Green City Conferences

Theme: City greening solutions for arid environments

Arid environments present many challenges for sustainable and liveable green cities, but the use of nature can provide solutions. The AIPH Green City Conference, held in Doha, Qatar, explored how plants can be used to address the issues in hot, dry environments and how this knowledge can be expanded to other cities around the globe.  

Held at Expo 2023 Doha, Qatar on 5th March 2024

Speakers

• Prof. David Simon, Professor of Development Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, and author of  ‘Sustainable Human Settlements within the Global Urban Agenda’
• Kishor Rajhansa, Chief Operating Officer, Global Carbon Council
• Dr Ali Al Jassim, Chair of the Society of Sustainability & Green Materials (SSGM)
• Jala Makhzoumi, Vice President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) and Acting President of IFLA Middle East
• Huda Shaka, Director of Urban Strategy and Planning, Gehl
• Dr Saeed Alhassan Alkhazraji, Founder, Manhat
• Dr Mario V Balzan, Senior Lecturer at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), and Managing Director at Ecostack Innovations
• Diane Lee, Media Relations Manager – Asia Region, AIPH
• Thomas Gooch – Founder/CEO of Office of Planetary Observations (OPO)

Theme: Involvement of the Ornamental Horticulture Industry in Green City programmes and projects

This AIPH Green City conference presented the many ways that the industry contributes to projects and programmes that use the power of plants to create healthy, liveable, and resilient green cities. AIPH members and industry practitioners presented insights into where and how the industry has influence, and what this means for the long term relevance of growers and grower organisations.

Held at the Ecograd Hotel, Suncheon, Republic of Korea on 20th September 2023.

Speakers

• Mr. Bill Hardy, AIPH Green City Committee Chair and CNLA President, Canada
• Mr. Jo Yongjun, Landscape Architect, Republic of Korea
• Ms. Diane Lee, AIPH Media Relations Manager, Republic of Korea
• Mr. Albert Haasnoot, Royal FloraHolland, the Netherlands
• Mr. Glenn Fenton, Greenlife Industry Australia, Australia
• Dr. Audrey Timm, AIPH Technical Advisor, UK

Theme: Greening Cities for Sustainable Development: Green Cities deliver local action for global agendas

Bringing nature into the built environment and the local policies and strategies that activate these global agendas was the focus of the 2022 AIPH International Green City Conference on 8 March.

Held in the Media Centre of Expo 2020 Dubai, the event brought together a worldwide audience of professionals, organisations, city councils and government administrations to hear how international experts are meeting the ‘living green’ challenge.

Thank you to Headline Sponsors Expo 2023 Doha Qatar, Expo 2021 Hatay and 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo; Gold Sponsor PERA Event Solutions Bronze Sponsor Mosimann’s.

Speakers

• Mr. Maher Nasser, Commissioner-General of the United Nations at Expo 2020 Dubai
• Mr. Larry Ng, Commissioner General of the Singapore Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai
• Mr. Pablo Arturo Lopez Guijosa, Head of Communications at UBHub
• Mr. Tim Briercliffe, AIPH Secretary General
• Mr. Alan White, Chair of the Climate Change Adaptation Committee, CNLA
• Mr. Lütfü Savaş, Mayor of Hatay

Theme: Champions of Green Cities

As the world celebrated Earth Day on 22nd April 2021 The International Association of Horticultural Producers, AIPH, was also marking the day by inspiring people to think about the successful integration of nature into the built environment. The AIPH 2021 International Green City Conference brought together a worldwide audience of professionals, organisations, city councils and government administrations to hear how international experts on greening urban spaces have met this challenge.

The conference was sponsored by Pera Event and Expo 2023 Doha Qatar.

Theme: Urban Greening for Clean and Healthy Cities

The AIPH International Green City Conference, held on 11th September 2019 in Beijing, gathered distinguished speakers from around the world to explain the role of plants and trees in creating clean and healthy cities. Mr Bill Hardy, Chair of the AIPH Green City Committee, welcomed conference participants, saying “Never before have our living landscapes been so important to our collective wellbeing”. The event was held as part of the 71st AIPH Annual Congress and World Ornamental Horticulture Summit 2019, Beijing. The Summit was sponsored by Pera Events, Royal FloraHolland and Dümmen Orange. FloraCulture International was an event media partner.

Theme: How to retrofit old cities with living green

The central theme of this conference held in Italy was how to retrofit old cities with living green. A range of guest speakers presented innovative ideas and solutions for improving biodiversity and the health of citizens living in cities. These suggestions were supported with the latest evidence and new perspectives on the benefits of living green. The conference took place on 19th September and was hosted by Flormart and supported by AIPH member ANVE.

The conference, entitled ‘Towards a Healthy and Sustainable City’ demonstrated that Green Cities are places where people want to live, how living green can help the citizens of cities and what can be done to bring the Green City concept to life . Presentations included how to make high-density cities healthier through greening and why green space matters in the fight to prevent heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimers.  The role of green roofs and case study examples from Korea and Singapore were also included.

The importance of ‘living green’ was brought to the attention of sixteen countries at the AIPH International Green City Conference in Vancouver. Becoming the greenest city in the world, using plants to manage stormwater threats, the implementation of greening, changing the public mindset and how buildings need to be able to ‘heal people and the benefits of a ‘Green City’, were all on the agenda. Organised by AIPH and the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA) the event was held in Vancouver, Canada on 14-18 March. Sponsored by TD and Davey Trees, it attracted delegates who are committed to greening city landscapes.

This conference focused on why access to quality green space and horticultural landscapes is vital for the development of our children and the wellbeing of all city dwellers into the future. Clear conclusions were reached at this conference. The event was supported by Expo 2016 Antalya.

This Conference highlighted what can be achieved in terms of urban greening and why it matters so much. The conference provided help to delegates in building a case for change in this important area.

Download the report