UBC - Commissions / Commission on Environment

Many of the practices arising from the local governments' decisions provide excellent support to the attainment of sustainable development on the local level. These practices can also act as useful models for other cities. The intention with the Best Environmental Practice in Baltic Cities award is to
encourage member cities to develop their administration and services in innovative ways for the good of the whole municipality and its citizens and, furthermore, provide a mechanism for spreading such good practices among the Baltic Cities.

Since 1997, the UBC Commission on Environment had been discussing the possibility of establishing an environmental award scheme within the UBC. As a result of these discussions, the commission decided in its meeting in Lübeck on 15 January 1999 to run the Best Environmental Practice in Baltic Cities Award scheme for the first time that year.

As the experiences in 1999 were very good, the award was successfully run for the second time in 2001, and will now on be organised every second year, co-inciding with the UBC General Conferences (the occasions of the general conferences are being used for the award ceremony).

Now that the Award has been run twice very successfully it strongly looks like there is a demand for it in the UBC member cities. The next, and at the same time the third, Award will be run in 2003. The outcomes of the award process - the good practices and the interest raised - have also been utilised in good practice exchange projects. The Best City Practices Project (BCP) 2000-2001 was based on the 1999 award practices, and also a new good practice project, TBestC is currently under preparation.

Best Environmental Practise in Baltic Cities Award 2001 goes to the City of Gdansk

In the second Environmental Award 2001 special emphasis was put on innovative combination of environmental and social goals. After comprehensive evaluation of the 16 practices/applications, the Award Committee chose the City of Gdańsk with their Ecological Sobieszewska Island project as the winner. This project it was seen covering best and most broadly many aspects of sustainability - economic, environment and social as well as involving ordinary citizens, which is very important for positive effects in their attitude and behaviour.

Sobieszewska Island serves a delighting example of how the change for more ecological direction can boost both the economy and the wellbeing of local people. In the beginning of 1990s the Island, which lies on the Baltic Sea coast, in the Municipality of Gdańsk, suffered from severe environmental problems, such as polluted soil and surface and also air pollution caused by coal heating.

The project started in 1994 and was initiated by the Environmental Protection Department. The aim was to improve environmental protection when, on the other hand, the possibilities for recreation and agriculture were increased. Elaboration of new spatial plan for the Island (EWS), landscape preservation, construction and modernisation of infrastructure, green tourism and recreation as well as ecological education are examples of implemented activities.

The project is still going strong, but has already reached some of its goals. The image of the Island has changed to be positive, local people have been involved and play an active role in the development. Also the economical situation is flourishing. To put a long strory short: sustainable development has become more than words in Sobieszewska Island.

Other participating cities - each of them with very good and relevant practices - were Kolding, Tallinn, Keila, Lahti, Helsinki, Vaasa, Pori, Bützow, Rostock, Cēsis, Panevėžys, St. Petersburg, Norrköping and Sundsvall. The winner of the Award 2001 was announced during the VI UBC General Conference 'Social Justice in Baltic Cities in the New Millenium' in Rostock.

Tartu Agenda 21 wins the very first UBC Best Environmental Practise in Baltic Cities Award in 1999

For the first Award the Commission on Environment was calling for innovative practices which had been developed and/or implemented by city administrations to meet local needs. The intention was not to look for the absolutely best management schemes, but to look for innovative practices, which support local sustainable development and environmental management well.

Out of fifteen participants, the City of Tartu, Estonia, with their Tartu Agenda 21, won the 1999 award. City of Tartu has carried out projects for sustainable environmental development within the framework of Tartu Agenda 21 since 1995. Since then, there has been several years of hard work, which had logical and realistic aims concerning sustainable development. Tartu Agenda 21 is more then a project - it is a way to reach lasting improvements in a society in general.

Other cities that applied were Elbląg, Sundsvall, Växjö, Gotland, Bützow, Gdynia, Kaunas, Kolding, Lahti, Norrköping, Pori, Rostock, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. The winner of Award 1999 was announced during the UBC V General Conference in Stockholm.

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