Ukrainian city Ternopil to compete for European Green Capital Award 2028

Ternopil, a city in Western Ukraine, has joined a new group of cities competing for the prestigious 2028 European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards, marking the 16th edition of this initiative. The applicant cities are dedicated to becoming greener, cleaner, and more sustainable urban centres. 

The 17 eligible cities applied for the European Green Capital Award 2028 – each with over 100,000 inhabitants. Besides Ternopil, these are Aalborg (Denmark), Bielsko-Biała and Gdańsk (Poland), Rome and Brescia (Italy), Košice (Slovakia), Lugo, Murcia, Mataró, Terrassa and Zaragoza (Spain), Miskolc (Hungary), Nîmes (France), Podgorica (Montenegro), Porto and Setúbal (Portugal). 

Following the admission of applicant cities, a panel of seven independent experts will conduct a technical assessment of each submission. They will evaluate performance across seven key areas: air pollution, noise pollution, water management, waste management, biodiversity, climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation.

When the individual technical reports are finalised, the list of finalist cities entering the second stage of the assessment will be announced in early July. 

The finalists will make their case before an international jury panel, chaired by the European Commission, on 7-8 October. They must outline their communication strategy and present their action plan for delivering the proposed initiatives if awarded the 2028 European Green Capital title.

The 2028 winners will be announced on 8 October 2026 during a festive awards ceremony in Guimarães (Portugal), the current European Green Capital.

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Press release