What is this “European Green Capital” competition?
Today, more than two-thirds of Europeans live in cities.
The competition of the “European Green Capital” aims toencourage managers to take the environment into account in their urban development.
Dijon had already applied in 2018 and finished in 4th place among the 9 finalist cities. She therefore decided to re-apply to “capitalize on her experience”.
A few days ago, the European Commission validated the candidacy of the capital of the Dukes of Burgundy for the “European Green Capital 2022” competition. In total: 18 European cities (including 3 French) were selected.
“Independent experts will now begin a technical evaluation of each bid to select the finalist cities. Several environmental indicators will therefore be studied: adaptation to climate change, sustainable urban mobility, air quality, water, energy, etc. “
The 18 cities competing for the title of European Green Capital 2022 are: Belgrade (Serbia); Budapest (Hungary); Dijon (France); Gdańsk (Poland); Grenoble (France); Katowice (Poland); Kraków (Poland); Lyon, France); Maribor (Slovenia); Murcia (Spain); Parma (Italy); Pécs (Hungary); Perugia (Italy); Poznań (Poland); Sofia (Bulgaria); Tallinn (Estonia); Turin (Italy); Zagreb (Croatia).
What are Dijon’s environmental strengths?
To attract the European Commission, Dijon has several assets including:
-son tram network 20 km, 100% electric
-its a hundred hybrid buses
-son pedestrian area
-its 64 kilometers fromcycling facilities
-son district heating network 70% powered by renewable energy which will serve the equivalent of 55,000 homes
– his project of smart metropolis OnDijon launched in 2018 which should allow 65% energy savings on lighting
-its 160 hectares of land purchased to develop peri-urban agriculture
-the upcoming creation ofan industrial hydrogen sector for transport allowing, among other things, to power community vehicles with clean energy.
“We have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 20% and we have increased our renewable energy production by 164%. We must continue our efforts today to ensure the ecological success of tomorrow “, says François Rebsamen, mayor of Dijon and president of Dijon metropolis.
The names of the finalists for the “European Green Capital 2022” competition will be announced in spring 2020.
The name of the winner will be announced in June in Lisbon, currently “European Green Capital 2020”.
Note that we already know the name of the European Green Capital 2021: it is the city of Lahti, in Finland. It will be the first European Green Capital located in the Arctic region, an area that is heating up almost twice as fast as the world average!
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