European Green Capitals for 2012, 2013 awarded

The environmental issues in Europe will be most likely solved in cities, if they are to be solved at all. Some cities are definitely greener than others. This time, the cities of Vitoria-Gasteiz and Nantes have been announced to be the European Green Capitals for 2012 and 2013 in the ceremony organised in the present Green Capital Stockholm.

From the winning cities, Nantes in France has a climate action plan with the aim of decreasing CO2 emissions by 25% by year 2020 (ref. 1990). The climate action plan was approved by the city council already in 2007 and since, the aim has been to integrate all public policies in the climate work and to quantify CO2 emission in all projects in the city.

Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain excels especially in the high proportion of green public areas in the city, ensuring its entire population live within 300 metres of an open green space.

More information: European Green Capital

Mapping global ecological footprint

A recently published Living Planet 2010 report by WWF shows that the Earth's population is using the equivalent of 1.5 planets' worth of natural resources and that biodiversity has fallen nearly 60% in low-income countries in less than 40 years. The report also states that carbon now accounts for over half the global ecological footprint. This somewhat depressing information should encourage us to find solutions and tools to halt the biodiversity loss and diminish our carbon footprint.

Luckily there are some good news, too. In non-tropical parts of the world, there’s actually been an increase in species numbers, by around 30% on average. This is due to greater conservation efforts and pollution control.

In this Ecological Footprint Index below you are able to search footprints by country.


The global average of the ecological footprint is three hectares, meaning the area required to provide the resources consumed by the population or average person in a year. The consumption of natural resources in the rich countries is on average five times higher than in the poorest countries.

More information: WWF Living Planet Report 2010

Solutions local, together

On 31 January - 2 February 2011, the conference Solutions local, together will fill the city of Turku, Finland with enthusiastic people in search of sustainable local solutions. The Conference will concentrate on introducing practical solutions and inspiring participants to use them locally, together with other stakeholders.

The preliminary programme for the conference is out now and registration is open. During three days, the conference introduces high-profile speakers, interesting parallel sessions as well as a variety of praxis visits and sustainable side events.

What makes Solutions local, together extremely interesting is the fact that sustainability is a top priority in organising the conference and the conference aims to set a model example of a sustainable conference and develops new practices for sustainable way of event organisation. As part of the process, menus with 80% of locally produced food will be launched in several local restaurants during the conference. Also in CHAMP project we aim at managing the project in a sustainable way, concentrating especially on our carbon footprint. In low carbon project management, greening the way of organising events is crucial.

Register quickly, as places are limited and early-bird rate applies until the end of October! Take a closer look on the website: www.solutions2011.fi
Read more about low carbon project management in CHAMP here.