Bra\u0219ov, a popular mountain city in central Romania, has again entered the competition for the European Green Capital award for the second year in a row. This time, the Romanian city entered the race for the 2026 title alongside eight other cities with over 100,000 inhabitants from Portugal, Spain, Germany, Austria, Latvia, and Poland.<\/p>\n
By entering the competition, the cities want to show that they are already on the green transition path, creating a healthier environment for their citizens.<\/p>\n
The nine candidates<\/a> for the European Green Capital 2026 title are Braga (Portugal), Bra\u0219ov (Romania), C\u00f3rdoba (Spain), Guimar\u00e3es (Portugal), Heilbronn (Germany), Klagenfurt (Austria), Linz (Austria), Riga (Latvia), and Rybnik (Poland).<\/p>\n \u201cBra\u0219ov continues to invest in the projects that transform it into a sustainable, environmentally friendly city. It is for the second year in a row that Bra\u0219ov has been selected for this competition, being the only one in Romania that has reached this level in recent years,\u201d said<\/a> mayor Allen Coliban.<\/p>\n\n In the coming weeks, in the first stage, a panel of seven independent experts will evaluate each application on seven environmental indicators. This will take until June to complete. Individual technical assessment reports will be drawn up, and a shortlist of finalist cities will be announced in the summer of 2024.<\/p>\n Then, in October, the finalist cities will be invited to an international jury panel chaired by the European Commission. The winners will be announced on October 24 at a festive Awards Ceremony in Valencia, Spain, Europe\u2019s 2024 Green Capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n Apart from a trophy, the European Green Capital winner will receive a financial prize of EUR 600,000. The prize money is intended to support key actions across the seven indicator areas in the city and organize awareness-raising events with and for the citizens.<\/p>\n The winners will join the 16 cities already awarded in the Green Capital category since 2010.<\/p>\n Bra\u0219ov also competed for the European Green Capital Award 2025 but was not selected among the finalists<\/a>.<\/p>\n irina.marica@romania-insider.com<\/p>\n