Applying for the European Green Capital Award: Heilbronn sets out on the path to sustainability with LAND

The city of Heilbronn, located in the south of Germany, is being supported by LAND in its application for the European Green Capital (EGC) Award of 2026+, a yearly recognition for cities’ efforts in terms of sustainability and innovation.

Since 2010, the European Commission yearly awards cities over 100.000 inhabitants for their ability to implement the principles of the European Green Deal at a local scale. Winners are selected based on the evaluation of seven environmental indicators (ranging from air and water quality to waste management, to climate change adaptation and mitigation), as well as on the assessment of an overall communication strategy and action plan. The aim of the award is to highlight best practices and potential solutions for impactful sustainable urban development, while creating a network of change-leading cities.

Within this field, we bring extensive expertise, having successfully advised the city of Essen for winning the EGC title in 2017, as well as providing the Sardinian capital Cagliari with professional and scientific support for its application. Moreover, Andreas Kipar gained valuable experience in the application and moderation of similar international formats. Among others, in Germany he has acted as an EU expert for the environmental programme of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg (1993), at the IBA Emscherpark (1994-1999), as an international expert at the EXPO 2000 in Saxony-Anhalt, as a member of the expert committee of the IBA Fürst Pückler Land (2000-2010) and currently within the expert committee of the IBA 2027 StadtRegion Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg.

Recognising the qualities and potentials of Heilbronn, which is quickly setting a benchmark for change within Germany and beyond, Andreas Kipar confirms: “Heilbronn focuses on innovation in transformation, as the latest developments (IPAI) clearly show, and can thus become a blueprint for small and medium-sized international cities that want to focus on sustainability and digitalization in a future-oriented way.”

More information here