2. CONCEPT OF EU BEST PRACTICE
 Best Practices are promoted and used as a means of:
 Improving public policy based on what works,
 Raising awareness of decision-makers at all levels and of the public
of potential solutions to common social, economic and
environmental problems,
 Sharing and transferring knowledge, expertise and experience
through networking and learning.

3. INTRODUCTION
 Vitoria-Gasteiz, which is a capital of the Basque Country, in northern
Spain
 It is one of Europe’s cities with the largest proportion of green areas per
inhabitant, approximately 45m2 per person. (Javier Maroto, Mayor of
Vitoria-Gasteiz)
 Vitoria-Gasteiz is a medium-sized city:
 the municipality comprises the urban area, with a population of 235 445, plus 64 small,
rural hamlets in the surrounding countryside.
 The city is surrounded by a large area of agricultural land and natural
vegetation, with the mountains and forests.
 The tradition of careful urban planning has made Vitoria-Gasteiz as a
compact and well-organized city.
 good cooperation from the residents is important in keeping Vitoria-
Gasteiz green.

4. WHY IS VITORIA-GASTEIZ SPECIAL?
 Vitoria-Gasteiz is one of Europe’s greenest cities, in more than
one sense.
 It has over 10 million m2 of parks and green spaces, and its
flagship Green Belt project has attracted international
recognition.
 Vitoria-Gasteiz builds on the experience of over three decades
of environmental planning.
 Victoria-Gasteiz has been awarded the European Green
Capital Award, 2012.
 The aim of the award is to promote urban sustainability and
the sharing of best practices between cities.

5. The city where green is capital
> Strategic urban planning,
> Strong citizen involvement,
> Balanced management of the environment
Preserve the landscape and the heritage
> Vitoria-Gasteiz’s network of gardens, walkways and
Green Belt parks and the forthcoming declaration of
the Vitoria Mountains as a natural park have
become the city’s signature.
Conscious city folk
>The Action Pelan, 2012 which involving all sorts of civic
organisations (schools, community and professional
associations, etc.), citizens and industry in the city’s
environmental projects.
> It is also a socially sustainable city, where the welfare
of citizens and their quality of life are considered key
issues.

7. SMART MOBILITY
 Vitoria-Gasteiz, a pedestrian-scale compact city,
has a long track record in developing and
implementing policies for achieving a sustainable
City that offers a high quality of life for its citizens.
 For many years the City has a strong commitment
towards environmentally-friendly (and healthy)
mobility through ongoing investment in pedestrian
areas and cycle lanes

8. PEDESTRIAN
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9. PUBLIC
TRANSPORT
 More effective transfers
between lines, there are
a range of supporting
measures, including bus
lanes, queue jumpers,
traffic-light priorities and
new platforms
 This result passenger
numbers have rocketed
with a 45% increase in
the number of trips per
month.
 The speed of the
services has improved
by 14.5% and fuel
consumption has been
reduced by 6% since
the new bus network
was launched
Current Public Transport Network uses, 17 vehicles E5, 22 E4, 22
E3, 20 E2 and 6 E1. The network is completed with 12 tram
convoys

11. Bicycle
•Bicycle use is
increasing steadily
and has risen from
1.4% in 2001 to
3.3% in 2006, with
an average of
18,000 daily trips.
•There are nearly
97km of urban
bicycle
infrastructures and a
further 91km of
cycle and pedestrian
paths across the
Green Belt
Bicycle infrastructure (2010). Red lines are the bicycle network and orange ones correspond to
low-medium traffic streets. Red points show the bicycle parking infrastructure. Blue boxes locate
the Public-Bike stations

12. EDUCATIONAL
 The city council has, for over a decade, been
implementing an annual programme of education
and
 Awareness-raising activities for sustainable
development. They reach out to the entire
population,
 Not just children, aiming to encourage action and
prepare citizens to change their behaviour

13. Green Belt in environmental
education
 The Green Belt has been the focus
of numerous educational and
awareness-raising initiatives.
 Over 88 000 people took part in
activities organized in and around
the different parks and green area
Wetlands teach the importance
of biodiversity
• In July 2009, the city authorities opened
the Ataria Interpretation Centre in the
Salburua Wetlands, which provides a
recreational and educational focus point.
• The centre aims to increase
environmental awareness among visitors

14. Agenda 21 for Schools
 The signing of the Ålborg
Charter in 1995 and of the Local
Agenda 21 in 1998 led to the
implementation of the Local
Agenda 21 for Schools
 The schools an essential tool in
building awareness among
future generations
Training for green jobs
• The Environmental Studies
Centre was set up at the end
of the 1980s with the initial
task of providing postgraduate
training
for ‘environmental technicians’.

15. AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT
 For several years, Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council has
been working to achieve acceptable air quality
levels throughout Vitoria-Gasteiz, to minimize the
negative impacts of air pollution on health and the
environment
 Then promote the reduction of greenhouse gases
and to support the council's climate change
protection programme.

16. Initiatives on mobility to
improve the traffic flow
and to avoid traffic jams
Controlling of industrial
emissions
Installation of a network of
ambient air
quality monitoring stations
Development of protocols
to alert the public
about any abnormal
increase in pollution levels
City Council Effort To
Maintenance Of Air
Quality

17. Effective Air
Quality
Management
System
Air quality
monitoring
Sources as
transport
Fossil fuel use
in industry
Emissions
invent
Heating
systems

18. Air Quality
Management
Plan
Install solar panels
to produce
domestic hot water
(DHW)
Launch an emissions
inventory data base of
potentially air-polluting
industries
Establish the
network of air
quality
monitoring
stations
Develop and
implement an
awareness
raising
campaigns on
the air quality
impact
Establish a
bicycle loan
service
Implement
efficient driving
courses aimed
at
administration
staff and public
Bring on
flexible fuel
vehicles in
municipal
fleets
Use Compressed Natural
Gas (CNG)
Introduce cleaner
fuels for transport
Change fuels for
cleaner ones, such
as natural gas

19. INDUSTRIAL CITY
 Grew prosperous on the
aeronautics, energy and
machine tool industries
 Company occupy more than
9.5 million m2 of the
municipality
 Jundiz business park - one of
the largest corporate estates in
the north of the Iberian
Peninsula.
 Attracting a wide range of
companies to its technology
park and research centres.

20. EFFICIENT ECOSYSTEM
 Made a real progress in recovering biodiversity
 Restoring many of the city’s damaged ecological and
landscape – The Green Belt Project, the creation of the
Bosques de Europa Botanical Gardens and the opening
of the Ecological Gardens
 More than 12000 schoolchildren and hundreds of adults
joined ‘Adopt a tree and grow with it’ campaign,
planting over 40, 000 trees and bushes

21. ENERGY CONSUMPTION
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22. WATER EFFICIENCY
 Successfully coping with water scarcity
 Steadily decreased its water consumption over the
last decade
 Set up a citizen’s water information office
 Two key aspects are the gradual separation and
return to the natural environment of clean water
that currently runs into sewers, and the reuse of
dirty water, especially for irrigation and cleaning
public spaces

24. VITORIA-GASTEIZ GREEN CAPITAL (VGGC
2012)
Themes:
1. Involving society
2. Showcasing the city
and its initiatives
3. Reflecting on the city:
space and
opportunities
4. Disseminating the
Green Capital idea
and its values

25. TOP EVENTS
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26. CONCLUSION