The city of Assen has won the European Green Leaf Award 2027. During the award ceremony in Vilnius, Lithuanian, an Asser delegation, with mayor Marco Out, received the prestigious prize of the European Commission.
The prize is intended for cities up to 100,000 inhabitants who are paramount in sustainability, climate adaptation and a healthy green living environment. The price also includes a sum of money of 200,000 euros, intended to organize additional activities and projects within this theme in 2027. Assen already announced that this year is entirely dominated by the green ambitions of the city.
The jury says it is impressed by the dedication with which Assen works on circularity and limiting climate change. For example, they mention the innovative waste policy of the city and initiatives as Repair Cafés as actions that stimulate the circular economy.
According to the jury, Assen has also achieved a considerable CO₂ reduction. This by renovating buildings, carbon-free of municipal activities and innovative projects such as the Energy Garden in Assen-Zuid. The bicycle highway to Groningen is mentioned as an example of a sustainable mobility project that emphasizes the efforts of the city to reduce emissions.
The delegation from Assen is visibly impressed by the win during the prize -giving ceremony tonight. In his speech, Out thanked the residents of Assen and the Asser organizations with whom is working in the field of sustainability. “This was not possible without them.”
The mayor also cites the TT Circuit Assen in his speech. For the Italians in the room he appoints MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi for a while, who is honorary citizen of the municipality. “Many of you may know Assen from the world -famous Dutch TT ”, out.” That differs quite a lot from being sustainable. “But Assen wants to change that.” For our future plans, the Asser ambition agenda, being a green city is one of the most important things we want to achieve. “
That is also the reason why they are present at the congress where this award was presented. “To be inspired by other cities. And hopefully to inspire other cities.” The mayor said to the European delegations in the hall: “We need each other to implement improvements for a greener Europe. Neighborhood for neighborhood, city for city and country for country. It is not yet 2027, but I hope to welcome you in the Netherlands. In Drenthe, in the beautiful city of Assen.”
In 2023, Assen was already named the greenest city in the Netherlands, and Drenthe the greenest Dutch province. This came from the green city of Challenge in which the quality of the amount of greenery within built -up areas is analyzed.