WWF’s Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007 as a citizen action to protest against climate change and a call for urgent action. For one hour on the last Saturday of March, millions across the globe turned off their lights to express their symbolic act of support to Earth. Today, Earth Hour has grown at a huge pace to become the world’s largest grassroots environmental initiative. It is active in over 170 countries, and has gone ‘beyond the hour’ to become a platform where people are mobilising for action on climate and other global, regional and local environmental priorities.

In the Green Heart of Europe, Earth Hour has been celebrated since 2009. Today, hundreds of thousands people in more than 420 cities in the Green Heart of Europe region dedicate at least an hour of their time each year to think about Earth and the way our actions impact it. Municipalities, sports clubs, schools, NGOs and citizens all join in on a variety of activities to help our planet -- from city greening competitions to bicycle races, marathons and nature crowdfunding campaigns – the list goes on and it becomes more diverse as different participants join each year.