In recent years a great many municipalities in Bulgaria have been making progress in water management, waste management, mobility and energy efficiency in buildings. There is a competition that promotes excellence in these spheres – the Eco-municipality competition.

The initiative is open to all municipalities endeavouring to provide a new kind of urban services – competitive and at the same time environmentally friendly. The competition, organized by the French embassy in Bulgaria, is taking place for the second year running in this country with a growing number of local authorities showing an interest. The competition is taking place as part of the Europe 2020 strategy and its principal initiative “Resource Efficient Europe.” Under this initiative all resources must be managed sustainably – from raw materials to energy, water, air, earth and soil. Attaining these global aims is only possible through local municipalities and management. The idea is for municipalities in Bulgaria to adopt the principle “think globally, act locally.”

More about the competition from Milena Ivanova from the Institutional and Technical Cooperation service of the French embassy in Bulgaria:

“The competition aims to provide a cleaner and healthier environment. This is our motto. The aim is to establish “Eco-municipality” as an enduring initiative and we hope to have more and more participants each year. We believe that Bulgarian municipalities have a lot they can show.”

Motivated by the results of last year’s initiative, more than 37 municipalities submitted over 50 nominations presenting individual municipal policies in four categories – sustainable water management, sustainable waste management, energy efficiency in buildings and sustainable mobility. Here are some good examples from 2016:

“In the “sustainable water management” category I can point out, as a good example, Gabrovo municipality and its integrated water cycle project for the town. As regards waste, I would like to give as an example Turgovishte municipality, which built and is now using a waste separation system. Much of this waste is recycled and 25 percent of its total weight is reused. In Turgovishte communication with the public is very good. In the “energy efficiency” category I would like to cite as an example Zlatograd municipality. There has been a sustainable energy policy in place there for 10 years – by way of projects and financing under different programmes. Energy consumption in the region has dropped by more than 5 percent.”

Just as during the first edition of the competition, in 2017 the “Sustainable waste management category” is the most popular with municipalities. There is a jury that assesses the nominations. The official award ceremony will take place in October, it is expected to be attended by members of the cabinet and of local authorities. The winners will receive special prizes:

“The prize for the award-winning municipalities is a working visit to France where they will be able to meet with French partner-municipalities, exchange experience and good practices and gain inspiration from the achievements of local authorities there. We are hoping this will develop into a platform for future cooperation between Bulgarian and French municipalities.”

The third edition of the Eco-municipality competition will be launched in March 2018 and all municipalities are invited to take part in any of the four competition categories.

English version: Milena Daynova