The Estonian capital, Tallinn, will organise the city’s first citizens’ assembly from 7 October to 4 November 2023; the European Green Capital 2023 Tallinn invites its citizens to discuss over the question: “How can we link Tallinn’s green spaces into an inviting whole?”
The programme of the Green Capital Citizens’ Assembly follows an internationally established structure. At the end of the summer, a representative sample of Tallinn’s citizens aged 15 and older will be formed for the assembly and 60 people will be selected to the assembly which will form in October, the Tallinn City Government said in a statement.
“All the members will have the necessary background knowledge to make high-quality and thoughtful proposals that will be presented on 4 November. Then a voting process will take place and every proposal with at least 80% support is considered accepted by the Citizens’ Assembly and are handed over to the Tallinn City Government.”
“The proposals of the Citizens’ Assembly help specify several action and investment plans for greenery, mitigation of climate change and urban planning. The proposals are examined carefully, and we will find the best ways to incorporate them into the city’s plans,” Raido Roop, the strategy director of Tallinn, said.
The Green Capital Citizen’s Assembly is the fourth People’s Assembly in Estonia and the third on climate change. In organising the assembly, the city is consulting with the Domus Dorpatensis Centre for Democracy, which is developing and testing the format of the citizens’ assembly for sustainable development.
In 2023, Tallinn bears the European Green Capital title. The “green capital” is elected by the European Commission, recognising the efforts of cities that “preserve and improve an environment that supports both the living environment and the economy”. The first “green capital” was awarded in 2010 and 14 European cities have been awarded the title thus far: Stockholm (Sweden), Hamburg (Germany), Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain), Nantes (France), Copenhagen (Denmark), Bristol (UK), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Essen (Germany), Nijmegen (Netherlands), Oslo (Norway), Lisbon (Portugal), Lahti (Finland), Grenoble (France) and Tallinn.
Listen also: Podcast: Does Tallinn deserve its Green Capital title?
