The initiative to reward best local practices for the regeneration of coastal towns was launched by the Council of Europe in January 2012, in an effort to identify and award local authorities with innovative initiatives aimed at reversing the downward economic and social trends faced by many coastal communities, and consequently make that knowledge and experience available for sharing with other local authorities.

Based on the evaluation of the 48 applications received, the CoE Jury decided to acknowledge innovative projects selected for the final round of the competition and nominate them for the Best Practice Award -one among them was Heraklion.
The award ceremony for the winners and nominees will take place on May 9, in Blackpool, United Kingdom.