Between the 21st and 25th of May, the EU Green Week brought together, in Brussels, specialists, NGO representatives and national authorities from EU member states with the purpose of discussing and exchanging best practices in the field of environmental protection and climate change prevention. The main discussion themes of the event were circular economy, citizen involvement in the development of green cities, urban mobility, and European best practices. On the 23rd of May, LIFE projects that have ended in 2016 and 2017 were awarded in a special ceremony, as part of the Green Week event.
23 May 2018, Green Week 2018 – Green cities for a greener future – The Life Awards Ceremony
Belgium – Brussels – May 2018
© European Union / Patrick Mascart
Ever since 1992, LIFE – EU financing instrument for the environment and actions in the field of climate change – has, until now, has co-financed more than 4.500 projects dealing with nature conservation, eco technologies and actions for the prevention of climate change.
“Congratulations to the winners and finalists in these LIFE Awards! These outstanding projects show how LIFE makes a difference to our environment, nature, climate, our cities, and – above all – to the lives of EU citizens. The European Commission’s proposal for the next long-term EU budget clearly supports the EU sustainability agenda. The environment-specific funding programme, LIFE, has been substantially increased to €5.450 billion, and will continue to support many urban projects” Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, declared.
“ECOTIC Caravan” was amongst the projects designated as “Best Environment LIFE Project”, being the only Romanian project to receive the award.
„ECOTIC Caravan” was a project implemented by ECOTIC and co-financed through LIFE+ programme, spanning over a period of 2 years, which ended in 2016. The project contributed to reducing climate change risks by means of increasing the awareness level of the population in regards to collection and recycling of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).
The main attraction of the project was the Caravan, a mobile itinerant exhibition displaying 10 types of disassembled electric and electronic equipment meant to draw attention to their recyclable and dangerous content.
Since 2014, the ECOTIC Caravan has been visited by more than 100.000 people in 113 towns, as part of 38 awareness campaigns. Likewise, in the last 4 years, in the context of school campaigns, 115.000 students from more than 300 schools have participated in eco-education classes which have taken place inside the Caravan.
The Caravan continues to be an efficient awareness raising vehicle used by ECOTIC in its national campaigns, “The Recycling Station” and “Ecoterrians’ School“.