Bristol is making a third bid to be officially recognised as Europe’s greenest city. The Bristol Green Capital Partnership has submitted the city’s application to win the European Green Capital Award for 2015, having been shortlisted for 2010, and narrowly come runner up to Copenhagen for the 2014 award.
Bristol remains the only UK city to have been shortlisted for the award, demonstrating that it is the UK’s leading city for s
ustainability. If Bristol wins it will provide a platform for new investment and jobs in the low carbon economy.
The award is judged in two stages – through a technical assessment process that looks at 12 subject areas such as energy, water consumption, waste, transport and green spaces. If Bristol gets through to the shortlist in May next year, it is then judged on its vision for the city, its ability to communicate on sustainability issues and its plan for 2015. The winning city will then be announced at the end of June 2013.
Green Capital Partnership chairman Professor Martin Bigg said: “Winning the award isn’t about getting a nice plaque on the wall – it’s about recognising and celebrating the progress that the people and city of Bristol have made over many years in ensuring that Bristol is at the leading edge of the UK’s core cities in terms of quality of life.
“Being a green capital is about taking the long term view, protecting and enhancing our natural resources as well as investing in the future.”
West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) chair Colin Skellett, who is also chair of Wessex Water, added: “The LEP and Wessex Water are delighted to support this bid and Wessex Water has contributed to the waste water section of the bid. This bid is about ensuring Bristol is recognised as a world-class city creating jobs and investment that will deliver a prosperous low carbon economy.”
Darren Hall, manager of the Green Capital Partnership said: “Entering the award raises the profile of sustainability issues and shows that we are up there with the best in Europe. It’s incredibly important that people recognise the urgency and scale of the challenge we face in making sure that Bristol is resilient and thriving. Even if we win, we also need to get together to sort out some of the big issues that we still face, like transport and more low carbon jobs, especially in the more deprived areas of Bristol.”
