City of Lappeenranta reached the finals in competition for the greenest city in Europe

City of Lappeenranta reached the finals in competition for the greenest city in Europe

The City of Lappeenranta has reached the finals in the competition for the greenest city in Europe, or the 2020 European Green Leaf Award. The European Green Leaf Award of the EU Commission is granted annually to a city of less than 100,000 residents with successful environmental policy and activities. In addition to the City of Lappeenranta, two other candidates remain in the competition: Limerick from Ireland and Mechelen from Belgium.

Ilkka Räsänen, Environmental Director of the City of Lappeenranta, is excited about qualifying for the finals.

− Awesome, this was great news! Our collective efforts are producing results.

The competition will continue with introductions of the cities to the jury in Oslo on 19 June 2019. The winner will be announced on 20 June 2019.

Content of the competition

The competition has six topic areas: climate and energy, waste management and circular economy, air quality and noise, nature and biodiversity, water supply and sustainable mobility.

The City of Lappeenranta has managed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 46% from 1990 to 2017, and there are also many other measures in the field of renewable energy and energy technology, says Räsänen.

− The utilisation rate of waste as well as plastic collection are also progressing well, and a lot of work has been done for the restoration of water bodies in the entire area.

Systematic work is also done on air quality issues on a continuous basis, which has produced results.

− Concentrations during dust periods in the spring have decreased through measures taken in street maintenance, Räsänen elaborates.

Resident involvement is important

Compared to many European cities, nature is close to city residents in Lappeenranta and the residents also value their environment. The tremendous popularity of the newly opened Rantaraitti lakeside route is a good example of this.

The cities participating in the competition must also show examples of resident participation and good practices. In August, Lappeenranta hosted a Greenreality carnival that was attended by 3,000 people.

– It is an indication that the topic is of interest to residents, says Räsänen.

Even though many things have already been done in Lappeenranta to build a green city, the work is still in incomplete and there is enough of it to go around in all sectors, Räsänen emphasises.

− We are only halfway there in climate actions. There is still much to be done with regard to noise control, circular economy and nature. The construction of the new wastewater treatment plant is also in a new phase.

Lahti, which is competing for the 2020 European Green Capital Award title in the series for larger cities, also qualified for the finals in its own division.

− It is great that the City of Lahti also reached the finals in the series for capitals, Räsänen rejoices.

Further details:

City of Lappeenranta

Ilkka Räsänen, Environmental Director
tel. +358 40 081 5284, ilkka.rasanen(at)lappeenranta.fi