Last updated: 2021/01/19

Eurocities Awards

Brussels Capital Region, Belgium
Institution/Employer
Eurocities
Claim/Job description
Urban Award

Eurocities is the network of major European cities. Our members are the elected local and municipal governments of major European cities. Eurocities was founded in 1986 by the mayors of six large cities: Barcelona, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Lyon, Milan and Rotterdam.

Eurocities awards showcase outstanding achievements by our member cities in the delivery of local activities or practices which improve the quality of life for citizens. The theme of the awards changes every year in line with the Eurocities annual conference. 

Each year, we invite our member cities to submit examples of projects and practices of which they are particularly proud. Entries are submitted in one of three categories, which usually remain the same from year to year but occasionally change to accommodate the theme of the annual conference.
 
With the exception of 2013, the three Eurocities awards categories are as follows:
  • innovation: innovation in the planning and implementation of activities or practices by a local authority
  • participation: activities or practices of a local authority which are successful in actively promoting citizen participation
  • cooperation: awarding cooperation efforts undertaken by a local authority together with partner organisations 

The Eurocities awards have been running since 2006. Past examples of winning projects include a project encouraging citizens to become successful community leaders in Bristol; a cultural network designed to improve quality of life for elderly citizens in Espoo; and the renewal of an old industrial island in Bydgoszcz to become a centre of culture, leisure and entrepreneurship.

Many of these projects have gone on to achieve further success at national and European level.

Each shortlisted award entry is required to submit a short video of its project. You can browse the shortlisted entries and winners using the awards menu on the Eurocities website: www.eurocities.eu

Case studies from Eurocities Awards

Tampere: Making heritage housing more energy efficient
Tampere, Finland

Tampere: Making heritage housing more energy efficient

Tampere supports actions to make its heritage housing more energy efficient while assisting young people to gain the technical skills needed to carry out these works.
Sharing mobility strategy in Milan
Milan, Italy

Sharing mobility strategy in Milan

A mobility strategy is enabling Milan, which has one of the highest car ownership rates in Europe, rise to its congestion challenge.
Gothenburg’s entrepreneurial hub
Gothenburg, Sweden

Gothenburg’s entrepreneurial hub

Entrepreneurial West Hisingen aims at developing entrepreneurial capacity in a multicultural district with high unemployment and low aspirations.
Edinburgh in Bloom
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Edinburgh in Bloom

By mobilising support and coordinating action, Edinburgh in Bloom is setting a new standard for conserving and enhancing historic and natural environments in imaginative and sustainable ways.
The Rotterdam Businesscase (De Rotterdamse Zaak)
Rotterdam, Netherlands

The Rotterdam Businesscase (De Rotterdamse Zaak)

De Rotterdamse Zaak is a work-based learning company in which both students and senior entrepreneurs support and consult entrepreneurs in marginal economic areas to improve their economical independence.
The Edinburgh Guarantee
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The Edinburgh Guarantee

Edinburgh has inspired cultural change across the public, private and third sectors to address unemployment among school leavers. A shared vision and strong partnerships are helping them find a job, modern apprenticeship or training, and make successful transitions into the world of work.
Oslo’s Traffic Agent app - Game to improve road safety
Oslo, Norway

Oslo’s Traffic Agent app - Game to improve road safety

Oslo has turned to mobile technology to tackle traffic security issues affecting parents’ willingness to let their children walk to school. Its pioneering app, ‘The Traffic Agent’, provides child’s eye feedback to enable improved road maintenance and infrastructure planning.
City talks on sustainable energy: the silent majority speaks
Utrecht, Netherlands

City talks on sustainable energy: the silent majority speaks

Utrecht initiated a democratic experiment to share and broaden responsibility for creating an energy plan to help it become climate neutral by 2030.
OPEN Glasgow – City Data Hub
Glasgow, United Kingdom

OPEN Glasgow – City Data Hub

Glasgow’s City Data Hub is home to 400 datasets, published with support from 60 partner organisations. The data gives citizens and businesses insight into life in their city, and allows them to get more involved in decision making.
REECH initiative
Liverpool, United Kingdom

REECH initiative

Through REECH, Liverpool works with a range of partners, including social housing providers and local authorities, to improve the energy efficiency of social housing and SME business premises in its most deprived communities.
Rotterdam, Netherlands

Marketplace for Mobility ("De Verkeersonderneming")

Through two successive calls for tenders, De Verkeersonderneming looked for providers of mobility services that could provide peak traffic avoidance in the Rotterdam region.
ITS Factory
Tampere, Finland

ITS Factory

ITS Factory is a collaborative space where developers, companies, research organisations and individuals come together to create new intelligent transport systems and services (ITS).
Auld but not Reekie – transforming transport energy use in Edinburgh
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Auld but not Reekie – transforming transport energy use in Edinburgh

Edinburgh's municipal bus company, Lothian Buses, is going a long way to combat this image with ‘Auld but not Reekie’, an initiative that by the end of 2014 will see 65 hybrid buses in service and 45 buses retrofitted with low emissions exhausts.
The electric vehicle capital
Oslo, Norway

The electric vehicle capital

With 60% of emissions in Oslo coming from the transport sector, encouraging people to use electric vehicles (EVs) has the potential to make a real difference. In 2008, Oslo adopted a ten-point plan to reduce CO2 emissions, to which the large scale introduction of EVs plays a big part.
Interactive energy classification map
Vilnius, Lithuania

Interactive energy classification map

An innovative interactive energy map lets Vilnius citizens access and compare energy performance data for every apartment block in the city, online.
Masterplan for Energy Transition
Dortmund, Germany

Masterplan for Energy Transition

Dortmund’s Masterplan for Energy Transition brings all sorts of stakeholders together to develop a vision for the city’s energy future.
Sustainability in The Hague neighbourhoods; participation in co-creation
The Hague, Netherlands

Sustainability in The Hague neighbourhoods; participation in co-creation

The Hague is harnessing the commitment, time and skills of citizens to help achieve its goal of becoming climate neutral by 2040. Practical support and grants for cooperative action at grassroots level are turning good ideas into reality across the city.
Gijon’s Citizen Card
Gijon, Spain

Gijon’s Citizen Card

A single card, Gijon’s Citizen Card, allows Gijon's citizens to pay their bus fare, hire a bike and take out a library book. Today, 250,000 of Gijon’s citizens – 80% of the city’s population - carry this card, unlocking services and facilities across the city.
BEACH - online employability advice
Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom

BEACH - online employability advice

BEACH (Brighton & Hove Employability Advice and Careers Hut) is a website that was developed to improve young people’s employment chances. It offers employability advice specifically relating to the local situation and was designed for young people, by young people
Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f )
Birmingham, United Kingdom

Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f )

Young startup businesses benefit from tailored support and being part of a community. That’s what makes Birmingham’s ‘Entrepreneurs for the Future’ (e4f) programme stand out: it offers bespoke support and the chance to join a network of like-minded startups.
Edinburgh Outdoors
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Edinburgh Outdoors

Edinburgh Outdoors is a digital service launched in February 2013 providing a new way for locals and tourists to enjoy Edinburgh’s parks and green spaces.
Helsinki Region Infoshare (HRI)
Greater Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki Region Infoshare (HRI)

In 2010, the cities of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area began sharing public data for anyone to use freely. These open datasets, available through a web platform (www.hri.fi), make it possible for citizens to develop applications and follow public decision making.
Youth election project U18
Berlin, Germany

Youth election project U18

The U18 initiative is a simulated vote that takes place nine days ahead of real ‘adult’ elections, either local or national. The project is designed to generate an interest in politics amongst young people and supplement their political education.
La Colaboradora: a P2P co-working space promoting collaborative economy
Zaragoza, Spain

La Colaboradora: a P2P co-working space promoting collaborative economy

A co-working space where a community of some 200 entrepreneurs, freelancers and creative professionals each dedicate four hours of their time every month in return for support with launching their projects. The principle is an exchange of services, ideas and knowledge through a ‘bank time’ approach.
SynAthina: a social innovation platform
Athens, Greece

SynAthina: a social innovation platform

Citizens, policy-makers and private sector representatives come together to build a collaborative, grassroots vision for change in Athens.
Migrant Access Project
Leeds, United Kingdom

Migrant Access Project

A citizen-led initiative to build relationships between newly arrived migrants and service providers.
Co-operative Glasgow
Glasgow, United Kingdom

Co-operative Glasgow

The City of Glasgow is identifying effective and sustainable ways of addressing economic and social challenges by supporting cooperatives and social enterprises and devolving power to residents.
27 Delvalle: an urban health living lab
Nice, France

27 Delvalle: an urban health living lab

The City of Nice is responding to a growing community need for providing senior citizens with quality at home healthcare by establishing a centre dedicated to digital health innovation.
OpenBorough: active citizenship via e-participation
Amsterdam, Netherlands

OpenBorough: active citizenship via e-participation

The City of Amsterdam has embarked on a project to make democracy more dynamic and interactive by developing a digital participatory platform to engage with residents.
Helsinki Climate Street project
Greater Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki Climate Street project

The Climate Street project involves public agencies, residents and businesses working together to convert sustainable ideas into practical, replicable and scalable actions.
Utrecht Smart Solar Charging project
Utrecht, Netherlands

Utrecht Smart Solar Charging project

The city of Utrecht has capitalised on the high take-up by residents of electric cars and solar panels to develop the Smart Solar Charging project.
Knowledge Society - citizen participation and open government strategy
Gijon, Spain

Knowledge Society - citizen participation and open government strategy

Gijon City Council in Spain has responded to the need for greater efficiency, transparency and participatory democracy by implementing a digital platform enabling residents to share responsibility for governing and managing the city.
Halle 2: recycling, repair and reuse using a circular economy approach
Munich, Germany

Halle 2: recycling, repair and reuse using a circular economy approach

The city of Munich has taken its ambitious waste reduction strategy to the next level by developing an innovative reuse lab and shop concept.
Smart Map: rent, share, exchange, borrow
Gothenburg, Sweden

Smart Map: rent, share, exchange, borrow

The city of Gothenburg's Smart Map platform shows residents where they can find things to hire, borrow, share or swap while simultaneously helping to reduce consumption based emissions and create services for the sharing economy.
Brussels regional programme for a circular economy
Brussels Capital Region, Belgium

Brussels regional programme for a circular economy

The circular economy is providing an innovative and sustainable way for the Brussels-Capital Region to address environmental, social and economic challenges.
Be circular - Be Brussels
Brussels Capital Region, Belgium

Be circular - Be Brussels

A call for projects encourages local entrepreneurs to develop creative business initiatives that use circular economy concepts with support from local government agencies.
Inside Out
Antwerp, Belgium

Inside Out

The city of Antwerp has turned the challenge of integrating refugees into the labour market into an opportunity to transition to a circular economy.
La Lainière Project House
European Metropolis of Lille, France

La Lainière Project House

La Lainière Project House demonstrates the cradle-to-cradle (C2C) philosophy in action.
The city of Brighton & Hove reuse model
Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom

The city of Brighton & Hove reuse model

The Brighton & Hove council has implemented a programme to keep reusable goods out of the bin.
Paper and furniture from aquatic plants
Almere, Netherlands

Paper and furniture from aquatic plants

The city of Almere, working with the business sectors and local stakeholders has developed an innovative circular economy partnership.
The CHAOS Challenge
Oulu, Finland

The CHAOS Challenge

The City of Oulu has developed a community-driven model for generating and testing creative solutions to city problems.
Leeds 2023
Leeds, United Kingdom

Leeds 2023

Connecting the city through culture and creativity
Our Future City
Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom

Our Future City

Growing creativity and improving wellbeing for children and young people through culture.
KomKuk – linking creatives
Düsseldorf, Germany

KomKuk – linking creatives

Fostering creativity through creative enablement
KRACH - Kreativraum Chemnitz
Chemnitz, Germany

KRACH - Kreativraum Chemnitz

Rent free space allows innovation to flourish.
RogLab
Ljubljana, Slovenia

RogLab

Promoting the innovative use of manufacturing technologies.
Tango&Scan
Strasbourg, France

Tango&Scan

Creative cross sector innovation
Vilnius Tech Park
Vilnius, Lithuania

Vilnius Tech Park

Supporting Start-ups and community life
Silver Screen Festival
Frankfurt, Germany

Silver Screen Festival

Active aging – going to the movies
Depot.Bike
Prague, Czech Republic

Depot.Bike

Improving Prague’s environment one delivery at a time
Brighton & Hove Affordable Food
Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom

Brighton & Hove Affordable Food

Providing fresh local food to residents in disadvantaged neighbourhoods
Ghent en Garde
Ghent, Belgium

Ghent en Garde

Co-creative food governance for impact
RePoPP Circular Markets
Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy

RePoPP Circular Markets

Implementing a circular economy for food and food policies
De Energiecentrale
Ghent, Belgium

De Energiecentrale

Ghent’s one stop shop for energy renovations
Cloudburst Initiative Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark

Cloudburst Initiative Copenhagen

Climate adaptation and environmental improvements through nature-based solutions
The ring has come full circle
Utrecht, Netherlands

The ring has come full circle

Healthy urban living for everyone.
Co-creating for better co-existing
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Co-creating for better co-existing

An inclusive approach to urban renewal
La Recyclerie des Moulins
Nice, France

La Recyclerie des Moulins

Using a circular economy model to increase environmental protection and resource efficiency
The City of Rzeszów – a new home for Ukrainian refugees
Rzeszów, Poland

The City of Rzeszów – a new home for Ukrainian refugees

Local residents and government work together to welcome refugees
Seen and Heard
London, United Kingdom

Seen and Heard

A campaign to change the face of public space – for and by young people
Hej! Youth Open Space
Lublin, Poland

Hej! Youth Open Space

Created for young people by young people
Overlooked
Leeds, United Kingdom

Overlooked

Breaking down barriers by empowering young volunteers
mySMARTLife
Hamburg, Germany

mySMARTLife

An urban transformation strategy to get rid of fossil fuels.
CoGhent
Ghent, Belgium

CoGhent

Leveraging digitized cultural heritage to foster social cohesion and inclusion.
DIVERSITOURS
Bilbao, Spain

DIVERSITOURS

Onsite and immersive virtual reality tours changing perceptions one tour at a time.
Sustainable Food Strategy
Dortmund, Germany

Sustainable Food Strategy

A shift to climate-friendly nutrition starts with children’s lunches
Don’t sleep, or you will be outvoted
Gdańsk, Poland

Don’t sleep, or you will be outvoted

A viral call to action
The Green Belt Pays de Béarn
Pau, France

The Green Belt Pays de Béarn

Supports local economies, bolsters food resilience and reduces the carbon footprint
Establishing a Food Policy Council
Bordeaux, France

Establishing a Food Policy Council

Uniting 130+ voices for food reform
Counter for Heritage and Sustainability
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Counter for Heritage and Sustainability

Empowering Sustainable Stewardship of Cultural Heritage

Citymakers with similar interests

Berlin, Germany

Bernd Stary

Institution | CEO
Mersin, Turkey

Elif Tanburoğlu

Individual | Head of Foreign Relations and Projects Office/Mersin Metropolitan Municipality
Jennifer Jiang
Berlin, Germany

Jennifer Jiang

Individual | Architecture and Urban Design Researcher