City Hall

City Hall - An efficient and cost effective municipal administration is beneficial to the environment and to our wallets, whilst improving quality of life for citizens.

One of the city’s biggest consumers is it’s government. Millions of euros from the city budget (i.e. our money) is spent every month on official car travel, heating, lighting buildings and telephone costs.

A positive example set by the local administration is an excellent way of encouraging environmentally friendly, money saving behaviour as well as building a market for environmentally friendly goods and services. Ask your municipal authorities whether they are managing your money in a cost effective manner, and whether they are protecting the environment by implementing such measures as:


 * replacing standard light bulbs with energy saving light bulbs and thermally renovating town hall and other city owned buildings. These measures would drastically cut heating and energy bills, and result in decreased pollution
 * printing documents on double sided paper and introducing electronic archiving. As well as saving paper and energy, this would cut the costs of maintaining the city’s archives
 * rewarding those workers who walk, cycle or use public transport to get to work. Encouraging such behaviour would allow the city authorities to make savings on car parking, roads and official travel
 * using free and open source software in the municipal computer systems; using free communication software instead of the telephone.

Over 500 local governments have signed the Aalborg Commitments as part of the European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign. These include commitments to increased participatory democracy, responsible consumption and lifestyle choices and the development of a vibrant and sustainable local economy.