Green cities in Europe are being courted not only by activists or landscape architects, but also by nurserymen. In 2021, the Green Cities Europe campaign was launched in thirteen countries. What it is about and how to popularize greenery is explained by Joanna Filipczak of the Polish Nurserymen's Association.
Wiktor Bochenek: How did the idea for the Green Cities Europe campaign come about?
Joanna Filipczak: Green Cities Europe is an initiative of plant growers who come together as part of the activities of the European Nurserymen's Association (ENA). ENA members came to the conclusion that increasing the use of plants in urban spaces is such an important topic that it should be spread and supported by EU funds.
The first, three-year Green City campaign was launched in 2018, and its second iteration was joined by seven more European countries including Poland (a total of thirteen EU countries) to launch in 2021. In our country, the endeavor is being carried out by the Polish Nurserymen's Association — an organization that has established itself as the local expert on greenery and related issues.
The term Green Cities is becoming increasingly popular around the world, not only in the circles of specialists involved in landscape architecture or the production of trees and shrubs for public and institutional green spaces. The Green City is a symbol of the needs of modern man and, at the same time, of the need for radical changes in shaping the living conditions of people in urban spaces that are expanding, and for the prevention of climate catastrophe.
However, I have encountered many initiatives — congresses, conferences or campaigns that had „green” in the slogan, with the intention of adapting to new environmental conditions and pro-environmental measures, and no mention of plants in the content.
"Green revolution" - is not just about transformation of energy or infrastructure. We want to convince the unconvinced, those who take investments in greenery only at the level of necessary expenses. The basis for action is arguments and concrete examples of the beneficial effects of greenery on the climate, economics, social behavior and relations, and the health of city residents. In the first place, it is a matter of convincing decision-makers — local government officials, politicians, urban planners, developers and other investors — that trees, shrubs, parks, gardens are part of the urban fabric, not only necessary from a natural and architectural point of view, but also a cost-effective solution, evidence of forward-looking business thinking.
For public greenery to fulfill this function, it must be functional, well-designed, with the right selection of quality trees and shrubs. The campaign also draws attention to these aspects, disseminating knowledge about the selection and adaptation of plants for specific purposes, informing about the biological and aesthetic functions of different groups of plants and the need to comply with quality standards for planting material.
The call for entries runs until July 30, 2023
© Green Cities of Europe
Wiktor: The campaign has been running for 2.5 years — what has been accomplished in that time?
Joanna: At the beginning of the program, a survey was conducted to gauge the awareness of our target group, and I hope that the survey summarizing the Green Cities campaign will best show our achievements. In activities, our greatest emphasis is on developing cooperation, direct meetings, including with authorities in the green industry.
For communication we use the website, newsletter, articles in the trade press and a platform for knowledge exchange, which for years has been the international trade fair Green is Life, which this year will take place from August 31 to September 2 at the Warsaw EXPO XXI. For 22 years, they have been accompanied by the Strongly Green City conference on urban greening, which is organized in the „practitioners for practitioners” convention, meeting the current needs and problems reported by the environment.
The 2021 campaign featured Charlie Hall from the US with a talk titled „Investment in greenery and economic development,” speaking about the monetary value of the so-called improved urban landscape — the economic benefits ofarranging professional, well-designed and executed green areas, in accordance with the modern paradigm, and at the same time with quantifiable savings or profits for the city budget, municipal budget, etc. He presented conclusions based on more than three thousand studies, which show, among other things, that investment in green infrastructure is an effective tool for economic development today.
In 2022, we invited the world authority on landscape architecture, also an American — Martha Schwartz, who in her speech first showed how disastrous direction civilization is heading in the context of climate change. It was a harrowing experience supported by scientific data. Fortunately, the second part of the lecture focused on the role of greenery and examples of concrete solutions implemented in some metropolitan areas. These were both micro and macro projects, to be implemented by both large and small urban environments.
Another success was the second place won by the Park Czyżyny project in the 2022 Green Cities Award competition. Currently, the call for green implementations for its third edition is open until July 30. The goal of the competition is to promote ambitious, inspiring and innovative green infrastructure realizations. Areas of green space contending for the award can be, for example, a school garden, a public green space in a residential area, a corporate garden with workspace, a therapeutic garden at a hospital, a city park with a sports and recreation program, or green space on brownfield sites. Award-winning projects promote both the city and the investor, designer or contractor in an international forum.
Joanna Filipczak — coordinator of Green Cities Europe in Poland
© Author's Archive
Wiktor: What is ENA planning next? What plans does the Polish side of the initiative have?
Joanna: We intend to continue our activities related to the promotion of good practices, because education and changing the perception of the value of greenery take time and persistence. Although the campaign ends with 2023, we will still publish factual materials on the program's website and communicate about them in newsletters and participate in industry meetings, giving concrete and proven solutions, especially in terms of the quality and selection of plants behind the success of green investments.
Wiktor: In September there will be a Strongly Green City conference? What will you be discussing?
Joanna: We will be talking about how, due to the changing climate and environment, greenery in the city and approaches to it are also changing, which is related to the slogan of the fair and the conference, „New times, new challenges.” The entire program deals with this theme, while we have entrusted the campaign lecture to Mr. Miroslaw Sztuka — a landscape architect from S&P Landscape Architecture.
The topic will be about the city treated as a biotope, i.e. a non-living part of the ecosystem, and the introduction of plants into its space as an element that begins the process of „colonization” of the city by living elements of the ecosystem, plants, insects, small animals and birds. It is no longer strange in the world to treat buildings in this way, where green facades of various types and a variety of green roof systems allow buildings to be used as scaffolding that is overgrown with vegetation. The next stage is to create entire urban ecosystems from a combination of various elements of urban green ery — parks, greened streets and squares, as well as green elements on buildings. Of course, this requires a change in the approach to urban greenery.
The decorative element, still obviously important, is giving way to the natural elements and the importance in reducing the rapidly progressing climate change. This requires not only a change in the perspective of looking at greenery in the city, but also a reevaluation of priorities in its formation, and in the formation of the policy of units dealing with this subject in cities.
Czyżyny Park took second place in last year's edition of the competition
© Green Cities of Europe
Wiktor: The fact that the action is organized by nurserymen is quite significant. While we know how the architectural and landscape environment adapts to new conditions, we don't know much about the nursery environment. What does it look like from your side?
Joanna: Climate change is affecting the breeding work to obtain plants that tolerate drought and form a large biomass. A lawn or meadow is no substitute for trees and shrubs in this regard. I also recommend a book published that year by a nurseryman, a member of the Polish Nurserymen's Association, Mr. Andrzej Kujawa — „Deciduous shrubs for dry times”.
In addition, the law of the market is also at work — as the demand for plants coping with extreme urban conditions increases, their production also increases. Species and varieties that have been overlooked by planners for years, such as alder, are also returning to favor.
The campaign aims to convince decision-makers of the benefits of investing in urban greenery, such as improved climate, economics, health and social relations.
© Green Cities of Europe
Wiktor: One of the criticisms of nurserymen is the over-publicization of tui and the lack of large trees in the assortment, which have to be ordered from abroad. How do you respond to this?
Joanna: Allegation is probably an inadequate term here, especially since the production of thuyas used to meet the demand, fulfilling incoming orders sent by designers and garden owners. This has changed a lot over the last twenty years and is still evolving, as is the gardening culture in Poland, the range of products available, the growing number of green designers and their influence on the Polish landscape.
It used to be that a tuja was synonymous with order, tidiness or a simple and quick way to delineate the boundaries of a property. Nowadays, we are seeing a turn towards more naturalistic gardens, and not only vines, but also other conifers are falling into disfavor in favor of flowering ones, which emphasize the variability of the garden and are additionally attractive to insects.
On the other hand, the lack of large trees in our nurseries is largely due to the production process, which is simply much faster in countries such as Italy or the Netherlands. There, the annual increments are sometimes once again the same as in Poland. On the other hand, the relatively „slow” domestic production provides plants much better adapted to frosts and harsh climatic conditions. They may not be as large as in western Europe, but they have a better chance in our country of living longer.
Wiktor: Thank you for the interview.
Award-winning Czyżyny Park
© Green Cities of Europe
