Entering the AIPH World Green City Awards • World Green City Awards 2026 • AIPH

Resources and Guidance for Entering the Awards

The AIPH World Green City Awards are designed to champion nature-oriented solutions that harvest the power of plants and associated ecosystem services to help address the major challenges facing cities today.

Specifically, they reward strategic initiatives that are bold, pursue a meaningful impact, are being successfully implemented, have potential to further scale or spread to other cities, and exemplify resilience.

Here, you will find resources and guidance on how to enter the Awards, including: eligibility requirements, submission process, the judging process, and frequently asked questions. You can also download useful documents as PDFs to aid your entry.

Downloads

AIPH World Green City Awards Award Categories AIPH Youth Award Past Winners & Finalists 2026 Awards

Contact

T: +44 (0) 1235 776230

E: greencity@aiph.org

Eligibility requirements

Submission of entries

The judging process

FAQs

Eligibility Requirements

Any city* around the world can submit entries to the award on condition that:

The submission is made by the local authority governing the city – such as the Mayor’s or executive officer’s office or a relevant department of the local government administration.
The initiative described in the entry has begun implementation in 2020 or later. If the initiative described is part of a longer-term approach, then the entry should focus on and discuss results of the stage that has begun since 2020.
The initiative described is strategic in nature – ie: a policy and/or a programme leading to the delivery of a collection of related projects rather than a single project- and is clearly linked to a city-wide green vision.
The initiative described has secured all, or a substantial amount of implementation funds and can demonstrate financial viability.
The initiative described does not feature genetically modified organisms or designated invasive alien plant species as defined by the Convention for Biodiversity.

City alignment matters most

The initiative must clearly support a city’s vision or strategy — not necessarily originate within the city authority. It is perfectly valid for another organisation to lead the project as long as it aligns with city-wide goals for urban greening.

Formal endorsement is required

To demonstrate this alignment with the city vision, you’ll need a signed Declaration from the Mayor or relevant city officials, recognising that the project advances their objectives and priorities for a green future.

Why this matters

The Awards are designed to recognise strategic, city-endorsed efforts — whether led by the municipality directly or partner organisations working in full support of city objectives.

* We define a city based on the UN-Habitat concept of a ‘functional’ definition of a city. A city is defined as a single urban area, large or small, which is recognised as being under the jurisdiction of a legally defined and nationally recognised local or subnational government authority.

Submission of entries

The procedure is designed to be simple and not time-consuming. All you need to do is create an account and sign into the online submission portal and start compiling your entry/ies by filling in the online entry form.

Your entry/ies may be completed incrementally over a period of time, automatically saving the progress made on developing each entry on each visit to the portal. You will be able to make changes to your submission/s until the submission period closes on 19th October 2025. The link to the application form will become inactive on this date.

AIPH will accept online entries only.
When an entrant begins the entry compilation process for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2026, they will gain access to an offline version of the submission questions. This is for their consideration and discussion in preparing an entry only. The final submission must be made online.
For each entry, the entrant must nominate a first category in which the entry will be considered. Entrants may also nominate a second category that aligns with the entry.
Please restrict your answer to each question to a maximum of 250 words.
You are encouraged to provide supporting documentation with your submission; these are not compulsory for submission however they can strengthen your application. For example: photographs, videos, press cuttings, promotional materials, procedural documents, supporting bylaws or city regulations and policies, certificates for environmental or working standards etc., in ENGLISH*
All photographs must be accompanied by a caption and details of credit. The photo credit line or photo credit identifies the photographer, illustrator, or copyright holder for images in a publication or on a website. Submitted photographs and videos become the property of AIPH with free and ongoing permission to use these, with credit acknowledgement, in any AIPH publicity in printed or digital media.
All materials submitted must be in ENGLISH*. If you submit any documents in another language (e.g. press cuttings) then the judges may not be able to read this. AIPH may offer a translation service if English is not your native language and would advise the use of this to ensure the sentiment of what is written will come across clearly to the judges. There may be a cost for this, and the cost will be borne by the entrant.
All materials and information submitted (with the exception of client names and locations and budgets) must be free of restrictions of reproduction, so it can be used in the promotion of your work and of the Awards.
You may request that your entry is kept confidential. All shortlisted entries and the final winners will be announced publicly.
All entries may be used by AIPH to prepare case studies and promotional material for publication on the AIPH website, through AIPH media channels, and on other applicable partner platforms and through the media channels of the network of partners. In entering the AIPH World Green City Awards, all participants give AIPH and partners the right to use all pictures and information submitted as part of the entry in their online and offline communication.
Entries must be accompanied by a Mayoral Declaration, signed and stamped by the signatory authorised by national law to legally represent the city. Typically, this person is the Mayor or Deputy-Mayor of the city or can be another senior political representative who is in charge of international cooperation or sustainable development.
If your entry involves a multi-city initiative, your submission must be based on the activities in one primary city. You may refer to activities in other cities as ‘ripple effects’ of the initiative beyond the primary city.

*If English is not your native language and you are not fluent, we would advise completing your entry in your native language and paying a fee for a professional translation service. This will ensure that your entry remains accurate, and that the information provided comes across clearly to the judges. If you require more help with translation into your native language, please contact aiph@serenevents.com. A cost for any translations may be applicable.

The judging process

Winners of the AIPH World Green City Awards are selected by a 2-stage judging process.

The first stage in evaluation of entries is by the technical panel who assesses the capacity of the entry to deliver on its stated outcomes in line with the six evaluation criteria. The evaluation and scoring by the technical panel will result in the compilation of a list of finalists across the 7 categories, which will be passed on to the 2026 awards jury who will evaluate the capacity of the entry to influence other cities and to inspire transformative change.

Technical panel

Award entries will be judged by a multidisciplinary, international technical panel with an advanced knowledge of Green City principles. The Technical Panel will select a shortlist of up to three cities for each award category, and may request additional information to be submitted. The Technical Panel may also nominate entries that are not selected as finalists for receipt of Highly Commended awards that recognise significant progress.

Jury

The Jury will consist of members drawn from internationally recognised City, Nature, and Sustainability focused organisations. The jury will select winners in each category from the shortlisted entries, as well as the Grand Winner of the AIPH 2026 World Green City Award – The Greenest City in the World. Jurors will be appointed for one round of awards at a time.

The decisions of the Technical Panel and Jury are final and not subject to review.

AIPH has the discretion to withhold awarding a winner in any category if the standard of entries is not consistent with the Green City principles and is not considered to support best practice.

Step 1: AIPH reviews entries to confirm eligibility and completeness of the information submitted.
Step 2: Eligible and complete entries are made available to the technical panel in September 2025 for remote assessment and scoring by December 2025.
Step 3: AIPH reviews the scores allocated and the recommendations made by each panellist – computing average scores for each entry, and identifying any strongly diverging views on any given entry to help facilitate discussions (see Step 4).
Step 4: An online meeting of the technical panel will be held in November 2025 where panellists will select from the entries having achieved the top grades, up to three finalists per category. Panellists may nominate entries that are not included in the list of finalists for Highly Commended awards. Panellists may also make recommendations for which entries among the finalists could be considered by the 2026 jury for the AIPH World Green City Award.
Step 5: AIPH notifies finalist cities, who may be requested to submit additional information. Finalist cities will be given up to 30 days to submit additional information.
Step 6: The 2026 jury is provided with access to the finalist’s submissions, together with recommendations made by the technical panel as well as any additional information the shortlisted candidates might have submitted.
Step 7: A virtual meeting of the 2026 jury is held where jurors select one winner per category and one overall AIPH World Green City winner.
Step 8: The Youth Jury is provided with access to the finalist’s submissions, as well as any additional information the finalist candidates might have submitted. The Youth Jury will meet virtually and select one entry that they consider to best address the needs of the global youth.
Step 9: Winners will be announced at a special gala event. All finalists and award winners will be invited to this event.

Frequently Asked Questions

AIPH is looking to reward nature-orientated solutions that harvest the power of plants and associated ecosystems services to help address the major challenges facing cities today – or tomorrow. Specifically, we seek strategic initiatives that are bold, pursue a meaningful impact, are being successfully implemented, have potential to further scale or spread to other cities, and exemplify resilience in how they are conducted.

Entries for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2026 must fit these objectives:

Be an initiative that demonstrates an ambitious approach and showcases a city-wide vision and commitment to making the city greener, healthier, and more sustainable.
Be an initiative which comprises a city-wide greening programme or set of projects, rather than an individual project.
Draw attention to a specific programme/initiative within the city’s overall greening strategy, while demonstrating how that initiative/programme is linked to the city’s overall green ambition and vision.
Demonstrate feasibility and proven success in implementation with measurable, and quantifiable impact.
Demonstrate that a significant portion of the initiative has been implemented over the last 5 years, even if there is still some implementation remaining beyond 2026.

To be eligible, such strategic initiatives must be implemented within a city. A city is defined as ‘a single urban area/human settlement, large or small, which, along with its surrounding expanse, is nationally recognised as being under the jurisdiction of a single legally defined local or sub-national government authority.’ If your entry involves a multi-city initiative, your submission must be based on the activities in your city as the primary city. You may refer to activities in other cities as ‘ripple effects’ of the initiative beyond the primary city.

Anyone involved in and well-informed about the project can complete the entry. If you are not a city official, please ensure you have completed and submitted the Mayoral Declaration form with your entry.

The Mayoral Declaration form can be completed by the city’s mayor or equivalent city official, e.g. Lord Mayor, Council Leader, Municipal Commissioner, Head of City.

Yes, and this will need to be clearly documented in your entry. You will also be asked to nominate up to two of the most relevant award categories you would like your entry to be considered for. For 2026, there are seven award categories:

Living Green for Health and wellbeing: Addressing the medical, behavioural, and social determinants of health for residents.
Living Green for Climate Change: Tackling the root causes and effects of climate change in order to build more liveable and resilient cities.
Living Green for Urban Infrastructure and Liveability: Promoting and supporting nature-positive lifestyles for all city residents, visitors and businesses, through a well planned, designed, and maintained built environment.
Living Green for Biodiversity and Urban Ecosystem Restoration: Addressing the loss of species, habitats, ecosystem health, and genetic diversity.
Living Green for Water: Ensuring that water resources are safeguarded and wisely used, with clean water available to all while also protecting residents from flooding risks.
Living Green for Social Cohesion and Inclusive Communities: Fostering belonging, trust and inter-generational as well as cross-cultural relationships to prevent exclusion, marginalisation and violence.
Living Green for Urban Agriculture and Food Systems: Creating strategies and practices that build the resilience of city food supplies to increase employment and nutritional outcomes, reduce poverty and address urban environmental degradation.

Before you can begin, you need to make an account and sign in to the Oxford Abstracts website. When you make your account, choose a password and remember it.

Each time you sign in, you’ll go to your dashboard. This is where you can:

Click “New Submission” to start a new entry
See and edit any entries you’ve already started

Everything you add is saved automatically. You can come back anytime to change or add more information.

You can make more than one entry for your city using the same account. Just click “New Submission” again to start another one. You’ll see all your entries on your dashboard, and you can open each one to work on it. Every entry needs its own form.

Helpful Tip

There’s a copy of the entry form on page 2 of the online form. You can use it to help plan your answers before filling them in online.

Making an account and starting an entry doesn’t mean you have to submit it later. It just helps you see the questions and decide if you want to continue.

You can come back and work on your entry as many times as you want—until entries close.

There is no limit when it comes to the number of initiatives that a city/local authority can submit. However, each initiative must be submitted through a separate online entry form. Additionally, any given initiative must be submitted only once.

This is a good thing! The greater the significance of the initiative and the wider its range of impacts, the better, since this is something we take into account in the entry evaluation process. These wide-ranging outcomes – whether fitting within the award categories or reaching beyond – should be documented in the entry. For each entry submitted, you will be able to nominate up to two categories (a primary and a secondary choice) in which the entry will be scored and judged.

We recommend that you limit overlap between categories if you are submitting multiple entries. Remember that entries in the same category will be competing against each other. We also recommend selecting categories for which you have compiled the best evidence of results.

Any city that was a finalist may not enter the same initiative in any future edition of the AIPH World Green City Awards. Any other city that has previously entered and not been a finalist may enter again, and may submit the same initiative as previously submitted, however you are encouraged to review your entry and submit a revised version. Please look at the case studies of previous winners to learn what makes a successful entry.

No, participation to the award is entirely free. We are not charging an entry fee in recognition that cities will commit resources towards putting together the application.

Yes, anyone involved in and well-informed about the project can complete the entry provided they have the support of the local authority. Key delivery partners will then also be featured in the award recognition alongside the local authority should the entry win.

All online entries must be accompanied by a Mayoral Declaration that confirms that the city supports the entry. The Mayoral Declaration is provided within the online entry form, and must be signed by the Mayor of the city or an alternative and suitable representative of the designated city authority.

No. All eligible cities are invited to submit an online entry. As soon as you create an account on the online submission portal, you will have access to the award submission system, and an offline version of the online entry form to assist you in preparing your entry.

Yes, all cities are required to put forward their submission through an online entry form. To enter, cities are required to create an account on our dedicated online submission portal to gain access to the online entry form. AIPH offers support in answering any questions you may have about your submission(s) and the award process.

English only.

You will receive a notification from AIPH acknowledging that your submission has been received.

All submissions will be reviewed and evaluated after the deadline for submission (19 October 2025, 23:00 UTC).

AIPH will notify the contact person identified in the application in January 2026 if additional information is required. Finalist cities may be asked to provide this complementary information within 30 days.

Finalist cities will be notified by early March 2026 and invited to take part in the awards ceremony at a gala event in the autumn of 2026. At this gala event the category winners will be announced to the world and the Grand Winner will be awarded the honour of winning the AIPH World Green City Awards 2026.

Compiling a submission to the AIPH World Green City Awards creates the opportunity for cities to:

Evaluate the progress and success of their project to date
Strengthen relationships with existing partners by working collaboratively on the submission
Raise awareness of the city’s urban greening with internal and external stakeholders

All submissions to World Green City Awards 2026 will be evaluated by the Resilient and Inclusive Cities Lab and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Feedback will be provided based on the project summary supplied by each city.

Finalists and Winners also stand a chance to:

Have their initiatives featured on the AIPH website and integrated into the AIPH Green City Case Study Collection. All Finalists will be featured.
Win an award certificate and a trophy. Winners can nominate key partners and key staff so that additional award certificates can be prepared in their name.
Gain global recognition and profiling opportunities. Winners will be promoted via AIPH and the World Green City Awards partners’ and sponsors’ media channels.
Have their city’s work displayed to a significant global audience in the AIPH pavilion of an International Horticultural Expo.
Receive up to four complimentary tickets to the gala event of the Awards ceremony.

Congratulations! If your city initiative is selected as a Finalist, you will be invited to attend the AIPH World Green City Award 2026 gala ceremony.

We would absolutely love you to join us. However, if you are unable to join the Awards Ceremony, this does not affect your status as a Finalist or affect your chances of becoming the overall Winner.

Finalists and Winners will be invited to participate in various promotional activities both in-person and online. These activities are a great way to show the world and your own city the work you have been doing. These activities will all be optional.

Disclaimer

The information used in evaluation of the awards and presented in AIPH media is received from applicants in good faith. The details submitted by applicants in the online entry form are not researched by AIPH nor are deliberately and factually substantiated. Applicants are solely responsible for the authenticity and legitimacy of the information submitted. AIPH, partners and sponsors, their respective personnel, and the technical panel and jurors are not liable in any way whatsoever for any incorrect or false information submitted through the entry submission process. If submitted information is found to be incorrect or false and does not correspond to the reality of the project, the organiser reserves the right to reject the entry from the competition at their sole discretion.
In the event of any concern raised or claims made about the false or incorrect representation of information submitted in any entry, the accusing party should contact AIPH in writing to formally lodge any such concern or claim, providing formal proof of any such false or incorrect info AIPH reserves the right to assess and decide the appropriate course of action on a case-by-case basis and at their sole discretion in these instances, following scrutiny of any legitimate dispute lodged through the appropriate channels where facts and figures are produced to contradict those submitted in the entry in question.
AIPH reserves the right to discard, ignore, and/or delete any comments or posts on any AIPH World Green City Awards content which is found to be slanderous or of a personal or political nature.
Entries are evaluated on the information provided, and assessed by the judges using their expertise, experience, and insight. No correspondence will be entered into.
AIPH reserves the right to revise the content and interpretation of the Rules and Procedures. The AIPH website shall at all times be considered to be the source of the most up to date Rules and Procedures.
No direct correspondence between participants in the AIPH World Green City Awards and members of the technical panel or jury regarding entries will be tolerated. All enquiries are to be directed to AIPH greencity@aiph.org
By submitting an application, applicants automatically agree to fully indemnify, defend, and hold AIPH and its partners and sponsors, their respective personnel, and the technical panel and jurors harmless from and against any and all claims, losses, costs, and expenses (including legal fees) incurred by any party in connection with any entry submissions, any dispute as to the authority of the applicant to submit the submission, and any dispute as to the entitlement of a city authority/entity to all or any part of the award.
If, after the presentation of an AIPH World Green City Award, any member of an applicant is accused of corruption or other criminal acts, or is brought into public disrepute, as determined by AIPH in its sole discretion, AIPH shall have the right to withdraw any award. Upon written notice to the lead authority of such withdrawal, the lead authority and other members of the project team may no longer claim to have won an AIPH award and must remove all references to AIPH awards from its website and promotional and marketing materials and may not reference the awards in any media or statements.