Dublin has been accepted as one of 16 cities bidding to win the European Green Capital 2023 Award, and a panel of independent experts will now begin a technical assessment of each application to select a shortlist of finalist cities for the award.

The panel will assess the European Green Capital applications on the basis of 12 environmental indicators. A shortlist of finalist cities will be announced in the spring of 2021 and the shortlisted cities will be invited to present to an international jury, chaired by the European Commission.

The EGCA 2023 finalist cities will each present an action plan on how their city intends to fulfil its European Green Capital year, projects and actions it intends to put in place to enhance the city’s environmental sustainability, as well as a communications strategy.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in 2021 in Lahti, Finland, which is the European Green Capital for 2021. The EGCA 2023 winning city will receive €600,000 to be used in projects/actions to enhance the city’s environmental sustainability and to achieve the city’s sustainability vision.

The selection of a city awarded with the title of European Green Capital is assessed on the basis of 12 environmental indicators: Air Quality, Noise, Waste, Water, Nature and Biodiversity, Sustainable Land Use and Soil, Green Growth and Eco-innovation, Climate Change: Mitigation, Climate Change: Adaptation, Sustainable Urban Mobility, Energy Performance, and Governance.