The historic city of Guimarães, in the district of Braga, is once again a candidate for European Green Capital, committed to sustainable development
The historic city of Guimarães, in the district of Braga, in Portugal, has formalized its candidacy for European Green Capital 2025 in recent days, after having reached 5th place in this same candidacy in 2017. In recent years, the city has invested in sustainable development and reinforced its projects in these areas.
Guimarães City Council revealed that, in recent years, the municipality has been working on sustainability in “high value” projects and that this application demonstrates the path and goals to be achieved for the seven sustainability indicators: air quality; noise; water; nature, biodiversity and sustainable land use; waste and circular economy, climate change; mitigation; adaptation.
Guimarães City Council also noted that “throughout the application process, Guimarães once again demonstrates the importance of an integrative and multidisciplinary governance model — Governance Ecosystem 2030 — based on research, involvement, education and environmental awareness, through the Landscape Laboratory, the institution that coordinated this application. The structure for writing the candidacy relied on technicians from the municipality and participating entities, as well as specialists in the various areas under evaluation”.
The city of Guimarães is the largest city and municipality in the sub-region of Vale do Ave and is located in the district of Braga. It is historically associated with the foundation of Portuguese nationality and identity. Guimarães, among other towns, predates and prepares the foundation of Portugal, being known as “The Cradle of the Portuguese Nation”. Its historic center has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.
The European Green Capital Award distinguishes cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants from the Member States of the European Union, candidate countries to the European Union, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, recognizing the efforts implemented by each municipality in the context of making urban centers more sustainable, with policies that make it possible to increase the quality of life of residents in these centers and promote a more environmental economy.
The list of finalist cities will be announced in June and the winning municipality will be known in October. The city of Guimarães is in the race for the title, being able to position Portugal’s environmental and sustainability policies, as in 2020, the city of Lisbon won this title.
