The partners of the initiative used this meeting to review the progress of the project, which focuses on improving their cities in terms of water, air, noise, waste, nature and biodiversity.
The partnership of the project co-funded by the European Union, called GreenMe5 of the LIFE programme, met to host a meeting between politicians representing public institutions (municipalities) belonging to the project: Murcia, Cieza, Arezzo, Vilnius, and Helsingborg.
In addition to the representatives of the partner countries, the event was attended by Alfonso Alcolea, a technician from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment in Brussels, who moderated this political debate on the implementation of the Green City Accord one year after the start of the project, which is led by the Federation of Municipalities of the Region of Murcia.
Politicians from the partner cities, committed to this environmental pact, explained how it is influencing their political agenda and, above all, what benefits their territories are obtaining.
Alfonso Alcolea, told during his presentation the environmental objectives of the new European Commission, the main events that will take place during 2025, and the new incorporations of cities to this pact.
On behalf of the city of Murcia, the councillor for European projects, Mercedes Bernabé, highlighted the importance of the project, and its inclusion in the transformation of Murcia into a smart and sustainable city. ‘We must continue to work together in this direction, in this way, to create greener, healthier and better places to live,’ she said.
Cieza City Councillor, responsible for the European Projects portfolio Francisco Martínez, commented that ‘the municipality has internalised the mandate and needs that the Green City Agreement has, and is committed to applying this learning and taking the steps to make the city more liveable, healthy and sustainable’.
From Arezzo, the mayoral chief of staff Gianni Rossi, commented that, ‘signing the Agreement helps the city to have a better understanding of its environment, and how the Green City Agreement can impact on the territory, and on its capacity to improve its governance during the process’. Alessandro Forzoni, a technician from the Arezzo administration, explained some of the actions they are carrying out, such as door-to-door collection to ensure recycling, which is a key measure, having gone from a 35% recycling rate to 65%.
Alexander Svensson, chairman of the Department of Urban Planning and Technical Services Helsingborg, recounted some of the activities they have undertaken to implement the Green Deal and put it on the municipality’s agenda in a practical way. ‘We have protected 58 hectares in new nature reserves and invested a lot in sustainable mobility infrastructure for bicycle transport, and also in a second line of our express bus that runs entirely on green electricity.
Anton Nikitin, head of sustainability in Vilnius, told of the commitment to more sustainable mobility, in which he says they are heavily renovating their public transport, including new trolleybuses. ‘We are planning the expansion of public transport by 2028, getting more frequent service, so new vehicles are being purchased that respond to green electric transport,’ he said. In addition, he explained that they have also expanded infrastructure aimed at bicycle use, for which they have very positive results. ‘The use of bicycles has gone from 1.5% in 2017 to 5% in 2024,’ he commented.
For his part, Manuel Pato, director of European Projects of the FMRM encouraged the politicians participating in the meeting to ‘keep going forward with the same enthusiasm and working to achieve the objectives that will turn the territories into sustainable cities, since, without the commitment of the political class to raise awareness among citizens, there is no possible way forward’, he said.