27 September 2022
A record number of parks and green spaces worldwide are winning Green Flag Awards in 2022
On the 14th September Ireland announced a record breaking 105 winners, and today another 32 winners are celebrating - as the Awards for several other European countries were announced.
Parks and green spaces in Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkey were accredited with the coveted Award - including several first time winners.
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 to 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.
(Cover image: The team at Parque da Cidade, Câmara Municipal do Porto - Green Flag Award winners since 2019)
Healthy Hamburgers
One of the new European winners this year is Stadtpark Norderstedt in Germany. Located in the Hamburg region - the park sprawls over 750,000 square meters of water, woodlands and meadow grassland as well as providing a recreational offer of a lido, water skiing and high ropes. The park has a keen focus on outdoor learning too, offering an extensive educational programme for kindergarten groups, school classes and corporate events.
Image 1: First time Award winner Stadtpark Norderstedt near Hamburg in Germany
Jessica Grunwaldt, Management Assistant at Stadtpark Norderstedt GmbH said:
"We are very grateful to receive the Green Flag Award, which confirms the high quality standards we have set for our park. The external assessment confirms that our team is on the right track and can offer Norderstedt and its citizens a "green heart" for the city.
“During the application process and the judging visit, we have looked very intensively at our own work and organisation. This has been really helpful for our planning of current and future processes."
One hundred shades of green
And Ireland’s success was celebrated two weeks ago with four new Green Flag Award winners, three new Community Award winners and five new Green Heritage Site Accreditations - raising the total on the emerald isle to a record breaking 104 Awards.
Emlyn Cullen, Programme Manager at the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, who run the programme in Ireland said:
“The continued success of the Green Flag Award in Ireland is a great measure of how much the country values parks and green spaces - and how well managed many of them are. I’d like to say well done to everyone who works in the sector here for their ongoing commitment. You make a huge positive impact on your local communities and the natural environment”
Anne-Marie Toomey from Foulksmills Tidy Towns said:
“We are extremely proud to receive a Green Flag Award for our beautiful Foulksmills Park. It has been in the heart of our village for over 35 years and is a place for everyone to enjoy. The Award is a recognition of all the hard work and dedication the committee has put in over the years.”
“A huge thank you to the community and Wexford County Council who have been on the journey with us and have continued to support us over the years.”
From Belgium to the Bosphorus
Alongside those in Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, France, Germany and Sweden - Belgium celebrated eight winners, mostly in the Antwerp area.
Peter Verdyck, Director of Provincial Green Domains at Provincie Antwerpen said:
“The advantage of the Green Flag Award is that we get a lot of good ideas from other experts in the sector. And as a judge myself, I also get a lot of inspiration when visiting other applicants.”
And in Turkey, two new winners were announced for Denizli Municipality – Adalet Park and Çamlık Park bringing the total in Turkey to five awards.
Image 2: Adalet Park was one of three winners at Denizli Metropolitan Municipality in Turkey.
Internationally recognised
In July the UK announced a record breaking 2,208 winners this year, which includes 361 Green Flag Community Award winners (Link to article). And back in August, Finland released results for 12 winners including two new parks (Link to article)
Further announcements are scheduled later in 2022 for more winners in Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, USA and the United Arab Emirates.
Carl McClean, International Development Manager for the Green Flag Award said:
“It’s fantastic to see the European parks sector achieve well-deserved international recognition with so many Green Flag Awards. It’s clear that the past few years have been really challenging.”
“Congratulations to everyone involved in stepping up and raising the standard. It’s important that we all continue to showcase the vital role parks and green spaces serve in our communities, for our health and to the environment.”
Global winners
For an interactive global map of current winners, visit: https://www.greenflagaward.org/award-winners/
At the time of publication, the global annual Award totals are:
|
Country |
Total |
Notes |
|
Australia |
7 |
2021-22 figure |
|
Belgium |
8 |
|
|
Finland |
12 |
|
|
France |
3 |
|
|
Germany |
3 |
|
|
Ireland |
104 |
|
|
Mexico |
2 |
2021-22 figure |
|
Netherlands |
2 |
|
|
New Zealand |
25 |
2021-22 figure |
|
Portugal |
5 |
|
|
South Korea |
1 |
|
|
Spain |
4 |
|
|
Sweden |
2 |
|
|
Turkey |
5 |
|
|
United Arab Emirates |
26 |
*Further results in November |
|
United Kingdom |
2,208 |
|
|
USA |
1 |
2021-22 figure |
|
|
||
|
TOTAL |
2,418 |
|
Further information
The Green Flag Award® is a non-profit international accreditation programme that recognises and rewards well managed parks and green spaces. Today the Green Flag Award proudly flies above more than 2,400 places in 17 countries around the world.
The programme is managed internationally by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, alongside a network of National Operators in several countries. See the website Network page for more information.
To find out more in general, or apply for an Award, whichever country you are based in; explore the Green Flag Award website: https://www.greenflagaward.org, or alternatively click here for a contact form.
