Ecocities need eco-citizens. Top-down fixes have limits. Meaningful progress toward sustainability also requires changes in the behavior of individuals. The European Commission reinforced that truism by giving the 2026 European Green Capital Award to a city that strives for ambitious goals through extensive engagement with its people.
Guimaraes is a city of 156,000 people located 25 miles northeast of Porto, Portugal. In the 12th century, it was home to events leading to Portugal’s independence and its historic center has become a UNESCO World Heritage site. Beginning in the 18th century, Guimaraes became a leading industrial center famous for textiles and shoes. But those activities degraded water quality, reduced biodiversity, and separated people form their rivers.
In 2014, Guimaraes changed its organizational structure to strengthen its Climate Integrated Management system. Importantly, the public sector partnered with the private sector and citizens to include the entire city in its transformation from a declining, former industrial town into a model of sustainability and innovation.
The city and two universities formed the Landscape Laboratory, an environmental R&D and educational center, that supports evidence-based decision-making across all environmental indicators. The PEGADAS environmental program trains students to become climate action change leaders and coordinates volunteer groups called Green Brigades that work on restoration projects throughout the city. The city’s Ecological Footprint calculator lets citizens evaluate and reduce their individual environmental impact.
Guimaraes tests zero-carbon innovations in its District C, where former factory buildings and UNESCO World Heritage Site landmarks have been repurposed into science and educational institutions including the United Nations University, the Landscape Laboratory, and an international center for art. District C combines creativity, culture, and citizen commitment with the goal of replicating and scaling successful strategies to the rest of Guimaraes and the world.
Guimaraes was named the most eco-friendly town in Portugal three years in a row. It aims to be carbon neutral by 2030 and a One Planet City by 2050. In crowning Guimaraes as the 2026 European Green Capital, the European Commission recognized the city for notable achievements in performance indicators comparable to those in the Ecocity Standards. But the awards jury was particularly impressed with its understanding that progress toward sustainability requires commitment from the citizenry as well as the city.
References
European Commission. 2024. Jury Report for 2025 European Green Capital Award. Accessed at https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/c6e126de-5b8c-4cd7-8d36-a1978a2a63de/library/ceba1f66-4d38-4925-95f4-f89b41173766/details.
European Commission. 2024. European Green Capital 2026 Award Technical Assessment. Accessed at https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/c6e126de-5b8c-4cd7-8d36-a1978a2a63de/library/b3b3146b-f439-4361-a26c-92ba68f78706/details.
Guimaraes. 2024. Application for 2026 European Green Capital. Accessed at https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/c6e126de-5b8c-4cd7-8d36-a1978a2a63de/library/e4f88891-f69c-45ff-bd96-4687b5f403b7/details.
