A record breaking number of public parks, gardens and green spaces across Europe have been awarded the prestigious Green Flag Award.
Thirty winners from eight countries were announced, including; Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Turkey.
The Green Flag Award is managed internationally by Keep Britain Tidy and a network of partners who deliver the program nationally. 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the Award. Originating in England in 1996 – winners now fly Green Flag Award flags over more than 2,000 parks and green spaces in 16 countries around the world.
This year also marks the first that France has won Awards – all three in the City of Nantes: major tourist destination the Nantes Botanical Garden, intricate Japanese garden the Isle de Versailles and exhibition rose garden Parc Floral de la Beaujoire.
And another major world city to join the program was Istanbul, who achieved two awards for the former palace grounds; Yildiz Park and much loved neighbourhood green space; Goztepe 60th Year Park.
A full list of the winners and a global map can be found on the homepage of the Green Flag Award website: www.greenflagaward.org
Carl McClean - International Development Manager for the Green Flag Award said: “Well done to everyone who has achieved a Green Flag Award this year. It’s testament to the hard work of the staff, management and volunteers who kept parks and green spaces going through challenging times and made them such important places every year – and especially so through the coronavirus pandemic.”
Earlier in the year Finland celebrated 11 winners, and the UK – where the Award program originated - an impressive 2,127.
Ireland are due to make their formal announcement of winners next week on the 17th November, and it is expected that when Australia and New Zealand announce later in the year the total number of global Green Flag Award winners will exceed 2,300.
The involvement of France brings the total number of countries where Green Flag Award is delivered to 16 – firmly establishing it as the most widely recognised accreditation programme for parks and green spaces in the world.
