I'm currently sat on a bus crossing the slightly rainy Basque region and wending my way towards the regional capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz. I'm taking a couple of hours out of my holiday to meet politicians and environmental experts in the city, which has recently been awarded the status of European Green Capital for 2013.
The Green Capital is a bit like the European City of Culture award, whereby one city each year is held up as an example for others. It helps to draw attention to the good work already being done, as well as acting as a focus for future developments. Bristol is still the only UK city to be a finalist so far, though we sadly didn't win. From memory, it's Malmo this year and Nantes next.
I'm going to be finding out about some of the detailed work that Vitoria-Gasteiz is doing, especially on energy production and localised supply. Aside from learning from leading lights, it is very helpful to make a personal contact with another top city who are possible partners in future EU funding bids... in fact, we're already working something up on electric vehicles and IT systems. To get EU money, you usually have to work with at least two other countries, so international friends are very useful as well as welcome!
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