Over 150 European parks and green spaces win coveted Green Flag Award

 A record number of parks and green spaces in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkey were accredited with the coveted international Green Flag Award this year, Keep Britain Tidy announced today. 

 

The Green Flag Award is the international quality benchmark for the public green space sector - now operating in 17 countries around the world.

 

Kurpark Warmbad-Villach became the first park in Austria to win the award, whilst in Finland parks saw a more than 50% increase in winners including Hupisaarten kaupunginpuisto in the far northern city of Oulu. 

 

Robert Walton, head of the gardening team at Kurpark Warmbad-Villach, said: "Winning the Green Flag Award means so much to me and the staff that help to maintain the park. It demonstrates that we have an inviting environment, which creates a positive benefit for our visitors, employees and the local community.” 

 

Câmara Municipal do Porto in Portugal leads the way in Southern Europe with a new winner with the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal (Crystal Palace Gardens), the third award-winning garden under their management for the City of Porto.  

 

And many other European cities continue to use the award to celebrate multiple parks or green spaces of importance in their communities.  

 

Nantes, the first French city to win a Green Flag Award, has now held the accolade for three years and three different sites across the city.  

 

Antwerp in Belgium has an impressive seven winners in the city region. Kotka in Finland holds five awards, and Dublin in Ireland boasts more than 30 in the surrounding area. 

 

This year in Europe 13 sites - one in Portugal and 12 in Ireland - were awarded an additional accolade - Green Heritage Site Accreditation, which is awarded to Green Flag Award winning sites that actively understand, identify, manage and promote the elements of their heritage that make the site unique.  

 

Ireland's passion for people power is evident in 17 community-managed sites winning Green Flag Community Awards. On top of this, 84 parks and green spaces in Ireland won a Green Flag Award, recognising the hard work of local authorities and parks management organisations. 
 

Emlyn Cullen – Programme Manager for An Taisce Environmental Education Unit, which runs the award in Ireland said: “The continued success of the Green Flag Award is due to the love that staff members have for their parks, and the hard work they put in to maintaining them. They do a phenomenal job every day making their parks beautiful, safe spaces for the public to enjoy.” 

 

The Green Flag Award is the international quality benchmark for the public green space sector - now operating in 17 countries around the world. Running for over 25 years, the programme uses eight key criteria headings for assessments.  

 

Both the management framework for each site, as well as an annual condition inspection is conducted through a network of qualified judges. So far, in the past twelve months, over 2,400 sites have received annual accreditation. 

 

In July, the UK – where the programme originated - announced a record-breaking 2,216 winners this year. More winners in Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, the USA, and the UAE are expected to be announced later in 2023. 

 

Carl McClean, International Development Manager for the Green Flag Award said: “Well done to every single person involved in managing, maintaining, supporting, or volunteering at one of these Green Flag Award winning places. This Award recognises your hard work and commitment all throughout the year. 

 

“It’s fantastic to see so many European parks achieve well-deserved international recognition with a Green Flag Award. Parks continue to benefit both people and planet in so many different ways, and the sector deserves recognition for making that possible.”