European Greenways Award, recent Jury meeting
The jury did not have an easy task to select the winners of the 12th edition of the European Greenways Award 2025, due to the High quality and variety of the applications!
=>33 candidacies from 13 countries!
It was a European jury made up of experts with extensive experience in the different aspects that make up greenways. This is their composition:
- Dorota Tomalak. Deputy Head of Unit. Secretariat of the Commission for Natural Resources. European Committee of the Regions
- Daniel Solana Basquetour. Basque Tourist Agency. (Director)
- Piotr Kalisz. Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Infrastructure for the Bicycle Mobility. Rep. Poland
- Richard Denman. The Tourism Company. Global Expert on Sustainable Tourism.
European Greenways Association team:
- Mr Giulio Senes– President EGWA. Italy/ Vote, in case of a tie vote
- Mercedes Muñoz, Jury Secretary – EGWA Director, and Dominika Zareba, EGWA manager,with voice but without vote.
Ms. Ramune Genzbigelyte-Venturi. European Commission. DG Mobility and Transport. MOVE.001-Tourism Team. (excused for illness)
♥ Many thanks to the jury for their availability, and their rich debate.
♥ Many thanks to all the participants for taking part! We are delighted with the excellent response to the prize and to learn about new initiatives all over Europe! We really appreciate the great interest in the prize!
♥ Many thanks to Basquetour for their key support for the organisation of the award, which allows an open participation to those interested in Greenways, showing their commitment at the highest level in supporting Greenways. T
=> The winners will be announced on Thursday 9/October 2025, at award ceremony in Abanto-Zierbena, a small locality in Bizkaia province that lies in a unique natural setting, just 20 minutes from Bilbao. >> See the venue Ekoetxea of Abanto-Zierbena
=> In addition to the 12th Awards ceremony, there will be an international conference and a technical visit to one of the greenways of the region, the following day 10th October, in order to disseminate and promote the knowledge and use of the greenways in the region.
♥ This would not be possible without the continued support of EGWA’s members!
♦ Join EGWA to strongly support greenways actions!
>> !! New Deadline/ Nouveau délai / Nuevo plazo/
Thursday 29th May 2025 / Jeudi 29 Mai 2025 / Jueves 29 Mayo 2025 /
The European Greenways Association (EGWA) announces the call for candidacies for the 12th European Greenways Award (EGA) 2025
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Organised by EGWA, Basquetour, and the Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles in cooperation with the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.
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Deadline for the submission of candidacies: Wednesday 21 May 2025 at the latest.
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The awards ceremony will take place on October 9th. in Basque Country, Spain.
The objective is to promote examples of best practices and to support their replication on other greenways all over Europe. The European Greenways Award will only be granted to greenways under the Lille Declaration, as well as to initiatives already in existence.
This biennial award will recognise examples of greenways best practices in three categories:
A) Excellence awards
In this category the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes will be awarded to three exemplary greenways that show the best integration of the various characteristics which define greenways (Art. 1 of Regulations) and that also demonstrate specific strengths which, in the opinion of the jury, make them exemplary. (…)
B) Exemplary initiatives
A 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize will be awarded to exemplary initiatives carried out in relation to greenways. This category is open to any activity related to greenways in its broadest sense: (…)
C) Special award, Green transition in greenways
A single award will be granted to reward actions that contribute to green transition in the greenways ecosystem, and contribute to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Initiatives will be related to the greenway itself, or to greenway-based tourism services or products that integrate sustainability criteria, and aimed at either one or more of these trails.
The Special award will be addressed only to greenways using disused railways, as a special form of circular economy.
This special award is part of the activities promoted by EGWA in the co-implementation of the Transition Pathway for Tourism, to recognise initiatives addressing green transition challenges in the greenways ecosystem, and to showcase how the green transition happens on the ground.
- Deadline for the submission of candidacies: Thursday 29th May 2025 (New deadline)
at the latest. - The awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, October 9st 2025 in Abanto -Zierbena, a small locality in Bizkaia province that lies in a unique natural setting, just 20 minutes from Bilbao. >> See the venue Ekoetxea of Abanto-Zierbena
Application forms:
>> Special award, Green transition in greenways