russels will compete against the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, the English city of Bristol and Scotland’s largest city Glasgow for the title. This year the French city of Nantes is European Green Capital and next year the Danish capital Copenhagen will hold the title.

The award was first given out by the European Commission in 2010. Each year, one European city is selected as the European Green Capital.

According to the European Commission’s website, the award is given to a city that:

• Has a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards;
• Is committed to on-going and ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development;
• Can act as a role model to inspire other cities and promote best practices to all other European cities.

The Brussels regional minister responsible for the environment Evelyne Huytebroeck (Francophone green, photo) told the Brussels regional news site Brusselnieuws.be that “We’re not there yet, but Brussels can be proud of the progress we’ve made over the past ten years.”

“We have everything going for us to be given the title of Europe’s Green Capital. Brussels has a proper green plan that is a firm, ambitious and visionary project to turn our region into a sustainable city.”

[Flandersnews.be / Expatica]