Today, the winner of the European Green Cities 2025 Awards was announced in Tallinn, Estonia. Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania is the 2025 European Green Capital.
The title of European Green Leaf 2025 for smaller cities went to Spanish Viladecans and Italian Treviso.
The jury of this prestigious contest appreciated Lithuanian down to earth approach. Lithuanian motto “Vilnius – the greenest city in the making” points out a clear vision and tangible actions. The jury appreciated achievements of Vilnius in successfully reducing emissions through a broad choice of measures, including increasing renewable energy sources and renovating heating infrastructure with the the aim to become climate neutral by 2030.
Vilnius combines its sustainability efforts with taking care of the happiness of its residents by connecting initiatives to clean air, clean water, biodiversity preservation, green spaces, and more.
What is important to add is that Vilnius’ tech-oriented approach to citizen engagement and participation is innovative, using an app for citizens to engage in all relevant areas of city management and planning.
Vilnius will receive €600,000 to further implement measures to stimulate the environmental sustainability as part of the European Green Capital 2025. European Green Leaf 2025 winners Viladecans and Treviso will receive a financial prize of €200,000 to support their efforts.
14 cities competed for these awards. An international expert panel of seven independent urban sustainability experts evaluated each application and on the shortlist there were 5 finalist cities. The finalists were interviewed by an international jury consisting of representatives from the European Commission, Committee of the Regions, Covenant of Mayors Office, European Environment Agency, European Environment Bureau.
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.
Read more about Vilnius here:
Source: European Commission
