Malta, June 2 - On the afternoon of June 2, the Finals of the 21st International Awards for Liveable Communities (LivCom Awards) and LivCom Forum drew to a successful close in Malta. At the Ceremony, Mr. Arab Hoballah, Chairman of LivCom Jury, announced winners of the Whole City Award, Environmentally Sustainable Project Award as well as Technology and Solution Award of the Finals.
Awards Ceremony
LivCom Awards is endorsed by the United Nations and every year hundreds of cities and projects around the world are drawn to the competition.This year the International Forum on Age-Friendly and Liveable Cities and UN International Training on Active Ageing and Age-friendly City are co-organized by the International Institute on Ageing (United Nations - Malta) / UN-INIA, the International Society of City and Regional Planners / ISOCARP, the United Nations Centre for Regional Development / UNCRD, and the LivCom Committee, and co-hosted by the Birgu City government and the University of Malta. Similarly, the LivCom Finals is co-organized by UN-INIA, ISOCARP, and the LivCom Committee, and co-hosted by the Birgu City government and the University of Malta. A total of 22 cities and 33 projects from 24 countries around the world are shortlisted by LivCom Committee for consideration for Finals.
After online and on-site competition, for Whole City Award Category E (population over 400,000), Abu Dhabi from UAE won the 1st place with Gold Award; for Category D (population 150,001-400,000), Gdynia from Poland won the 1st place with Gold Award; for Category C (population 75,001-150,000), Torres Vedras from Portugal won the 1st place with Gold Award; for Category B (population 20,001-75,000), Águeda from Portugal won the 1st place with Gold Award; for Category A (population up to 20,000), Mizhi Community from Chinese Taipei won the 1st place with Silver Award. For project award, the 1st and 2nd places with Gold Award belong to Alacaatlı Recycling Centre of Türkiye and Sustainable revitalization of Ljubljana tailored to people: expansion and up-scaling of the central pedestrian zone of Slovenia respectively.The JW Eco-Technology: Revolutionary Infrastructure for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals of Chinese Taipei won the 1st place in Technology and Solution Project Award. (For more award winner information, please turn to the full award list)
Hon. Dr. Ian Borg, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta, and Prof. Marvin Formosa, Director of United Nations International Institute on Ageing delivered welcome remarks at the Opening Ceremony. More than 10 distinguished guests including Ms. Angela Kane, Former UN Under-Secretary-General & Former Council Chair of the United Nations University, Mr. Choudhury Mohanty, Environment Programme Coordinator of UNCRD, Dr. Khalid Adli, Chairman of LivCom Committee, Mr. Arab Hoballah, Ex-Chief of UNEP SCP, Mr. Pietro EIisei, President of ISOCARP, Mr. John Boxall, Mayor of Birgu, etc. attended the Ceremony. Dr. Abdelaziz Saqr, LivCom Secretary General moderated the event.
The theme of the 21st LivCom Finals is "City Age-Friendliness", which runs through the Opening Ceremony of the Finals & the First International Forum on Age-Friendly and Liveable Cities on May 30 and all serial activities. The First International Forum on Age-Friendly and Liveable Cities was hosted by the LivCom Committee in collaboration with UN-INIA,ISOCARP, UNCRD and the Birgu City government. SUC Institute provided conference logistics support. During the Mayors’ Dialogues section, many mayors and senior delegates from various cities put forward enlightening suggestions on topics like "the importance of active ageing for liveable city construction" and "how your city integrates active ageing into the practice of building liveable cities".
The success of 2023 LivCom Finals and Forum also benefited from the support of Malta and the Birgu City government.In particular, Prof.Marvin Formosa, Director of United Nations International Institute on Ageing, and Mr.John Boxall, Mayor of Birgu made a special contribution to the success of the event including visit and field trip, reception rituals, gift exchange, etc.which enriched the event with cultural elements and memorable occasions.
Welcome Gala Dinner & Forum, Exchange of Civic Gifts
Presentations & Excursion