Vaasa is the winner of the European Green Leaf 2026 award!
The City of Vaasa has won the prestigious European Green Leaf 2026 award. The competition, organised by the European Commission, focuses on how cities have addressed and continue to address environmental challenges such as climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. The winning city will receive a cash prize of 200,000 € and host several international events during the title year.
The jury praised Vaasa for its ambitious goal to become a climate-neutral city by the end of the decade, and especially for its energy education pathway spanning from early childhood education to higher education. According to the jury, Vaasa is also an excellent example of innovative technological solutions supporting sustainable development.
– The award will bring us increased visibility, investment opportunities, and international events. Over the next year, further work will be done to plan how to make the Green Leaf theme, along with efforts on environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation, more visible and how to move these initiatives forward together, says Johanna Punkari.
The European Green Leaf 2026 title was open to cities with less than 100,000 inhabitants. In addition to Vaasa, the finalists included Águeda (Portugal), Saint-Quentin (France), and Sant Boi de Llobregat (Spain). Vaasa is only the second Finnish city to receive this recognition, after Lappeenranta.
Read more: Vaasa is the winner of the European Green Leaf 2026 award! | Vaasa
