The Slovenian city of Velenje received the Green Leaf award for 2024 together with Denmark's Elsinore while Spain's Valencia was designated the European Green Capital of 2024 at a ceremony in France's Grenoble. The award was accepted by Velenje Mayor Peter Dermol.

One of Slovenia's 12 urban municipalities, Velenje has the only active mine in Slovenia and is set to phase out coal while opening green jobs.

It was one of the first among the country's 212 municipalities to set up a system of separate waste collection and has since been improving waste management, the municipality said in a press release on Friday.

The European Leaf award is meant to recognise cities with 20,000 to 100,000 residents which show good environmental results and are committed to green growth.

It is a way of encouraging them to develop the awareness of the environment and include citizens in these efforts.

The award also aims to identify towns that are able to act as green ambassadors encouraging others to follow their example.

Cities with more than 100,000 are eligible to become the European Green Capital, the title the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana held in 2016.

The Green Leaf cities also received a EUR 200,000 cheque, the European Commission said.