Nobel prize-winning poet Czesław Miłosz reminisced that Vilnius presented an opportunity for happiness, “perhaps because of the blended interplay of city and nature.” Having been awarded the title of European Green Capital 2025, the city is working hard to go greener, whether it’s literally introducing more greenery to the streetscapes, encouraging people to swap driving for cycling and walking, or engaging with young adults to innovate around green skills and opportunities.
This new mantle for Vilnius is not, however, about reinventing the wheel: “It’s not like we’re moving in a completely different direction after we won the European Green Capital. It’s about consistency,” says Jonas Simutis, Mobility Expert at JUDU, the municipal company responsible for transport planning in Vilnius.
Green and mobile
Since 2016, Vilnius has been steadily building its reputation as a bike-friendly city. Inspired by Dutch, German and Danish models, the city has committed to transforming its streets. “We’re working on new red asphalt bicycle paths,” Simutis explains. “Each year we are looking to build 20 more kilometres.”
the city has to make a change and show people that it’s nice, safe, and comfortable to ride a bike.
Vilnius is hoping that having attractive infrastructure in place will inspire a culture of cycling. “We started the idea which often is said to be how the Dutch did it – build it and they will come,” Simutis recalls. “It’s a chicken and egg question, and the city has to make a change and show people that it’s nice, safe and comfortable to ride a bike. That’s where you start.”
The results are beginning to show. “When we started in 2016, 1.5% of trips were made by bike. Now we’re up to 4.3% and it’s still growing,” Simutis proudly shares. The city wants to get better at mapping this trend: “We’re implementing new technological facilities, such as infrared counters that will help us gather mobility data to make more data-based decisions,” Simutis adds.
Just looking around is already giving a positive indication though: “This year we have opened new bicycle and scooter storage for residents,” Simutis says, “it’s just been open for six months and it’s already fully filled.”
A green wave
Vilnius has also embarked on a significant greening initiative. “In recent years, Vilnius has gone for a big scale-up in the development of greenery and refurbishing streets,” Simutis says. The city’s Green Wave project is transforming residential areas with the planting of tens of thousands of shrubs, vines, and trees. “This is part of our strategy of humanising streets, turning those lowest category streets that should be residential, into more enjoyable ones. This goes throughout all the city,” Simutis notes.
This is part of our strategy of humanising streets
Both greening and active mobility are promoted by the ‘Vilnius Street Standard,’ a set of guidelines for the city and developers that ensure new or refurbished streets are all held to the same high standards. “When the standard is high, residents get used to top-notch infrastructure, they’re not satisfied anymore with grey tile bike paths, they want red asphalt, they want separation from the traffic,” Simutis says.
The city’s Old Town, one of the largest medieval towns in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is also the beneficiary of the city’s new approach to its streets. A new circular loop traffic system in the Old Town means that drivers can only exit from the quarter that they entered by. This simple principle has wiped out traffic and collisions in the district. “In the beginning, people were a bit mad about that,” Simutis confesses, “but when Covid restrictions ended, the summer came and the bars and restaurants put their tables out in the new free space, people began to embrace it,” Simutis recounts.
International collaboration
Vilnius’ journey towards becoming a European Green Capital has been marked by international collaboration. “We have a great relationship with Amsterdam,” Simutis says. “We went there and had some field trips and said ‘Okay, we have to implement this bicycle street idea.’ It started as an idea, but we got support from the Ministry of Transportation, and it’s known as an official measure, and we have traffic signs and new bicycle streets.”
We provide positive evidence for them to make a case, and also healthy competition
Equally, Vilnius’ achievements are not going unnoticed abroad. “We were participating in this Green Capital Project, and after we won, we got a letter from the Gratz city delegation. They were really keen to come and find out what is going on here,” Simutis shares. He cheerfully indicates how Europe’s cities engage each other: “We provide positive evidence for them to make a case, and also healthy competition. We cooperate and push each other to be better and more sustainable.”
Upcoming Green Capital
As EU Green Capital in 2025, Vilnius will focus on communication and education activities on topics like green transformation, biodiversity, climate change and sustainable governance. The city’s idea is to connect with several stakeholder groups on these themes. For example, to engage residents, businesses and academia to promote involvement and ownership of the move to make Vilnius a more sustainable city.
It’s also a matter of targeting managers and employees working directly for the municipality to raise awareness and create more cross-departmental synergies. Naturally, the city also hopes the award will chime some bells with an international audience too, raising the profile of the city as a sustainable actor, and helping other cities adopt its good practices.
The next generation
With a lot to learn and a lot to impart, this September, Vilnius will host the Eurocities Next Generation Academy, a platform designed for cities to connect and empower young people to tackle urban challenges. “It’s super important to involve young people and students,” Simutis emphasises. “To keep people here, we have to build a city that is comfortable for them to live in. We have experienced brain drain, with people moving to other capitals.”
We have experienced brain drain, with people moving to other capitals
The Next Generation Academy offers a unique opportunity for young leaders to engage directly with local challenges, fostering innovative thinking and urban problem-solving skills. “We need to know how people see the city, how they see their problems, and how they want them to be addressed,” Simutis says. The academy will also serve as a bridge between residents and city specialists, creating a platform for regular communication and collaboration.
Young urban experts and specialists, and young city staff from Eurocities members are invited to join. The goal is to come up with tangible actions to change mobility behaviour, targeting schools, companies and the general public. If you fit the bill, now is the time to discover more and apply here.
