• The LIFE Awards recognize the best LIFE projects across the European Union that are in line with the European Green Deal.
• The “LIFE Citizen 2023” Award has been awarded to the “LIFE TECMINE” project (Valencian Community)
• The awards ceremony took place during the “European Green Week”

June 28, 2023. Restoring forests home to the Eurasian lynx, boosting agriculture with high-tech biostimulants, and helping one of Europe's largest cities adapt to climate change (Milan) are some of the winning projects announced at the LIFE Awards ceremony. of the European Union (EU), which took place on June 6 in Brussels, as part of the EU Green Week .

The winners were selected from hundreds of LIFE projects implemented in the EU over the past two years, which were aligned with the objectives of the European Green Deal .

The main categories of these awards are nature protection, the environment, and climate action. Along with these three main categories, the "LIFE Citizens" Award—awarded by popular vote—is also presented, which is the only award given to a Spanish project.

Winners

Thus, the award-winning projects were:

1. LIFE Nature Protection Award - LIFE Luchs Pfälzerwald Project (Germany)

The project focuses on the reintroduction of Eurasian lynxes into the Palatinate Forest Biosphere Reserve (Germany). The initiative has successfully multiplied the lynx population in southwestern Germany, three centuries after they disappeared from the area.

2. LIFE Environmental Protection Award - LIFE Plants for Plants Project (Multi-stakeholder)

The project has developed new plant-based biostimulants for conventional agriculture. The team, which worked in six European countries, produced and tested three new biostimulants that save water, reduce pesticide use, and make crops more resistant to climate change and disease.

3. LIFE Climate Action Award - LIFE METRO ADAPT Project (Italy)

This initiative has implemented climate change adaptation strategies and measures in Milan, Italy's second-largest city. Water management and nature-based solutions have been used to develop sustainable drainage systems and prevent flood risks.

4. “LIFE Citizens” Award – LIFE TECMINE Project (Spain, Valencian Community)

This project aims to improve mine restoration activities in Mediterranean forest areas by testing innovative and highly transferable restoration techniques. LIFE TECMINE has successfully restored a 13-hectare area of a mine located in a Mediterranean forest area using these innovative geomorphological restoration techniques. Replicas are also being carried out in three other mines, representing a 148% increase in the initial project area.

Thanks to this, LIFE TECMINE has updated the General Mining Management Plan of the Valencian Community (Spain), and, based on the project results, a proposal for a Sustainable Mining Law is being drafted. In addition, technical guides on mine restoration have been developed for public administrations and mining companies. The project created the first national network for mine and quarry restoration, with 60 entities involved.

Along with these award winners, there was also a special mention for certain finalists .

LIFE Program

The LIFE Programme is the EU's funding instrument for the environment and climate action. It has been running since 1992 and has co-financed nearly 6,000 projects across the EU and in third countries. The European Commission has increased LIFE funding by almost 60% for the period 2021-2027, now amounting to €5.4 billion. LIFE has four new subprograms: nature and biodiversity, circular economy and quality of life, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and clean energy transition. Applications are now open.   €611 million in funding for LIFE projects in 2023.