ICLEI Members Ghent (Belgium), Lahti (Finland), Lisbon (Portugal), and Oslo (Norway) have been announced as finalists shortlisted for the European Green Capital Award (EGCA) 2019. Tallinn (Estonia) was also shortlisted. For the European Green Leaf (EGL) Award 2018 for smaller cities, ICLEI Members Ludwigsburg (Germany) and Và¤xjච(Sweden) are among the finalists.

This year's winners will be announced at an award ceremony on 2 June 2017 in Essen (Germany), the current European Green Capital. Karmenu Vella, EU Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said: "I would like to congratulate the finalists of the European Green Capital 2019 and European Green Leaf 2018 Awards. This year the competition was fierce, with a record number of applicants for both awards."

Over two thirds of Europeans now live in urban areas, presenting cities across Europe with problems related to energy consumption, pollution, waste management, housing, unemployment, transport, and water conservation. By showcasing the achievements of European cities in tackling these issues, the EGC and EGL Awards aim to lead by example and inspire others to take action. The shortlisted cities will now have to convince the Jury of their overall commitment to ongoing environmental improvement and sustainable development, their capacity to act as a role model, and their strategy for communicating with the public.

For more information, visit the European Green Capital website.Image copyright: Image (Pixabay) more   12 April 2017 European Commission and Indian government launch water management toolkitThe Adopting Integrated Urban Water Management (AdoptIUWM) project was closed this March after four years of work with the launch of a Toolkit for Integrated Urban Water Management for Indian Cities at an event in Delhi. The toolkit was developed to respond to the challenges Indian local governments face in securing sufficient water supply and proper waste water treatment for their rapidly growing cities.

The toolkit outlines an integrated urban water management approach in seven steps. It provides the means to analyse the local water sector and to understand how water supply, wastewater and storm water management are connected to other urban management sectors such as land use planning, transport, and energy production. The guide also presents ways of engaging the local community to find appropriate solutions and create ownership.

To find out whether the toolkit works in practice, the AdoptIUWM partners developed and tested it with four Indian cities. The cities of Jaisalmer and Kishangarh in Rajasthan, as well as Ichalkaranji and Solapur in Maharasthra have piloted the integrated urban water management approach. These pilot projects have helped to revive the traditionally interlinked water harvesting and drainage system in Jaisalmer, reduced the high water pollution in Kishangarh and the high water losses in Solapur, and improved the water quality of local streams in Ichalkaranji.

The toolkit can be downloaded on the AdoptIUWM website. A web-based version of the toolkit will be available soon.

The project was carried out through a joint cooperation between ICLEI South Asia, ICLEI Europe and the Association of Flemish Municipalities and Cities with the support of the Delegation of the European Commission to India and the Ministry of Urban Development of the Government of India.

For more information, visit the AdoptIUWM website.Image copyright: Image (ICLEI South Asia) more

» Publication Date: 18/04/2017

» Source: Iclei Europe

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