The European Commission announced that the 2021 edition of the EU Green Week will take place from May to June. The Week will open in Lahti, Finland, while the High Level Conference and Partner Events will be held online. This year’s edition will be dedicated to ‘zero pollution ambition’. The theme ties in with the European Green Deal and the adoption of the EU Action Plan ‘Towards a zero pollution ambition for air, water and soil’.

EU Green Week 2021 will be an opportunity to engage with all stakeholders and interested citizens on how we can work together to make the ambition for a zero pollution and toxic-free environment a reality. It is a chance to showcase the achievements of your organisation or city to a wider audience. Events, workshops, guided tours, exibitions, fairs, open days and online events are all eligible for applications. The aim of partner events is to contribute to the public debate and demonstrate the high level of public interest in the issues related to Zero Pollution. In that respect, partner events can cover many different perspectives, for instance:

• Raising awareness of health and wellbeing benefits brought by a zero pollution/healthier planet
• Raising awareness of the role that each of us plays in building a zero pollution community
• Raising awareness on the importance of living within our ecological planetary boundaries
• Raising awareness of zero pollution production and consumption
• Exchange of knowledge on how pollution affects people and ecosystems
• Exchanges on how the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan can support the post-COVID 19 recovery by helping to rebuild a more sustainable EU economy, creating job opportunities and reducing social inequalities
• Discussions on other relevant European Green Deal initiatives, such as the climate initiatives, the upcoming Chemicals Strategy, as well as initiatives in the field of energy, industry, mobility, agriculture, fisheries, health and biodiversity

Registrations are now open and can be found under the following link. The European Commission will accept applications until 12 March 2021. For more information about the application process, you can consult the partner events guidelines or contact the Green Week helpdesk at ENV-GREENWEEK@ec.europa.eu.