The city of Essen has been awarded "European Green Capital 2017" for its commitment in the transformation from a city shaped by coal and steel production towards a sustainable and green one. The city of Essen uses the year 2017 to organise a variety of festivals, conferences and projects that focus on the environment and sustainability, foster awareness and promote these topics in society. The Wuppertal Institute in cooperation with professors of the University Alliance Ruhr (University of Duisburg-Essen, Ruhr University Bochum, Technical University of Dortmund) conducts a monitoring of the year as Green Capital. Goal of this monitoring is a survey of participants of events carried out during the year as European Green Capital. The focus here is to learn about the participant's appraisal of the events and their assessment of the progress of the city in the transformation process. To do this, the Wuppertal Institute and the project partners poll participants of selected events. The monitoring also builds on other data like, among others, the total number of participants and the media attention of an event. In a second step, the project consortium monitors the development of diverse indicators in four central areas of environmental performance (urban green spaces and climate change, local transport and climate change, air quality, eco-innovation/sustainable jobs).

Results will be utilised in the city's report to the European Commission after completing the Green Capital year.