living in cities;
Whereas European cities concentrate most of the environmental challenges facing our
society including the dangerous consequences of global warming but also bring together
commitment and innovation to resolve them;
Whereas the European Heads of State at the European Council of June 2006 adopted
the renewed Sustainable Development Strategy for an enlarged European Union with the
aim of identifying and developing actions to enable the EU to achieve continuous improvement
of quality of life both for current and for future generations, through the creation of
sustainable communities able to manage and use resources eciently;
Whereas the European Commission adopted the Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment
on 11 January 2006, committing itself to supporting and encouraging Europe’s cities
to adopt a more integrated approach to urban management thus making them healthier
and better places to live in and reducing the adverse environmental impact of cities on
the wider environment;
Whereas the idea of a European award is to further encourage cities to achieve a high level
of environmental protection and improve the quality of the environment,
ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/docs/about/egc-declaration.pdf