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Galway City, European Green Leaf 2017


Galway City, European Green Leaf 2017

Galway City is European Green Leaf 2017. This is an environmental designation awarded to Galway City by the European Commission in recognition of the city’s commitment to the environment. Galway is the first Irish city to receive this award.

The European Green Leaf competition is aimed at cities and towns across Europe with between 20,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. Winning cities must:

  • demonstrate a good environmental record and commitment to generating green growth
  • actively develop citizens’ environmental awareness and involvement
  • act as a green ambassador and encourage other cities to progress towards better sustainability outcomes

In June 2016, the Mayor of Galway City, Cllr. Noel Larkin, along with Brendan McGrath, Chief Executive, Sharon Carroll and Fiona Coen from Galway City Council travelled to Ljubljana, Slovenia and presented Galway City to a panel of expert judges. The expert jury selected Galway as European Green Leaf 2017 over two other short-listed cities, Mikkeli in Finland and Cornellà de Llobregat in Spain. Previous European Green Leaf cities are Mollet del Vallès in Spain and Torres Vedras in Portugal.

As European Green Leaf, Galway will have the opportunity to showcase local environmental initiatives internationally, to promote best practice in environmental management and to act as a green ambassador by inspiring other cities to become more sustainable.

Galway City Council will lead the Green Leaf year and will work in partnership with community groups, voluntary organisations, state agencies, educational institutions and the European Commission to deliver a series of projects and events across all the Green Leaf environmental themes.

More information on European Green Leaf is available here.

For more information on Galway City as European Green Leaf 2017, email greenleaf@galwaycity.ie.