bearing in mind city size and location. 3) Communication actions including: Citizen communication to date in relation to the 12 environmental Indicators, effectiveness via changes in citizen behaviour, lessons learned and proposed modifications for the future. The extent of the city s local partnering to gain maximum social and economic leverage. Outline of the city s EGC communication strategy should they win. MDR0763Rp00025 2 F01
2 JURY CONCLUSION 2.1 BRUSSELS The Jury noted Brussels has made considerable progress to date. In 2004 for example the city had no exemplary buildings, i.e. those that meet the passive building standard, and in 2013 a total area of 520,000m 2 is accredited to the passive standard. Brussels promotes a bottom-up approach which involves all the stakeholders in the region. They set ambitious targets such as 30% reduction in GHG (-40% per capita) by 2025 taking into account excellent progress to date with a 20% reduction over the last decade. The Jury appreciates that Brussels is a city that must provide mobility options for over 330,000 inbound commuters daily. As such, Brussels is in the process of implementing a very ambitious programme for the RER, with some lines already partially completed. Full commissioning is due by 2025 but the greater part of the network (~90%) is expected to be available by 2016. A memorandum of understanding between the federal government and the three regions involved in the RER project was signed in 2004, a sign of top-down commitment to the citizens of Brussels. The city works with Bruxelles Environment, the city's environmental authority with 800 staff, to communicate to its citizens via events, campaigns, websites and social media. Through their communication the city of Brussels reaches 1 million people every day. The Jury acknowledged Brussels' good progress in a relatively short period of time regarding sustainable buildings and neighbourhoods, but a number of areas require some further development e.g. mobility and air quality. The Jury looks forward to seeing how Brussels deals with the challenges ahead. 2.2 GLASGOW Glasgow is a city full of promise showing good achievements in areas such as green urban areas and green economy. The city presents an interesting example of an industrial and harbour legacy-based city. The Jury noted a number of large investment projects under way, including: 1) 600m for strategic infrastructure such as district heating, street lighting, energy supply (some via Public Private Partnership (PPP)), 2) 25m (~ 29m) future cities initiative, planning services around a smart city, 3) direct funding for the Commonwealth Games 2014. Green jobs in tandem with the green business portal are advancing the eco jobs movement in Glasgow. Since 2010, 2,400 apprenticeships, 250 graduates and 550 long-term unemployed people have found employment through green jobs. Part of this work force is developing and constructing the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes village. Following the games this village will become new homes for the citizens of Glasgow, creating a direct, long-term benefit for the city. Glasgow is actively promoting community based role model activities such as the stalled spaces project. Over the last 2 years, 59 examples of this project have been realised across the city. Glasgow will promote this scheme across 50 European cities, as part of Year of Green Glasgow in 2015. MDR0763Rp00025 3 F01
Glasgow has established partnerships with 5 cities across Europe which will be the cornerstone of their communications strategy for 2015; in addition international city partnerships extend as far as Bethlehem and Havana. The Jury concluded that Glasgow is good in a number of areas; however improvement is required in areas such as the acoustic environment and mobility. The city demonstrates a willingness to progress and has a large amount of funding both committed and already in place thus creating the platform for great potential to be realised. The Jury looks forward to seeing how Glasgow deals with the reality of future achievements in particular the legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth games with a view to becoming a solid role model for Europe. 2.3 LJUBLJANA Ljubljana is a city with a vision; by 2025 the city is aiming to become an environmentally friendly metropolis offering excellent green services and quality of life to citizens. The Jury was impressed to learn that 75% of the city is comprised of green and blue spaces with 38% of the area in Ljubljana classified as European Natura 2000 sites. Through green spaces such as the Path of Memories and Comradeship, with over 7,000 trees, the city links history to the future. The city has created an urban ecological zone comprising of more than 30 streets in the city centre. This zone is closed to all traffic including public buses. Ljubljana has also created a number of new parks and green spaces on former degraded and brownfield sites. For these initiatives to be accepted the city employed rigorous consultation with citizens. Ljubljana s communications strategy is centred on the principle of targeting 1 to reach 100. The city demonstrated a number of green communications such as sustainable mobility in the city administration and public companies, an Eco-Award initiative, EMAS certification and a clean-up campaign which is an annual one-month event. Although Ljubljana has a good story to tell, the achievements to date lack the breadth of experience and knowledge necessary to be the European Green Capital for 2015. The Jury noted the city's potential and its promises; the passage of time will no doubt deliver a sustainable Ljubljana as an excellent role model for similar medium-sized cities. 2.4 BRISTOL Bristol impressed the Jury with its investment plans for transport and energy. The city has committed a budget of 500m for transport improvements by 2015 and up to 300m for energy efficiency and renewable energy by 2020 (this includes a confirmed 100m ELENA investment in renewable energy). Carbon emissions have consistently reduced in Bristol since 2005, despite a growing economy. Bristol has the ambition of becoming a European hub for low-carbon industry with a target of 17,000 new jobs in creative, digital and low carbon sectors by 2030. Bristol demonstrated 4.7% growth in the green economy in 2012. As well as being an efficient city with a growing green economy, Bristol is the UK s greenest city, easily accessible with very good air quality. It has doubled the number of cyclists in recent years and is committed to doubling this number again by 2020 (based on 2010 baseline figures). MDR0763Rp00025 4 F01
The Mayor of Bristol is promoting Bristol as a city for children; every primary school child in Bristol will plant and own a tree with the motivation to double the tree canopy of the city. The city offers a number of examples where it can act as a role model to cities across Europe. Bristol has promoted the successful redevelopment of the harbourside area into a cultural and recreation amenity within the city; they present an innovative and sustainable vision for the 70-hectare development of the Temple Meads station area into a new green gateway incorporating a 12,000 seat concert arena which will be a beacon for environmental technologies. In response to the large increase in population and cultural diversity in certain neighbourhoods over the past decade, Bristol is leading the way with bottom-up community-based initiatives such as the walled garden project, which promotes locally and sustainably grown food to build local pride. Bristol has great potential to act as a role model for UK, Europe and the world. An agreement negotiated by the city with the foreign office to promote the award across Europe and the world through the British Embassies has the potential to raise the profile of the Award. Bristol s tag line Laboratory for Change is based on innovation, learning and leadership. Social media and the innovation lab, via live lab conferences, will be used to make Bristol available to Europe, and vice versa, while also reducing or entirely removing any carbon footprint. The Jury concluded that Bristol shows a high level of achievement across the board. Bristol is an innovator in terms of the green economy, with a powerful communication strategy and the commitment and enthusiasm required to develop its role as a model for Europe. Concluding its deliberations, the Jury decided to award Bristol as the European Green Capital for 2015. Note: The non-winning cities are listed in alphabetical order. MDR0763Rp00025 5 F01