the 2024 list of towns and villages in bloom

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We easily recognize the Cities and Villages in Bloom label to the symbolic flowers which adorn the entrance sign of the award-winning municipalities. Ranging from une with four flowersit signals the attachment of communities to floral embellishment of their living environment.

This was recalled this Monday, November 18, 2024 in the Château d'Argeronne, in La Haye-Malherbe (Eure), near Louviers, for the 64th awards ceremony of the departmental countryside of Villes et Villages Fleuris.

This national label is promoted in the Eure to the municipalities by Eureka. The departmental agency is responsible for promoting the attractiveness of the territory not only to investors, entrepreneurs or tourists, but also to foraging insects. Because thisabel 60 years old now lives in the time of zero phytowater conservation, biodiversity and soil renaturation: flowers attract insects, and insects attract birds which re-enchant the villages.

Eureka, linchpin of the label

To support candidate municipalities, Eureka provides advice and training on the differentiated management of green spaces or on the creation of massifs that are easy to maintain, sustainable and favorable to biodiversity, which have attracted more than 300 people in 2024.

The popularity of the label in Eure therefore owes a lot to the investment of the Eureka team, and particularly to that of Laurence Maillardliving environment and sustainable development facilitator, tireless ambassador of the label to municipalities for 25 years. The jury had therefore secretly decided to award him a special prize this year, a gesture greatly applauded by the public.

A lot has changed in 25 years. Before we were really on the flower per kilo: the more flowers the better. Today, it's completely different, we're really focused on the living environment and sustainable development. We look at both street furniture and underground networks. The flowering is almost the icing on the cake!

This year, two new municipalities, Broglie (canton of Breteuil) and Pullay (canton of Verneuil-d'Avre-et-d'Iton), joined the club of 107 labeled European municipalities, or roughly one in five municipalities in the department.

Rain of rewards

In all, 45 municipalities were cited during the ceremony for a distinction or for the presentation of a prize, including four municipalities in the Seine-Eure region.

• The Manor-sur-Seinealready holder of a flower, was cited among the four municipalities winning the urban planning and living environment prize, for the development carried out in front of his school.
• Val-de-Reuilalready the holder of three flowers, was recognized with the prize for the preservation of water resources for its action of revegetating roads on slabs to combat heat islands.
• While Heudebouville and Poseswho embark on the quest for a first flower, were rewarded with an encouragement prize.

In Seine-Eure, eight municipalities are labeled, or 13% of the 61 municipalities of the agglomeration community: Alizay, Le Manoir-sur-Seine, Le Vaudreuil, Les Damps, Pont-de-l'Arche, Saint-Aubin- sur-Gaillon, Val-de-Reuil and Vironvay.

A prize list kept secret until the ceremony

Hosted by Michel Jérôme, host of the France Bleue Normandie mornings, this 64th edition was chaired by Myriam Duteilvice-president of the departmental council in charge of the protection of nature, landscapes and biodiversity. She had invited 230 elected officials and municipal agents to this ceremony to award around ten departmental prizes.

New for 2024, the recipients did not know in advance whether they would be crowned or promoted. And this year, only six were distinguished among the 24 municipalities candidates for a first flower or an additional flower.

A demanding label

Make no mistake, the label's flowers don't come off so easily. Aspiring municipalities must deal with a national grid including multiple criteria beyond the harmony of colors, including the quality of landscaping, the commitment of elected officials, the involvement of residents, or the protection of natural spaces.

But whether you have one, two or three flowers displayed at the entrance to your village, they are the pride of the municipal agents responsible for green spaces. Especially in small towns lacking technical staff, like this year Houetteville or Tournedos-Bois-Hubert. This label honors volunteers, small or large, elected or not, who roll up their sleeves to add a touch of natural charm to a schoolyard, a wash house, a cemetery, a trail or the rebirth of a pond.

All the 2024 winners: www.eureka-attractivite.fr

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