2026 EU Green Week partner events guidelines

What is EU Green Week?

EU Green Week is an annual opportunity to raise awareness, promote and discuss European environmental policy. Organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment, this high-level event attracts policymakers, leading environmentalists, stakeholders, and interested parties from across Europe and the globe. 

This year, EU Green Week 2026 shines a spotlight on the theme of investing in nature.  It focuses on using resources — like time, knowledge, skills, space, and funding — to protect and restore nature and manage resources better. Investing in nature drives Europe's prosperity, resilience, and competitiveness, demonstrating its essential role in a strong and sustainable future. By encouraging a nature-friendly economy, we can help businesses grow and ensure the well-being of communities and the environment. 

The EU Green Week conference will take place on 3-4 June 2026 in Brussels.  

Throughout June 2026, partner events will carry this message to local and regional areas, bringing together businesses and communities across Europe to show how investing in nature can lead to lasting benefits for everyone. 

What is a partner event?

EU Green Week partner events will take place between 1 and 30 June 2026.  

Partner events must focus on investing in nature, aiming to raise awareness about its potential to support the EU’s transition towards a more competitive, sustainable and resilient future. 

We welcome initiatives that engage citizens and businesses in exploring various opportunities for investing in nature. Partner events can help foster a lively public dialogue through workshops, public debates, exhibitions, and awareness-raising activities. Events can be held at local, regional, national, or European level, as well as outside the EU. Below are some common types of partner events, though other formats are also welcome: 

• Seminars, workshops and conferences; 
• Training and networking events; 
• Public debates
• Information, education or awareness-raising events; 
• Open doors days / info days; 
• Exhibitions and fairs / festivals; 
• Guided walks, tours and visits; 
• Online events, such as webinars.  

Partner events may be new or recurring initiatives and may also be part of other events that have already been planned. 

What kind of topics?

Partner events should contribute to a public debate around the topic of investing in nature. They may target the public or specific stakeholder groups. A wide variety of topics can be addressed, for example:  

• Enhancing biodiversity and ecosystems
• Sustainable farming practices
• Soil-health innovations
• Greening urban spaces
• Restoring natural habitats
• Water management and conservation
• Nature-based solutions to climate challenges
• Forest conservation and management
• Community-led wildlife preservation
• Sustainable land use
• Protecting endangered species
• Educational programmes on environmental stewardship
• Policy initiatives promoting nature-positive actions
• Collaboration between sectors for environmental gains
• Innovations in nature-related technologies
• Climate resilience through nature investment
• Economic benefits of biodiversity protection
• Public awareness campaigns on nature preservation
• … 

What is in it for EU Green Week applicants?

Taking part in EU Green Week is an excellent way to show how civil society, the corporate sector and other stakeholders can play an active role in Europe’s transition to a more sustainable future. It also means joining a wider effort to promote environmental policies. Green Week partner events, with over 25 years of history and thousands of events organised in Europe and beyond, have brought environmental messages closer to millions of people, be it experts or the public.  

By partnering with EU Green Week 2026, your organisation will be able to benefit from the following: 

• All confirmed partner events will be listed on the EU Green Week 2026 partner event page.
• Partners will get full access to using the EU Green Week branding and a wide selection of other communication materials related to the theme ‘investing in nature’ (provided in a downloadable and adaptable communication toolkit).
• A selection of partner events may be featured in a presentation at the high-level EU Green Week conference.  

What are the next steps?

Partner Events will be selected from eligible applications.  

• Until 20.03.2026: Promotion of partner events call for application via DG Environment website, social media and different networks and preparation of applications by events’ organisers 

Application guidelines, partnership agreements and registration forms will be available allowing organisers time to prepare their applications. 

Throughout this period, the Green Week team will be available at ENV-GREENWEEK-PARTNER-EVENTSec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ENV-GREENWEEK-PARTNER-EVENTS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu) to answer all your questions related to the organisation of an EU Green Week Partner Event. 

• 02.03 - 20.03.2026: application period / partner events registration  

For any questions during this period, please contact ENV-GREENWEEK-PARTNER-EVENTSec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ENV-GREENWEEK-PARTNER-EVENTS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu) 

Who can apply?

Any organisation can organise individually or jointly a partner event, for instance: municipal authorities, authorities in charge of the environment, businesses, associations, private companies, NGOs, schools, research institutes, universities and technical colleges, vocational training centres, media, groups of citizens, youth groups, social partners, stakeholders in other sectors (biodiversity, nature, water, air quality, tourism, education, agriculture, and sustainable business), and so on. 

How to promote partner events?

The European Commission will ensure high visibility of confirmed partner events by: 

• offering a digital communication toolkit, recommended for partner events’ promotion on social media;
• featuring confirmed partner events on the EU Green Week website;
• highlighting selected partner events on the Green Week social media channels. 

In turn, organisers will have the opportunity to highlight the connection of their event to EU Green Week through a series of communication actions, including: 

• using the Green Week official visual identity;
• adapting the communication toolkit to their specific needs and disseminating it; 
• sharing their ideas, photos, and testimonials using #EUGreenWeek. 

How to register a partner event?

As of 2 March, please fill in the partner event registration form and the partnership agreement via an online registration tool and submit them electronically for the partner events secretariat’s approval. 

Submission deadline: 20 March 2026 

The confirmed partner events will be published on the EU Green Week website. Applicants will need to provide relevant information including time & location, a (draft) programme, an event web link, and photos (if possible, before, but especially after, the event). 

Applicants may submit more than one partner event application. 

Conditions of participation

A partner event agreement will be counter-signed by the European Commission and the partner event organiser. Each partner event must agree to use the 2026 EU Green Week visual identity, incorporating the EU Green Week design into their branding and website. 

Important: 

• Events should be open to all interested participants (within the event’s capacity), which means that internal communication events organised for own staff cannot qualify as EU Green Week partner events. 
• Events must be freely accessible – events with registration fee or tickets, or behind a paywall (online), cannot qualify as EU Green Week partner events. 
• The EU Green Week organisers will not accept or promote events that could raise any suspicion of greenwashing, or events that provide misleading information or give a false impression of the extent to which products or services are environmentally sound
• Applicants should bear in mind the main objective of the EU Green Week partner events programme: the event is intended to facilitate discussions and raise awareness about the theme ‘investing in nature’. It will not be used as a platform for commercial, political, religious or profit-oriented contributions, or for any activity that might harm the vision and objective of the event.
• The European Commission expects partner events to be organised in a sustainable manner, using environmentally friendly materials for their event, ideally in accordance with the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). 

Frequently asked questions

1. Are there any restrictions on taking part? 

Your event must reflect the overarching theme for this year’s EU Green Week, namely ‘investing in nature’. It must be held between 1 and 30 June 2026 (in case of multi-day events, at least one day must be held between 1 and 30 June 2026).  

Events with registration fees or tickets, or behind a paywall (online), cannot qualify as EU Green Week partner events.  

Internal communication events organised for own staff cannot qualify as EU Green Week partner events. 

If there is no link to the theme, or if the event takes place outside the dates mentioned above, the application will not be considered.  

2. Are there any subsidies available? 

No. The European Commission will provide assistance by promoting the partner events on the official EU Green Week website and on social media and will offer a communications toolkit on circular economy to all partners.