"Green cities for a sustainable Europe" 2020 conference in Bulgaria
Climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have made the green city more relevant than ever and have led to the understanding that we need new visions for greening our cities and joint actions of the state, municipalities and private business today still.
Broadcast online from Sofia, the third edition of the conference "Green Cities for a Sustainable Europe" will address important issues for the development of the green city.
The conference is organized by the Association of Ornamental Plant Producers in Bulgaria (APDRB) with the kind assistance of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bulgaria: from 10.00 to 11.30, October 22, 2020, streaming in Bulgarian and English from the FB-event. https://www.facebook.com/events/643833963216928
Traditionally, the event will be opened by the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Sofia H.E. Bea ten Tusscher and the Dep Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Mrs Verginia Krasteva.
- welcoming address by the Mayor of Sofia Mrs Yordanka Fandakova
- joining live from Bucharest of Mr Arie Veldhuizen, Agricultural Adviser of the Netherlands in Bulgaria and Romania
- video presentations of participants from Bulgaria and the Netherlands
- special interviews
- discussion broadcast live
- opportunities for direct questions through the conference chat.
The COVID-19 pandemic has particularly affected the ornamental plants sector worldwide, in Europe and in Bulgaria. In Bulgaria alone, the direct losses for the APDRB members due to terminated contracts and discarded production amount to over BGN 2 million, and the lost benefits are 10 times more due to the constant costs for labor, land and production. The sector provided a livelihood for more than 10,000 people.
The conference envisages a discussion on the ideas of APDRB for dealing with the crisis and the search for new development opportunities.
Along with this topic, presentations and discussions are planned on:
- the latest trends in the development of green cities,
- the World Floriade Expo in 2022 in the Netherlands and the opportunities it offers for Bulgarian producers,
- the Bulgarian participation in Floriade 2022: chances and opportunities for Bulgarian producers of flowers and ornamental plants, landscape architects and designers through the eyes of the organizers of the Bulgarian pavilion during the previous edition of the Expo in 2012,
- innovative solutions and technologies in landscape architecture,
- a virtual tour of the World Horti Center in the Netherlands,
- the Bulgarian nomination for the European Green Cities competition,
- the activity of the Association of Producers of Ornamental Plants in Bulgaria and future projects.
The forum is open to all plant and flower growers, landscape architects, experts in landscaping and spatial planning, representatives of state institutions and municipalities, green initiatives and projects. The live streaming is in Bulgarian and English.
The conference is part of the European project "Green Cities for Sustainable Europe", implemented in seven countries, including Bulgaria (APDRB), from 2018 to the end of 2020. The European Nursery Association members from Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, France and the Netherlands are working together. The main goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of the many benefits of using live plants for citizens and the environment.