Outcomes and Results of the Project
- National competition concepts were developed in 2009
- Two subsequent national competitions were organised in France, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain in 2010 and 2011, one competition in Germany in 2011
- Comprehensive questionnaires were elaborated with yes/no-questions and questions for projects in each country for each competition
- An adaption of the City Biodiversity Index (CBI) was included in all questionnaires to provide a biodiversity monitoring to European municipalities and to provide the index developers with feedback
- Compehensive information brochures were published and disseminated for each competition
- National Advisory Boards were gathered for expert advice on the contents of the questionnaires and the selection of the winners
- Altogether over 500 municipalities participated in the competitions, representing 40 million Europeans
- Nearly 1,500 local practitioners and decision-makers from 687municipalities participated in 36 workshops organised in the five competition countries in order to provide professional training in local biodiversity protection
- 9 European Capitals of Biodiversity were awarded in the five countries, along with more than 50 municipalities that won in their respective size classes or received special prizes
- Award ceremonies were organised in each country at the end of each competition to celebrate and honour the winners
- The 2010 Capitals of Biodiversity were honoured in Nagoya, Japan, at the CBS COP10 in October 2010
- The 2011 Capitals of Biodiversity were awarded by EU Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potočnik at a European Award Ceremony in Brussels in November 2011
- Altogether 23,000 copies of national brochures in the various project languages as well as of the international final project brochure (also in English), disseminating over 300 best-practice examples collected from the participating municipalities
| Country | 2010 | 2011 |
| France | Grande-Synthe (21,000 inh.) | Montpellier (253.000 inh.) |
| Hungary | Tata (24,000 inh.) | Szentes (30.000 inh.) |
| Slovakia | Želiezovce (7,500 inh.) | Kremnica (5.300 inh.) |
| Spain | Royal Site of San Ildefonso (5.700 inh.) | Puebla de Sanabria (1.500 inh.) |
| Germany | No award in 2010 | Hannover (519,000 inh.) |
The project is supported through LIFE, a programme of the European Union. Since 1992, LIFE has co-financed some 2,750 projects, contributing approximately €1.35 billion to the protection of the environment.