Civitas awards recognise cities taking action on sustainability
The cities of Parma (Italy), Aachen (Germany), and Gdynia (Poland) were recognised in the CIVITAS Awards 2021.
Parma recognised that it needs to reduce local car use and put in place a new low emission zone which won it the Climate-Neutral award.
Tiziana Benassi, Parma deputy mayor for environmental sustainability says: “Our ambition, shared amongst the public and private organisations that are partners of the Parma Carbon Neutrality Alliance, is to reach carbon neutrality by 2030: a very ambitious yet achievable goal if we all believe change is possible and we work every day to fight climate change.
“Limiting access for the most polluting cars with the introduction of a Low Emission Zone across the entire urban area is our first step in the systemic transformation to make Parma a green and carbon-neutral city. The Green area, whose heart is the historical city centre (Blue area), will contribute to a higher quality of life of everyone visiting, working and living in Parma.”
Aachen was the winner of the Transformation award in recognition that, since 2020, the city has transformed 4.2km of cycling routes, built 1,076 bicycle racks, 150 new e-vehicle charging stations, and introduced the first hydrogen garbage trucks in Germany.
Gdynia won this year’s Legacy award for its implementation of new bus lanes, cargo bikes, pedestrian-friendly zones, trolley- and clean buses, mobility campaigns, and data management.
Marek Łucyk, Gdynia deputy mayor, says: “Since joining the CIVITAS community, we as a city have had the great opportunity to learn, develop and implement innovative solutions, as well as to share our knowledge on sustainable mobility. This has increased the quality and accelerated the process of our city’s development towards a green and people-friendly city.”