03 May 2024
Green Flag Award is proud to be presenting two sessions at the congress in The Netherlands taking place 23rd - 26th September 2024
The Future Green City World Congress taking place in Utrecht is an initiative of the Royal Association Stadswerk in the Netherlands and the Royal Dutch Association of Landscapers and Gardeners (VHG).
The congress will bring together the worlds of green and civil engineering, in cooperation with World Urban Parks (WUP) and the International Federation of Municipal Engineering (IFME).
For more information visit: https://fgc2024.com/
The event will take place on the 23rd - 26th September 2024, in Utrecht - home to Green Flag Award winning Máximapark, managed by the Municpality of Utrecht.
World Urban Parks - Green Flag Award discount
Green Flag Award applicants and judges can access an exclusive 25% discount off World Urban Parks (WUP) membership, using the code GFA2024.
And once a member, you can access a discount on all tickets to Future Green City - making a combined saving of €120.00 / £100.00
WUP Membership with the exclusive discount costs as little as:
- €60 / £51 for Standard individual membership per year
- €32 / £27 for Retired membership per year
- €285 / £248 for Organisational membership per year - which provides individual account access to the platforms and services for your entire parks team.
Follow the link to join today: Register on World Urban Parks
What makes a Future Green City?
The congress connects the industries of construction, greenery, infrastructure and water - and therefore provides an incredibly diverse and interesting programme offer for the parks and green spaces sector.
Green Flag Award is proud to be involved in this historic event for Europe, as we believe everybody deserves access to quality green and other open spaces, irrespective of where they live, as part of the Future Green City concept.
Carl McClean, International Development Manager for the Green Flag Award said:
"We're really excited to be presenting at Future Green City. The congress will be a great way to share best practice in the parks and green space sector, as well as network with like-minded professionals from across Europe and the rest of the world."
Headlines
Keynote speakers include "Cycling Professor" of internet fame Marco Te Brömmelstroet from the University of Amsterdam, Kongjian Yu - pioneer of the "Sponge cities" concept for parks and green spaces in urban settings, and Head of Paris Green Spaces and Environment Carine Saloff-Coste.
The Green Flag Award team will present two topics at the congress:
Safer Parks for Women and Girls - Serious Game
Building on the work of Keep Britain Tidy last year to help develop the Safer Parks guidance in partnership with University of Leeds, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Make Space for Girls. The Green Flag award team have organised a "Serious Game" to help showcase the guidance.
Participants will work in groups to assess and re-design a digital plan of a park, with safety of women and girls as a key priority. The plans will then be converted into 3D modelling software to create an eye-level, first-person walkthrough of each park, before and after intervention.
Dr. Anna Barker, who led the research at University of Leeds said:
"This idea offers a wonderful opportunity to disseminate the Safer Parks guidance in a fun and engaging way. By transforming park redesign plans into immersive 3D walkthroughs, we can educate and empower communities about creating safer environments for women and girls, all while enjoying an interactive and enjoyable experience."
Hyper Local or City Wide? - Presentation
Should our parks and green spaces in the ‘Future Green City’ be managed through an overall city-wide green space strategy? Or should the approach be to create localised individual management plans, specific to each site and neighbourhood community? Green Flag Award advocates argue that parks and green spaces are intrinsically unique and therefore require highly site-specific adapted management plans. The city-wide believers claim that the way municipal services are delivered in modern times require a higher level view without any written ground level details.
This debate will help managers, planners and key decision makers within city governments consider how they are managing their parks and green spaces and hear from a range of opinions on how different management and governance can be successfully implemented.
Join us!
Travel to Utrecht from the UK and rest of Europe is easy. For example on Eurostar trains running from London to Rotterdam via Brussels - the total journey takes under 5 hours.
We know a number of Green Flag Award applicants and judges are already booked to come. So we hope to see as many of our network there as we celebrate the power of parks. Get in touch with your National Operator or [email protected] to tell us if you're joining us there.
