16 October 2018
For the first time in history, a People's Choice vote has been held for the favourite Green Flag Award parks and green spaces outside the UK on a truly international level. Over 1,000 votes were received spanning 12 countries and 3 continents.
This year there were over 100 eligible sites outside the UK - all of which meet the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award, the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.
And now the public have voted, and chosen their top 3 favourites.They are:
Abu Dhabi Corniche Beach Gardens, Abu Dhabi City Municipality, United Arab Emirates
Provinciaal Groendomein Rivierenhof, Provincie Antwerpen, Belgium
Tim Smythe Park, Clare County Council, Republic of Ireland
Carl McClean, International Development Manager for the Green Flag Award said:
"It's inspiring to see so many residents from local and regional communities vote for their favourite park around the world. It really does acknowledge the hard work and dedication put in by those employees and volunteers that maintain these highly recognised parks."
The vote comes after a significant period of activity across the Green Flag Award scheme.
Works by our recently appointed International Development Manager have seen agreements made with several European operators including Spain and Belgium as well as interest being generated from Portugal, Croatia, Slovenia, India and Greece for the first time.
Carl McClean also said:
"The interest in the Green Flag Award globally is growing day by day, and this is testament to the core principles of the Award that highlights the recognition, celebration and appreciation people have for well managed public parks and green spaces through a not-for profit international accreditation scheme"
To find out more, or apply for an Award, whichever country you are based in, visit: www.greenflagaward.org