Green City - Host City

AIPH World Green City Awards winners revealed

The Grand Winner, Hyderabad, also won the category Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth

[Source: AIPH] AIPH is proud to announce the Winners of the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022. The announcement of the 6 Category Winners and the Grand Winner was made at a dedicated Awards ceremony which took place at a special gala dinner at the IUCN Leaders Forum in the Self-Governing Province of Jeju, Republic of Korea on 14th October 2022.

The most prestigious award of the Inaugural 2022 edition, the Grand Winner, was presented to the city who was voted by the Jury to demonstrate the highest capacity for influence, replicability, and scope to inspire change in their entry. In making their decision, members of the Jury were invited to consider the following question:

“The AIPH World Green City Awards 2022 enables winning cities achieve greater recognition for their inspiring initiatives – in light of this, which entry do you feel may have the biggest transformational impact?”

It is AIPH’s great honour and privilege to present the award for the Grand Winner of the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022 to: The City of Hyderabad, India for their entry titled “Green Garland to the State of Telangana”

On behalf of the network of partners for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022, AIPH congratulates the City of Hyderabad for receiving this incredible accolade!

View the case study of the Grand Winner here.

“AIPH celebrates this fantastic achievement for the City of Hyderabad. We are proud to showcase their inspiring urban greening work. With this global recognition, we can confidently say that Hyderabad is a world leader in nature-oriented approaches to city design, form, and function,” says Mr. Tim Briercliffe, Secretary General, AIPH. “The innovation, ambition, and inspiring action demonstrated in the City’s entry leaves a powerful legacy for other cities from around the world to aspire to.”

The Grand Winner was selected from the list of six Category Winners, who each took home the trophies in recognition of their achievement. AIPH and partners proudly present the six Category Winners as follows:

Living Green for Biodiversity: Reverdecer Bogotá, Bogota D.C, Colombia

Living Green for Climate Change: Mexico City’s Environmental and Climate Change Program, Mexico City, Mexico

Living Green for Health and Wellbeing: Transforming degraded land into Urban Micro Parks, City of Fortaleza, Brazil

Living Green for Water: The Phytotechnology Stations at the Montréal Botanical Garden / Space for Life, City of Montreal, Canada

Living Green for Social Cohesion: OASIS Schoolyard Project, City of Paris, France

Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth: Green Garland to the State of Telangana, City of Hyderabad, India

“The AIPH World Green City Awards recognise inspiring leadership and successful action on the key issues that face cities in being sustainable, and delivering for nature, climate and people,” says Dr Bruno Oberle, Director General of IUCN. “The breadth of action being taken by the winners shows the crucial role healthy ecosystems have in providing the solutions that cities need to thrive far into the future.”

All eligible entries were assessed and scored, and the winners selected through a two-stage judging process. Following the first round of judging by the Technical Panel, a list of 18 Finalists was delivered to the world-renowned 2022 Awards Jury. The Jury, in the second stage of judging, was tasked with voting for a winner in each of the six categories, and then selecting the Grand Winner from these six Category winners.

All 18 finalist cities were presented with Highly Commended certificates and six more cities were presented with Certificates of Merit at the Awards ceremony. Case studies from all finalist cities, including the category winners, are available in the AIPH Green City Case Study Library.

This highly anticipated announcement of the 2022 winners, AIPH and partners bring the inaugural edition of the world’s first global Green City awards to a close. The resounding success of the 2022 edition has set the stage for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2024.  AIPH and IUCN also announced a new collaboration to support the 2024 Awards at the 2022 ceremony in Jeju. The 2024 edition will see AIPH and the growing network of partners recognise and celebrate the work of an even broader variety of inspiring cities from around the world who are champions for the power of plants and nature.

To express your city’s interest in entering and to be informed when entries open for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2024, click here.

To receive the latest news on the AIPH World Green City Awards and other Green City activities, AIPH invites you to subscribe to the AIPH Global Green City Update here.

Thank you to category sponsors Expo 2021 Hatay and Biblo for their support of the inaugural AIPH World Green City awards.

AIPH is also grateful to the network of partners for their ongoing support – Biophilic Cities, Cities & Health, CitiesWithNature, European Federation of Green Roof & Green Wall Associations (EFB), The Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (GTF), Greener Spaces Better Places, #NatureForAll, Salzburg Global Seminar, The Nature of Cities (TNoC), Trees for Cities, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Urban Biodiversity Hub (UBHub), World Urban Parks, Youth AIPH Announces Winning Cities for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022.

Shortlist announced for inaugural AIPH World Green City Awards

[Source: AIPH] The International Association of Horticultural Producers, AIPH, is proud to announce the shortlist of eighteen entries from cities around the world for the first edition of the AIPH World Green City Awards. In each of the six Awards Categories, the Technical Panel of Judges selected the three top scoring entries for this prestigious list.

“We are thrilled to be showcasing excellence in city greening from cities around the world,” said Tim Briercliffe, AIPH Secretary General. “As we reach this very exciting milestone, AIPH is confident that the first ever AIPH World Green City Awards is a resounding success, leaving a legacy that will shine through in future editions. Congratulations to each and every one of the shortlisted cities. We proudly celebrate this amazing achievement with you.”

The 2022 AIPH World Green City Awards Shortlist of entries per category is proudly announced as follows:

 

Living Green for Biodiversity

Addressing the loss of species, habitats, ecosystem health, and genetic diversity

 

Reverdecer Bogotá

Bogota D.C., Colombia

 

Act Local, Contribute Global to World Biodiversity Conservation

Town of Victoria Park, Australia

 

Ville de Paris- DEVE

City of Paris, France

 

Living Green for Climate Change

Tackling the root causes and effects of climate change to build more liveable and resilient cities

 

Peynircioglu Stream Ecological Restoration Project

City of Izmir, Turkey

 

Grey to Green

City of Melbourne, Australia

 

Mexico City's Environmental and Climate Change Program

Mexico City, Mexico

 

Living Green for Health and Wellbeing

Addressing the medical, behavioural, and social determinants of health for residents

 

Transforming degraded land into Urban Micro Parks

City of Fortaleza, Brazil

 

Utrecht Green and Healthy City

City of Utrecht, Netherlands

 

Sunvale Community Park

City of Brimbank, Australia

 

Living Green for Water

Ensuring that water resources are safeguarded and wisely used, with clean water available to all while also protecting residents from flooding risks

 

The Phytotechnology Stations at the Montréal Botanical Garden / Space for Life

City of Montreal, Canada

 

Creating a Green City

Logan City Council, Australia

 

uMhlathuze Water Stewardship Partnership

City of uMhlathuze, South Africa

 

Living Green for Social Cohesion

Fostering belonging, trust and inter-generational as well as cross-cultural relationships to prevent exclusion, marginalisation and violence

 

Socio-urban integration in the midst of an ecological reserve: The case of Rodrigo Bueno

City of Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

Sunchoenman Bay Wetland Conservation Project

Suncheon City, South Korea

 

OASIS Schoolyard Project

City of Paris, France

 

Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth

Creating systems and solutions that allow all city residents to overcome economic distress and thrive

 

The 2020-2030 Master Plan for the Conservation, Improvement and Development of Parc Jean-Drapeau

City of Montreal, Canada

 

Transformation of "Beltway to Green Belt"

City of Mashhad, Iran

 

Green Necklace to the State of Telangana

City of Hyderabad, India

 

"Addressing the multiple challenges cities face"

The shortlist of entries is presented on behalf of the Technical Panel by the six Category Leads to the 2022 Awards Jury who will identify one winner for each category, as well as the overall AIPH World Green City Awards 2022 winner.

“After reviewing the submissions for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022, I was amazed at not only the commitment to building green cities but the creativity and expression of local culture that was at the core of the submissions,” said Grant Pearsall, Urban Ecological Planner, Edmonton, Canada (Technical Panel member).

In addition to selecting the shortlist, the Technical Panel has made non-category-specific nominations to be considered by the Jury for Highly Commended Awards. These Highly Commended Awards are given to city entries that did not score highly enough to make the shortlist, but which demonstrate a particularly innovative and inspiring approach.

“The spread of very different entries is an indication of the wide range of initiatives, with plants at their heart, that are addressing the multiple challenges cities face due to climate change and the ecological emergency. This initiative by AIPH encourages cities to demonstrate the range of innovative urban nature-based solutions that are possible,” said Marcus Grant, Editor-in-Chief, Cities & Health (Technical Panel Category Lead, Health and Wellbeing).

Each eligible entry was assessed and scored by members of the Technical Panel against the following judging criteria:

•                     Vision: the initiative should be bold and include a fresh new model for using and/or delivering nature-orientated solution(s).

•                     Significance: the initiative should be designed to address a serious local problem or set of problems.

•                     Implementation: the initiative should have achieved or be well on its way to achieving its stated objective(s) and/or desirable outcomes.

•                     Learning and Transferability: the initiative should have generated some learning content or mechanisms that enable enhanced local practice in the future and/or offer potential for customised replication in other cities.

•                     Resilience: The initiative should be mindful of its impact on the planet and of its ability to be sustained over time.

 

“To create a healthy and happy urban life we need to include plants and nature in our cities. The 2022 entries for the AIPH World Green City Awards show that cities are taking action to showcase the value of living green. This is truly an inspiration for many other cities,” said Judith van der Poel, Director, Niek Roozen Landscape (Technical Panel member).

To learn more about the exciting initiatives by the shortlisted cities, click here.

“The AIPH Awards program is an important initiative to recognize outstanding worldwide contributors and projects that are transforming our world into a greener and healthier place,” said Michael von Hausen, President, MVH Urban Planning & Design Inc., Adjunct Prof., Simon Fraser University + University of Vancouver Island (Technical Panel member).

Looking ahead, AIPH will profile city entries as case studies to inspire other cities around the world to take action for plants and nature. AIPH celebrates each and every city entry as a leader in urban greening, and a champion of the green city principles.

All winners will be announced at a gala event in September/October 2022. The date and venue for this event will be announced soon. AIPH and partners will also launch the 2024 edition of the World Green City Awards at this gala event. To stay in the loop and receive further news about the AIPH World Green City Awards direct to your inbox, subscribe to the AIPH Global Green City Update here.

AIPH is grateful to the network of partners for their ongoing support for the AIPH World Green City Awards – Biophilic Cities, Cities & Health, CitiesWithNature, European Federation of Green Roof & Green Wall Associations (EFB), The Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (GTF), Greener Spaces Better Places, #NatureForAll, Salzburg Global Seminar, The Nature of Cities (TNoC), Trees for Cities, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Urban Biodiversity Hub (UBHub), Urban Land Institute, World Urban Parks, Youth Climate Leaders, and 8 80 Cities. Thank you also to sponsor Expo 2021 Hatay and media partners Cities Today, FloraCulture International, and Host City.

AIPH calls on cities to enter World Green City Awards

[Source: AIPH] AIPH is the world’s champion for the power of plants. The inaugural edition of the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022 recognises city-led initiatives relying on a greater use of plants and nature to create better and greener city environments – helping to fulfil local aspirations for improved economic, social and environmental resilience. With the deadline for submission of entries on 14th March 2022, AIPH invites all cities, large and small, to showcase their “living green” and demonstrate that they are champions for the power of plants.

“Plants are at the core of stabilizing our ecosystems and humanity has only recently begun to understand the multitude of benefits they can provide”- Mr. Pavel Dostal, CEO at GreenVille & Vice President of the EFB

Cities are only a few short steps away from submitting an entry. Registering a city profile starts the simple process and gives you access to the online portal to compile your entry and make your final submission online. A step-by-step guide to entering the AIPH World Green City Awards contains all the information cities need to progress along this exciting journey. There is still time to join the growing number of leading cities who are actively preparing their entries and reap the benefits of this exciting opportunity. Show the world how plants and nature have transformed your city.

“Local and regional governments have a pivotal role to play in developing nature-based solutions and inclusion of plants in an urban environment. The Awards will be the moment to celebrate those success stories from our members around the world”- Ms. Emilia Saiz, Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

The AIPH World Green City Awards are designed to celebrate and champion ambitious nature-orientated approaches to city design and operation. The 2022 edition is offered in six categories, with awards presented to the best entry in each category, and with one overall AIPH World Green City winner. Cities can submit multiple entries in more than one category to increase their chances of being chosen as a winner by the esteemed technical panel and jury. There is no cost for cities to register or to enter the Awards, and there are many benefits, which you can read about here

AIPH has partnered with leading organisations and city networks to bring the AIPH World Green City Awards to life: the first global cities awards where plants and nature are the core focus.

“Having promoted the sustainable development of cities for many years, Host City is proud to be a partner among this prestigious group” said Ben Avison, Editorial & Conference Director of Host City. “We commend AIPH for their leadership in recognising positive action through the World Green City Awards.”

As a global urban community, we stand together at a critical moment in the history of our planet. As our cities grow exponentially and nature continues to diminish at unprecedented rates, now is our time to take ambitious action and transform our cities into greener, healthier, and more liveable places where both humans and nature thrive in harmony.

The solutions to the complex challenges that our cities face come from nature. There has never been a better time to harness the power of plants. As we stand together, united by a common vision, the AIPH World Green City Awards aims to enable accelerated action by cities, both in 2022, the critical year for nature, and in the coming Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.

The AIPH World Green City Awards are well within reach for all cities who are committed to shaping a greener future. AIPH and partners call on cities from around the world to act now. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to lead the way and inspire a global movement for greener cities. For more information or to enter, click here.

By entering the AIPH World Green City Awards, everyone wins- Cities, People, and Planet. Please read the Frequently Asked Questions. The AIPH Green City team is available to assist cities every step of the way. For assistance or support, please contact greencity@aiph.org.

AIPH Green City Conference sparks purposeful thinking on greening for urban living and the future of our planet

[Source: AIPH] The AIPH 2021 International Green City conference brought together a worldwide audience of professionals, organisations, city councils and government administrations to hear how international experts on greening urban spaces have met this challenge. 

Incremental steps to reach for the skies

For the keynote speaker, Professor Rob Adams, his journey to greening the city began in the early 1980s in Melbourne, Australia, when he was an urban designer helping to write a 1985 strategy plan to make Melbourne “a better city to attract people”. Through incremental actions to improve the characteristics of the city that they already had, he spoke passionately on how they reclaimed street space, widened pathways, tore up the “asphalt and planted trees” creating active recreational areas with natural shading canopies. In 1992 there was a breakthrough in traffic routing, pushing forward the greening and pedestrianisation of the city. Melbourne is now recognised as one of the most liveable cities and acts as an exemplar of the battle against climate change. 

In a question-and-answer session after his speech, Prof Adams said a “political inertia problem for many cities is holding back progress”.

Cool streets and community spirit

For the past ten years, Vienna in Austria has been planning and managing its green transition. To put this into context, Vienna has 23 boroughs, substantial public transport infrastructure and a population that grows annually by 25,000 with 62% living in subsidised housing. Now Vienna is 53% green, and its journey has included the collaboration of the public and private sector, “shared visions, and strategies and a culture of working together closely over longer periods of time”. The family has been at the heart of the vision to create spaces for children to grow up and thrive, changing brownfield sites into living quarters, connecting to the city with green walkways and the public’s community spirit with urban farms. Artificial islands protect the city from flooding and are also weekend retreats to unwind. Cool streets pop up for citizens to escape the summer heat, with no concrete visible, only vertical planting and shady trees. 

Former Vice Mayor Ms Maria Vassilakou proudly took us on a virtual tour of the city that holds the number one title as the world’s most liveable city for the past three years. She is now serving as a member of the EU-Horizon Mission experts board on “Climate-neutral smart Cities”, advising the European Commission on the design and implementation of the respective mission. Ms Vassilakou added, “Urban recovery after the pandemic will pretty much rely on the transformation and the greening of public space to create cities that we love and new opportunities for us all.”

The need for better planning

Mr Peter Massini, Director of Future Nature Consulting Ltd, UK, presented an overview of greening metrics that are used in policy development, discussing some of the challenges and drawbacks and how effective they are in practice. When talking about the challenges in the UK, he said, “If we are going to make London a sustainable city, then its dense urban spaces have to provide space for people, space for wildlife, but hold functional benefits around climate change and public health.”

Empowerment for climate change

Empowerment is a vital tool, and green recovery needs a powerful voice. Ms Jennifer McKelvie, Councillor for the City of Toronto, Canada, gave insights from her experience in inspiring the next generation of climate leaders through the C40 Women for Climate mentorship programme. This programme builds upon the City of Toronto’s commitment to fighting climate change as participants work on self-initiated projects that align with TransformTO and the Resilience Strategy. Launched in 2017, TransformTO lays out a set of long-term, low-carbon goals to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions. The Resilience Strategy sets out a vision, goals, and actions to help Toronto survive, adapt, and thrive in the face of any challenge, particularly climate change.

For the love of nature

Prof. Tim Beatley, the founder of Biophilic Cities, USA, explained the power of community in making cities more nature focussed and the influence of biophilia in inspiring change. He poignantly pointed out that cities disconnect from nature, and we urgently need to find ways to reconnect. He gave examples of biodiverse activities across the globe where people are actively pursuing wildlife habitats in the buildings of city centres.

Ms Ingrid Coetzee, Director of Biodiversity, Nature & Health for ICLEI Africa, described the organisation’s projects on mainstreaming nature, its benefits, and nature-based solutions into urban planning and decision-making in cities and city-regions thereby helping them become healthier, and more resilient and liveable places. She said we should be “flicking on the green switch” as a top priority for the planet, humanity and society”.  

Green City tools

Dr Audrey Timm, Technical Advisor to AIPH, presented the  latest update of the AIPH 2020 Green City Guidelines – a digital resource providing evidence that supports innovative policy and practice in green cities. It has themes on Green Neighbourhoods, Green Streets, Green Buildings, and case studies on Green Cities.

 

Green City case studies

AIPH’s Green City principles promotes the essential role of plants in creating vibrant urban areas in which people and businesses can thrive. We heard case studies from the following experts.

Ms Anne Jaluzot, delivered a case study of Barcelona, the city which changed traffic patterns, replacing roadways with living green, thereby increasing social interactions, and reducing pollution.

Mr Niek Roozen, the founder of Niek Roozen Landscapes bv, Netherlands, introduced the power of plant selection in dominating landscape performance, using Almere as a case study for motivating plant selection linked to function and the multi-functionality of urban greening.

Dr Andrew Hirons, Senior Lecturer in Arboriculture at Myerscough College, UK, explained the science of tree selection for city landscapes and how essential this is to creating resilience in our urban forests. He also stressed how vital plant health is, and the careful management of each tree and shrub in situ is essential for the survival of green spaces in city landscapes.  

AIPH Green City Chair, Mr Bill Hardy brought to focus the AIPH Green City initiative and how the content of this conference programme integrates with the AIPH vision as the world’s champion for the power of plants. In summing, he said, “Today there has been a wealth of information and inspiration. We have seen how new cities can be built using Green City principles. We also learnt how older cities can be fixed to meet the same goals without huge infrastructure costs. We need to rethink our streets, and make green spaces for people, not parking for cars.”

All recordings are available to watch here https://bit.ly/3u5vcAA

Green Cities Champions

AIPH is a champion for the power of plants, and at this conference, we launched the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022, to recognise and celebrate every city that champions nature in its design. Visit aiph.org/green-city/green-city-awards Register an expression of interest to receive application documentation Register your interest in the AIPH World Green City Awards

AIPH is grateful to our AIPH World Green City Awards Partners 2022  Biophilic CitiesCities & HealthTrees For CitiesThe Nature of CitiesICLEI CitiesWithNature and  Urban Land Institute. Thank you to our Media Partners, FloraCulture International and Host City.

AIPH World Green City Awards launched to champion ‘Living Green’

[Source: AIPH] AIPH strongly believes that the correct use of plants and the landscape in cities plays a critical role in the fight against climate change and all its associated impacts. It is proven that greener cities make healthier citizens and stimulate social and economic development.

The AIPH World Green City Awards celebrate the inclusion of plant life and nature into city design, planning and function and applaud the leaders of this growing movement.

Bernard Oosterom, President, AIPH says, “It is imperative that we embrace a nature-orientated approach to city design and operation. Through the AIPH World Green City Awards, we promote the essential role of plants in creating vibrant urban areas in which people and businesses can thrive. We are calling on city authorities all over the world to showcase what they have done and how they have used ‘Living Green’ to make their cities better for all residents, more sustainable, and more resilient.”

Entries are invited from city governments and relevant organisations around the world that promote and support ‘Living Green’ in their plans. Cities will be celebrated through six categories: Health and wellbeing, Climate change, Economic recovery and inclusive growth, Biodiversity, Water and Social cohesion.

Supporting the Awards, Tim Beatley of Biophilic Cities says:

“The importance of nature in our urban lives has never been clearer. Nature can’t just be an afterthought. It must be the central design and planning principle.

We need to recognise and celebrate those cities around the world that are investing in nature, and that understand and see nature as an essential ingredient in happy, healthy, and meaningful lives.

I am excited that for the first time there will be a global award that shines a light on those most exemplary green cities. We believe this award will play an important role in accelerating the global biophilic and green cities movement.”

We want to celebrate every city that, like AIPH, is a champion for the power of plants - Enter the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022.

Visit aiph.org/green-city/green-city-awards

Register an expression of interest to receive application documentation Register your interest in the AIPH World Green City Awards

AIPH is grateful to our AIPH World Green City Awards Partners 2022  Biophilic Cities, Cities & Health, Trees For Cities , The Nature of Cities , ICLEI CitiesWithNature  and  Urban Land Institute. Thank you to our Media Partners FloraCulture International and Host City.