EUROCITIES 2013 awards

The cities of Brighton and Hove, Gijon and Ljubljana have won the EUROCITIES 2013  awards. The awards took place last night (27 November) in Ghent to reward cities for their efforts in  developing smart cities and engaging with smart citizens.

The awards are part of the  EUROCITIES annual conference which is taking place in the Belgian city on 27-29  November. Flemish Minister for Cities, Housing, Energy and the Social  Economy Freya van den Bossche presented the awards to the winners and said:  “The truly smart city is one that works with its citizens to improve quality of life.  The many, impressive entries for this year’s awards have shown us that that this is  happening here and now in cities all over Europe. I hope that the examples of  Brighton and Hove, Gijon and Ljubljana will inspire all other cities to keep on  developing even more innovative ways of engaging with their citizens.”

Gijon, Brighton and Hove and Ljubljana won in three separate categories:  Gijon (in smart governance): Citizen Card  Gijon’s Citizen Card is an access and payment card that holds the key to a wide range of  services across the city. Developed in 2002, the scope of the card has continued to grow  and it now provides cardholders with access to anything from electric vehicle sharing and  public toilets to libraries and sports facilities.

Today, 80% of Gijon’s population holds a  Citizen Card.  Brighton and Hove (in smart jobs): Brighton Employability Advice and Careers Hut (BEACH)  BEACH is the go-to website for young people looking for employability advice in Brighton &  Hove. The city brought together a group of school students to discuss employability skills  and employers’ expectations. The students spoke to potential employers around Brighton &  Hove to explore employment opportunities. The result is a collection of film clips, advice  and information available on the BEACH website, which is targeted at students but which is  also used by parents and teachers.

Ljubljana (in smart living)

Providing safe & equal opportunities in traffic for children &  people with disabilities  Ljubljana has been working with schoolchildren, parents, and disabled citizens to make  travelling around the city easier, safer and more convenient. For schoolchildren, the city  developed a web portal mapping transport options to different schools and identifying  danger hotspots to help plan journeys. Ljubljana has developed a range of services to help  citizens with disabilities travel by public transport, including a change in legislation and  providing drivers with special training.

EUROCITIES members submitted 27 projects for this year’s awards. Entries were judged by  an independent jury comprising one representative each from the EU institutions,  academia, the non-governmental sector, the media and the conference host city.

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