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Floriade, The World's Fair of Horticulture

Gradient Ocean

Al Rezoski

May 6, 2022

The Netherlands

Categories:

Horticulture, Technology, Sustainability, Livability

The Dutch Floriade website describes the 2022 Floriade in Almere, Netherlands. As an avid community gardener, I look forward to the spring blooming of the thousands of Dutch tulips I planted over the last 20+ years in community gardens in downtown Toronto. The Dutch have always been a source of inspiration for innovative horticultural displays.


Many people know about the World Fairs generally held every four years to highlight innovative science, technology, and architecture. These events are known as universal exhibitions or expos. They are large international exhibitions designed to showcase the achievements of nations. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) sanctions World Fairs.


Most people don't know that the BIE sanctions a Floriade every ten years, an international horticultural exposition with a host nation and several participating nations. The country that has hosted the most Floriades is the Netherlands. This year, Floriade 2022 is in Almere, the Netherlands, and Almere is a new town near Amsterdam built below sea level. The theme of the 2022 Expo is "Growing Green Cities" and will focus on the need to combine nature and cities.


Floriade 2022 showcases innovative horticultural technology under the four themes of Greening the City, Feeding the City, Healthying (not a typo) the City, and Energizing the City. Estimates say that by 2050, 65% of the world's population will live in cities covering 2% of the earth's surface. Livability is critical, and horticulture can play a vital role.


There are pavilions, landscapes, a large greenhouse complex, and an arboretum representing different Floriade 2022 themes. Like World Fairs, there are extensive culture, performance, and art components. Innovative technology includes a bridge made of a bio-composite of flax and a bio-resin, floating trees, and buildings entirely covered in plants.


A portion of the site, called Hortus, is the future site of 660 new homes after the Exposition closes. A university, Aeres University of Applied Sciences, will continue on the site with ongoing technological exhibitions.


People worldwide can draw inspiration from Floriade 2022 even if they cannot travel to the Exposition in the Netherlands. Contributors will share new technology through the Floriade website and the exhibition site.


Your community could benefit from the cutting-edge ideas and technology coming from Floriade 2022. Many of the innovative applications are adaptable to different scales. A series of small community changes over the upcoming years is the likely approach to adapting cities for climate change. Building large infrastructure projects to address the problem is prohibitively expensive for most cities. Hometowns worldwide can find inspiration and solutions through events like Floriade 2022. Building resilient stormwater management and adding to your hometown's green space, phasing in sustainable construction standards, planting to purify the air, and incorporating a biophilia (the innate affinity or living systems) philosophy into decision making are examples.


Start now, not later. Climate change will disrupt many global systems, such as local economies. Cities that start changing now are poised to leap ahead of those that don't. There are many examples throughout human history where natural events have changed the fortunes of cities. Where will your community fall in the future?


Picture courtesy of Floriade 2022.

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