„Tallinn is very proud to hold the title of European Green Capital 2023. Especially since the idea of a European green capital was born in Tallinn in 2006. We want every citizen of Tallinn as well as our guests to benefit from the European Green Capital year and the accompanying developments, because our goal is a greener city with a better environment and urban space,“ said Mr. Mihhail Kõlvart, the Mayor of Tallinn.
Tallinn is a biodiverse city with diverse biota and landscapes – Tallinn has more than 2100 hectares of protected areas. The city has parks, forests, alvers, meadows, heaths, sand dunes, rivers, lakes, cliffs, sandy beaches, valleys, reeds, bogs and even its own island.
During the green capital year Tallinn will focus on restoring and protecting its biodiversity: restoring a favourite hiking area Pääsküla bog and designing the Pollinator Highway – a vibrant 14 km long linear park that will stretch along an old railway dam and electric powerlines corridor and is an example of sustainable co-existence of biodiversity and urbanization.
One program—Green Tracks—will create innovative pop-up solutions to reinvent problematic places in Tallinn’s urban space. The aim is to increase Tallinn’s biodiversity as well as create a safe and pleasant urban space for everyone. For example, the Town Hall Square will temporarily be turned into a pop-up park and the students at the Estonian Academy of Arts will be creating prototypes for climate sensitive spatial objects like street furniture and traffic signs. The project will also include fixing up Tallinn’s coastal area near the cruise terminal with plans to open an all year-round sauna and swimming area.
This year the Estonian initiative World Clean Up Day will focus in this region on the Baltic Sea as Tallinn is calling upon the cities around the Baltic Sea to clean their coastal areas.
Tallinn cooperates with other organisations to make the city more sustainable. For example, in creating environmentally friendly guidelines for events and food. Sustainable Green Dishes are available in many Tallinn’s restaurants and one of Tallinn’s most loved events, the Youth Song and Dance festival in June will be environmentally conscious. On European Day in May, Tallinn will plant a tree for every participating group from the city.
Tallinn is well known as a hub of information technology as well as home to a number of Estonia’s unicorns. One of the green capital year's highlights will be the Greentech Week, which consists of a series of international events with the main emphasis on promoting eco-innovation and cooperation between leading companies, investors and scientists in green technology as well as increasing the dialogue between European cities and companies. The week holds the Cleantech Forum Europe, Greentech Expo, Green Tiger Conference, and the Smart City Convention.
In addition, Tallinn has also developed the Test it in Tallinn measure, to invite companies to test their smart solutions. The main test areas are urban mobility and energy efficiency as they have the greatest impact and legislative readiness. Cooperation between the city and local entrepreneurs in these areas has been the most effective – we already have on our streets self-driving vehicles like Clevon and Starship robots and AuveTech buses, probably the first self-driving free public transportation in the world.
You are welcome to visit and explore biodiverse, innovative and sustainable Tallinn during the European Green Capital year. Find the full program and more information at greentallinn.eu. See you in Tallinn!
European Green Capital 2023 events in Tallinn
- March: Green Dishes in Tallinn Restaurant Week
- 12.04 MELT innovation Forum
- 9.05 Biodiverse European Day
- 27.–28.05 Future Forum on the cities of the future
- 2.–4.06 Tallinn’s Old Town Days and the special green old town program
- 1–18.06 Tallinn’s Urban space festival
- 30 June–2 July Environmentally friendly Youth Song and Dance Festival
- 31 August–17 September World Clean Up Day regional campaign to clean the Baltic Sea
- 14-17 November Greentech week: Cleantech Forum Europe, Greentech Expo, Green Tiger Conference, and the Smart City Convention
- November: Black Nights Film Festival’s Tallinn European Green capital 2023 program
- December: European Green Capital 2023 Closing Ceremony
