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    Brochure and Information
    Brochure
    on
    The EuroIndia Environmentally Sustainable City Award (ESCA)
    I) Introduction

    • Environmental sustainability is about using the earth resources for habitat, infrastructure, economic activities and transportation in such a way that coming generations inherit a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable planet. It is about reducing the carbon footprint, increasing energy efficiency, recycling waste water, segregating and recycling garbage, enhancing green cover, nurturing our forests and facilitating the restoration of the ozone layer.

    • The EuroIndia Environmentally Sustainable City Award (ESCA) is an international award instituted by the EuroIndia Centre with its focus on progressively promoting higher standards of sustainable development in cities located in Europe and India. The ESCA was announced at the 4th EuroIndia Summit held at Halle, Germany on 11-12 October, 2010. The For the first time, the ESCA was awarded to two Indian cities: Vijyawada and Mysore and the former s technical partner, at the 5th EuroIndia Summit held at Leuven, Belgium on 13-14 October, 2011. The ESCA will henceforth be awarded at every annual EuroIndia Summit.


    II) Rationale for the ESCA

    • After the landmark Kyoto Protocol, a substantive international agreement on climate change and associated issues relating to environmental sustainability has eluded the Governments of the World since there is a significant divergence of perception between developed and developing countries. At the same time, it is of vital importance to appreciate that cities can play a significant role in bridging this gap since they have a vital role to play in ensuring environmental sustainability. Some of the major pollutants related to environmental degradation are linked to Cities:
      • Industrial plants emitting CO2 and other greenhouse gases as well as leaching-out toxic effluents.
      • Large concrete structures whether residential, industrial or commercial, which have not been built as per advanced standards relating to "Green Buildings."
      • Large numbers of motorized vehicles running on fossil fuels rather than renewable/cleaner fuels and still have room for improved standards on fuel efficiency.
      • Emission of CO2 from thermal plants and production of large quantities of fly ash waste.
      • Inadequate observance of advanced standards of sewerage and sludge treatment in many cities of the world as well as limited coverage of sewerage in some cities of the developing world.
      • Non-observance of advanced standards of solid waste management and recourse to landfill sites for dumping by many cities of the World.
      • Inadequate public transport system not relying on renewable energy and buses operating on alternate fuels in many cities and heavy dependence on private motor vehicles running on fossil fuels.
    • In view of the foregoing rationale, it is of vital importance that the municipal governments of cities are not only assisted in understanding the critical issues involved in climate change negotiations at the international level but are encouraged to play a dynamic, positive role in observing advanced standards of environmental sustainability. The ESCA is expected to play a significant role in propagating such a sound observance among cities in Europe and India.


    III) Environmentally Sustainable City Index (ESCI)

    The Environmentally Sustainable City Index (ESCI) has been developed keeping in view the critical significance of the five elements of existence from which life on this planet is deemed to have been created: Air, Water, Energy, Sky/Space and Earth. The ESCI is a holistic configuration and seeks to give equal importance to each of the five Elements in the context of "Sustainable Development." The ESCI has been developed for assessing the award-winning City in Europe and India on an annual basis. The ESCI consists of five distinct evaluative groups relating to Air, Water, Energy, Sky/Space and Earth. Each group, further, consists of two broad parameters and three Indicators under each parameter. The emerging ten parameters are described below:
    1. Air related Group of Parameters
      1. Ambient air quality in the city
      2. Intra-city transport modes and dedicated jogging/cycling tracks vis-à-vis roads/streets length in the context of impact on ambient air quality

    2. Water related Group of Parameters
      1. Water supply, rain water harvesting & dual piping system for water recycling in buildings
      2. Sewerage, industrial effluents & storm water drainage

    3. Energy (or Fire by mythological connotation) related Group of Parameters
      1. Power generation and energy management
      2. Motor vehicles

    4. Sky/Space ( Sky/Ether by mythological connotation) related Group of Parameters
      1. Green areas promoting photosynthesis in the city
      2. Emissions into the sky

    5. Earth related Group of Parameters
      1. Built-up environment & solid waste management
      2. Regional planning & the urban-rural continuum
    1. The Environmentally Sustainable City Index (ESCI) is to be constructively applied to the successfully implemented Project of each City at two points of time (i.e. before and after the successful implementation of the Project) for assessing the quantitative and qualitative enhancement of environmental sustainability. A more detailed presentation of the ESCI is available at: www.the-euroindia-centre.org
    IV) International jury

    1. The ESCA awards will be adjudged by an international jury consisting of 3-5 jurors: 1-2 eminent environmentalists from Europe and 1-2 eminent environmentalists from India with the author of the EuroIndia Environmentally Sustainable City Index (ESCI) acting as the moderator. The Jury will consider both quantitative and qualitative aspects in the process of adjudication.


    V) Salient features of the ESCA

    1. The salient features of the ESCA are given below:
      • The ESCA will be awarded to one city of Europe and its partner organization /expert and one city of India and its partner organization /expert. The partner of the award winning city can be a company, public authority, academic or research Institution, NGO or environmental expert. The partner must be named by the city at the time of submitting its entry project and will be expected to participate in the process of presentation of the city s entry.
         
      • The ESCA will be given to one city in Europe and its partner and one city in India and its partner on an annual basis. However, in case the jury feels that no entry is of the required quality, the award for either of the two territorial jurisdictions can be withheld for any given year.
         
      • The jury consisting of 3-5 members will strive for unanimity amongst themselves in the process of adjudication but in case of a potential tie between two competing cities, the adjudication will be finalized by majority vote.
         
      • European cities will compete amongst themselves for the ESCA, just as Indian cities will compete among themselves for the said Award. This will entail awarding a maximum of four ESCAs.
        1. The award-winning European city and its partner organization or environmental expert.
        2. The award-winning Indian city and its partner organization or environmental expert.

         
      • The ESCA will consist of an exquisitely designed trophy and a citation.
         
      • The ESCA will be presented at a major EuroIndia event every year to be held in Europe or India.
         
      • Further details on the application and selection procedure are available at: www.the-euroindia-centre.org or may be requested by email from the Centre.


    1. The ESCA will be presented by an eminent person from the fields of environment, governance, science or social action at a glittering ceremony held during an international event with wide media coverage.


    VI) Conclusion

    1. The EuroIndia Centre expects that the EuroIndia Environmentally Sustainable City Award (ESCA) will become an international symbol of excellence relating to innovative projects promoting environmental sustainability at the city level. We hope that the ESCA will generate considerable awareness and intense debate on environmental sustainability at the levels of municipal governance, the corporate sector, the academic & research sector, the NGO sector and amongst citizens of great cities of Europe and India.
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