The Dutch city of Nijmegen is the winner of the European Green Capital Award 2018, which recognizes efforts and commitments made by cities to improving the urban environment. Nijmegen presented a clear, integrated environmental vision for their city and impressed the jury with their wide engagement of stakeholders and residents.
The title was awarded on 22 of June at a ceremony in Ljubljana, the current European Green Capital, by Joanna Drake, Deputy Director-General of DG Environment. Underlining the important contribution cities make to global environmental sustainability, Joanna Drake said: "Being a 'green city' is about people's health and well-being; it is about cleaner air and water, access to green areas, and it is also about cities taking the lead in tackling bigger issues like climate change and biodiversity loss."
Nine cities have now won the European Green Capital Award: Stockholm (2010), Hamburg (2011), Vitoria-Gasteiz (2012), Nantes (2013), Copenhagen (2014), Bristol (2015), Ljubljana (2016), Essen (2017), and Nijmegen (2018).
You can read the application that helped earn Nijmegen the award here.