The Greek port city of Piraeus was recently honoured for its Blue Growth Initiative with a major environmental award by URBACT III, the European program for integrated urban development.
The award for “URBACT Good Practice City” was presented to Petros Kokkalis, the city’s executive city councilor for local economic growth and entrepreneurship in a ceremony held in Tallinn, Estonia.
“The Blue Growth Initiative was awarded as a practice of excellence in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation,” Petros Kokkalis noted in an announcement.
“It is a unique opportunity for the Municipality [of Piraeus] to share its experience…by presenting the initiative to a large audience, related to the sustainable urban development… and to connect with cities that confront the same challenges and aim at creating a network of ‘good practices’,” he stressed.
The Piraeus Municipality’s Blue Growth Initiative is an umbrella of actions aiming to promote business proposals relating to the sea and aquatic resources. It competed along with 270 other proposals, which were submitted by 219 cities from 29 countries.
The URBACT label celebrates practical solutions cities are using every day to meet challenges such as demographic change, climate and environmental targets, unemployment and urban poverty. The program is part of the European Union’s Cohesion Policy, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, the 28 Member States, Norway and Switzerland.
Blue Growth Video: youtube.com/watch?v=Hg9nR_rXX7g
Read more here.
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Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Nikolaos Diakidis License: CC-BY-SA
Source: greekcitytimes.com
