Environment

Porto is (re)elected for the Eurocities Environment Chair

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Filipa Brito

The Municipality of Porto was elected for the Chair of Eurocities Environmental Forum, as it happened in 2018, when deputy Mayor of Porto, Filipe Araújo took the position in the network.  

The elections were held in an online format, owing to the ongoing pandemic, and as announced yesterday by the Eurocities official website, Porto is among the newly elected chairs of Eurocities political forums, as regards the Environment, and it will represent major European cities as far as environmental policies are concerned.

Porto's application was based on the focus on the economic recovery being combined with a sustainable environment, under the European Pact on Ecology that issues the guidelines for the climate commitment taken by the EU; also, it presented important issues to the city, and namely nature based solutions for the urban environment, which includes the Asprela Central Park.

The relevance of green spaces, taken by the city's Master Plan, currently under public discussion, of doubling the number of green spaces in the city has strengthened Porto's application in this area, alongside the Environment strategy in the city and the results achieved in 2020, which are set out in a Brief Guide to the Environment.

Porto is a member of Eurocities since 1990. Founded in 1986, this network of cities promotes the exchange of best practices and represents the interests of major cities in the framework of Community institutions, striving to include urban demands in European policies.

EUROCITIES was founded in 1986 by the mayors of Barcelona, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Lyon, Milan, and Rotterdam. This network decided that comprehensible development policy analysis and discussions should include the issue of cities and their economic, political and social development.

At present, EUROCITIES represents around 130 million citizens throughout Europe, bringing together local governments of over 140 main cities from 30 countries.