The cities of Munich, Grenoble and San Sebastian have been recognised for their achievements in sustainability and innovation at the Eurocities Awards 2022 in Espoo, Finland.
The winners were selected by a panel of expert judges, who found each city demonstrated a solid commitment to this year’s theme: an era of new beginnings.
“Our cities constantly strive to promote the vitality and wellbeing of their community and to work for a sustainable future,” said Dario Nardella, President of Eurocities and Mayor of Florence.
“Yet, two years of pandemic have taken their toll, and now is time to reset our course.
“The Eurocities Awards celebrate the triumphs of cities and can help provide inspiration for some of our best ideas to be more widely shared and benefit more people.”
Winning cities
In total, nine cities were shortlisted for the awards across three categories: ‘Dream together’ (Donostia-San Sebastian, Kharkiv and Oulu), ‘Act together’ (Barcelona, Gothenburg and Munich), and ‘Lead together’ (Grenoble Alpes Metropole, Turku and Zaragoza).
In the ‘Dream together – future generations transforming the cities’ category, San Sebastian’s innovation challenge put personal skills at the heart of a talent development programme for young people.
Grenoble Alpes Metropole won the ‘Lead together – Scalable solutions for positive climate impact’ award with its Batitec second-hand store, which sells materials and timber from demolished buildings, bringing elements of the circular economy into the construction industry.
Munich was recognised in the ‘Act together – skills and competences for the future ’ category for its Readiness and Digital Integration (ReDI) school. The skills programme opens up the city’s entire business network and gives refugees, women and children a chance to transform their lives.
Speaking to capitaltribunenews.com, Sophie M. Jonke, Location Head, ReDI school Munich, said: “I think there was a really great collaboration between all the stakeholders involved.
“On the one side we had the City of Munich and then on the other we had volunteer teachers who were IT experts.
“In Munich there are many people who want to get active and want to help others and who are interested in building communities and being a part of them.”
The three winners each received a trophy and a certificate from Eurocities.
Special mention
The city of Kharviv, Ukraine received special mention for its Young Diplomat School, which brings together 25 young people aged between 16 and 25 to gain in-depth knowledge and practical skills from experts.
As an added value to the programme, participants went on a trip to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, visited the leading political institutions of the country, had personal communication with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and followed lectures presented by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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