Councils and NGOs to get €10 million in community greening grants

A €10 million Community Greening Grant will allow communities in Malta and Gozo to create green open spaces inside their localities.

The grant was launched by the Project Green agency, which will forward this financial assistance to local councils, NGOs, schools, and other organisations to create greener spaces in their community.

Project Green will process the requests to guide the eligible projects to benefit from EU funds with technical assistance to further encourage organisations to apply.

“This is one of the biggest environmental schemes for environmental projects in the community ever launched in our country. We are injecting a €10 million direct investment in our communities to implement the green projects that they have always aspired for. This scheme aims to encourage quality and innovation; we want the people to reap the greatest rate of return possible on this investment,” said environment minister Miriam Dalli.

The scheme encourages the identification of sites which have fallen in disrepair, or which can be opened to the public. The scheme will also address issues related to water management faced by the community within their public spaces, to harvest rainwater for irrigation and cleaning, and to mitigate flooding risks.

“The environment is our priority, and we are determined to utilise the new EU funds programme to invest in projects that improve our environment and create more green spaces for our families,” said Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds Chris Bonett.

Project Green CEO Steve Ellul said 90% of project costs can be funded through the Community Greening Grant. “We are aware that when it comes to such grant applications, applicants face complications and bureaucracy. Therefore we prepared clear and simple guidelines and conditions. We will truly be investing people's money for the people.”

As part of the application process, applicants need to submit a 10-year maintenance plan, so that beneficiaries will implement the project and then oversee the maintenance of the area.