Sofia Conference: Greening is the viable future of our cities
On 25 October 2018, the European conference “Green Cities for Sustainable Europe” sent a clear message from Sofia: the green future of our cities is without an alternative for better and quality life in the times of intense urbanization.
150 representatives of national and local authorities, researchers, nursery stock producers, landscape architects urbanists, and gardeners discussed best practices of greening cities and various policies for designing green infrastructure, as well as shared experience about cooperation between entrepreneurs, knowledge institutions and governments towards green and smart cities.
Addressing the conference, Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Verginia Krasteva highlighted the joint work for designing and implementing of ecological policies as the ultimate solution for the negative effects of the urbanization. “The capital and the large cities of Bulgaria hold opulent nature assets, which is a competitive advantage towards green economy and an immense potential to turn into ones of the greenest cities in Europe with the relevant strategies and planning”.
Agricultural Counsellor at the Netherland’s Embassy Arie Veldhuizen presented the green (re)design of urban areas through initiatives as 'De Groene Stad' (‘The Green City’) and 'Agenda Stad' (City Agenda), Dutch examples of long-term collaboration between cities, the central government, companies and civil society organizations to make cities more sustainable, smarter and more social.
Dutch landscape architect, Victor Dijkshoorn illustrated “Green City” theory for more healthy, happy and coherent urban society by showing landscaping projects in the Netherlands. He took the audience to an inspiring journey starting from project concept via technical implementation and finally seeing green sites use in real life.
Municipalities of Sofia, the coastal town of Burgas and Gabrovo, north Bulgaria shared their experience in in greening the cities, as well as the challenges ahead. Examples from around the world sparked discussions about the green policies and the importance of the joint efforts of government, industry and society.
Floriade 2022 sent its virtual invitation to Bulgaria for participation in the world expo on “Growing Green Cities” in Almere, The Netherlands.
The Conference provided a perfect opportunity for networking and personal contacts.
As part of the pan-European campaign “Green cities for Sustainable Europe” of seven countries - Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, France, UK and the Netherlands – the Conference provided a perfect opportunity for networking and personal contacts, which will be fruitful for the future collaboration and joint work.
The Conference “Green cities for Sustainable Europe” was organized with the support of the Netherland’s Embassy in Bulgaria.
See the interview of Arie Veldhuizen, Agricultural Counsellor at the Netherland’s Embassy in Sofia and Bucharest and Stoil Nanovski, Deputy Chairman of BAOPN, the Bulgarian Association of Ornamental Plants Nurseries for Bloomberg TV Bulgaria!
More news on the Initiative “Green Cities for Sustainable Europe”!
