The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) members consist of thousands of growers of flowers and ornamental plants around the world who are together united by one essential goal – promoting the place of plants in people’s lives.
AIPH is responsible for approving the world’s most exceptional horticultural expos creating long lasting green legacies in cities across the globe.
AIPH Blooming Economies & Cities to Inspire The World 2.0. Up-to-date statistics from recent Expos hosted in Asia and Europe.
Learn moreAIPH hosts several conferences, webinars and events such as the International Grower of the Year award throughout the year. Read about these along with the latest news about the association’s activities.
The AIPH International Grower of the Year Awards celebrate the best of the best in ornamental horticulture
Learn moreAIPH’s key aim is to stimulate demand for ornamental trees, plants and flowers worldwide. We are committed to supporting growers in achieving this by protecting and promoting the interests of the industry.
The AIPH’s Global Industry Intelligence Centre (GIIC) is an international hub for industry information and knowledge exchange.
The report contains insights on production and consumption of the floriculture industry in Thailand, imports and exports, and business opportunities
DownloadAIPH Green City activities promote the essential role of plants in creating vibrant urban areas in which people and businesses can thrive.
From 24 April to 4 May, Euroflora 2025 transformed Genoa into a vibrant showcase of ornamental horticulture, celebrating a bold new era where tradition met technology and innovation grew with purpose. This year’s edition was a resounding success, not only in the brilliance of its displays but in the way it captured the evolving spirit of the industry—sustainable, design-led, and globally connected.
Euroflora 2025, one of Europe’s most renowned international horticultural exhibitions and officially approved by AIPH, offered more than just a celebration of plants and flowers this year. It staged a bold, inventive reimagining of what ornamental horticulture can look like in a world shaped by technology, sustainability, and shifting planetary demands.
For eleven days this spring, Genoa’s Levante Waterfront transformed into a sprawling garden of ideas, where the beauty of bonsai coexisted with greenhouses and floating flowerbeds alongside robots and bio-based materials. The result? An immersive landscape that was not only spectacular but also deeply thoughtful, revealing the ornamental sector’s growing synergy with cutting-edge research and design.
As part of our technology-themed June 2024 issue, FloraCulture International looks back at the most pioneering aspects of this International Horticultural Show in Italy, which showcased tech that didn’t just dazzle the senses but pointed to horticulture’s high-tech horizon.
Euroflora has been recognised by AIPH (the International Association of Horticultural Producers) as an official international horticultural exhibition—a designation that acknowledges its commitment to excellence, innovation, and global collaboration in ornamental horticulture.
This year’s event, the thirteenth edition, was the first to take place across Genoa’s renovated Levante Waterfront—a location that matched the organisers’ vision to merge the natural with the urban, as part of its theme ‘Nature Takes Its Place’. There were also technological aspects to the event. The show’s expansive footprint, covering 85,000 square metres and five main zones, enabled landmark installations and experimental exhibits to flourish alongside more traditional floricultural displays.
With over 400 participating florists and landscapers and representation from countries including France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Thailand, the US, and Bhutan, Euroflora maintained its international appeal while also deepening its connection to Ligurian heritage and Italian innovation.
Tomorrow’s world: Spave V demonstrate growing plants fit for space.
One of the show’s most compelling technological showcases was the Space Greenhouse—a futuristic, sealed growing environment designed by the University of Genoa spinoff Space V. Coordinated by astronaut Franco Malerba, Italy’s first man in space, the project explores how plants can be cultivated in space or in extreme environments on Earth.
Its presence at Euroflora wasn’t just symbolic. The greenhouse was installed and operational, illustrating closed-loop systems, artificial lighting, and space-efficient hydroponic growing. Malerba himself gave public talks during the expo, connecting the broader themes of food security, resilience, and innovation. For growers, researchers, and visitors alike, the exhibit sparked conversations about how ornamental plants—and the skills used to cultivate them—may play unexpected roles in the future of space colonisation, environmental design, and even disaster resilience on Earth.
Growing in the deep blue sea with Nemo’s Garden.
Another highlight was Nemo’s Garden, a visionary underwater farming project developed off the Ligurian coast. Recreated at Euroflora using floating pontoons and glass biospheres, the exhibit drew crowds not just for its beauty but for its pioneering concept: cultivating herbs and flowers beneath the sea in oxygen-rich, temperature-stable environments.
Originally intended as a solution for areas with limited arable land and freshwater, Nemo’s Garden has since evolved into a globally admired case study in alternative agriculture. Its inclusion at Euroflora underscored how horticulture is now deeply intertwined with environmental adaptation and innovation.
For the ornamental sector, it suggests new frontiers—perhaps even a day when certain flowers or foliage are grown underwater for their unique qualities or low-impact production potential.
Italy’s own Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) introduced a suite of innovations to Euroflora, showcasing how science is quietly transforming the everyday practices of growers. The IIT exhibition included: Precision pruning robots for viticulture and ornamentals; Bioplastics made from agricultural waste; Bio-inspired sensors and materials modelled on plant systems; and Predictive modelling and AI to optimise resource use in greenhouses
Though some visitors were likely drawn by the visual appeal of flower arrangements and garden pavilions, many left talking about how drones, sensors, and plant neurobiology are reshaping what it means to “grow” in the 21st century.
Euroflora visitors view the floating gardens.
If Euroflora 2025 was about vision, its physical layout didn’t disappoint. The three ten-metre-high origami sculptures—interpreting the forms of sails, strelitzia flowers, and fishing nets—acted as symbolic beacons across the site. Designed by architect Matteo Fraschini, the sculptures not only paid homage to Genoa’s maritime and floricultural heritage but hinted at a future where form and function merge in living landscapes.
Equally striking were the floating gardens and marine installations integrated into the show’s Marina zone. Visitors crossed bridges and elevated walkways to view floral compositions from unusual perspectives, highlighting how engineering and elevation can shape the horticultural experience in urban or space-constrained settings.
These were not just photo opportunities. They served as models for reimagining how public space, water management, and ornamental horticulture can interconnect in sustainable urban design.
What tied these advanced projects together was not just their innovation but the deep collaboration behind them. Whether in partnership with universities, aerospace engineers, underwater divers, or roboticists, the featured installations demonstrated how horticulture can be a nexus of interdisciplinary cooperation.
And it was heartening to see these technologies not locked away behind glass or jargon. They were present, explained, and accessible—sometimes even interactive. It suggests that, while the tools may evolve, the human touch remains central to the industry’s progress.
Euroflora has been held in Genoa, Italy, since its inaugural edition in 1966. It is held approximately every three years, meaning it has been running for 60 years. Euroflora 2025 affirmed that this was not just a traditional International flower and plant show, but one that showcased bold, sometimes unexpected experimentation.
At a time when the global ornamental sector faces pressures from climate change, urbanisation, and shifting market expectations, Euroflora provided more than a showcase. It offered a roadmap of possibilities.
This article was first published in the June 2025 issue of FloraCulture International
Organisers of Euroflora 2025 will be presenting a review of this year’s Italian Expo at the AIPH International Horticultural Expos Conference on Monday, 15 September 2025. This Conference attracts Expo organisers, bidding cities, government delegates, urban planners, AIPH members, and strategic partners from across the globe—each invested in the success and sustainability of future international horticultural exhibitions.
The Conference forms part of the 77th AIPH Annual Congress, hosted in Ghent, Belgium, from 14–18 September 2025.
Flexible ticket options are available—whether you’re attending just the Expo Conference, the Industry Conference on 16 September, or joining the professional tours of Belgian nurseries on 17–18 September.
