We call it a congress, but it’s an experience!
From 23 until 26 September 2024, over the course of four days, more than 3000 experts from around the world will share their passion and knowledge about the liveable green city with a future here. The programme is filled with inspiring sessions and trips.
As organisers, Stadswerk, VHG and the City of Utrecht warmly welcome you to the Beatrix Theatre in Utrecht. For four days, this is the place to hear the best speakers and see the most inspiring examples of green transformations of cities from all over the world. And above all: here you can engage in conversation with peers from all parts of the world.
What to expect?
We put together a programme that is impossible to experience online from behind your laptop. It is absolutely worth your while to travel to Utrecht! Choose from a wide range of offerings. The programme consists of various themes and setups, both indoors and outdoors. Gain more knowledge outdoors by joining one of the twenty Fieldtrips XL to various cities around the country. Or join one of the fourteen Utrecht urban trails.
From Workshops XL to film screenings
What about the indoor activities? Here too we have a varied range of sessions. From an XL workshop to film screenings in Kinepolis. In the two-hour XL workshops, you will first be ‘fed’ with knowledge by foreign colleagues and then work intensively on your own practice. In the film screenings you get to know practice in different countries and you will be in conversation with the makers. Are you more the ‘active type’, then take a look at a ‘serious game session‘ or dive into a ‘debate arena‘.
A return trip Utrecht is a ‘ticket to the world’
“It’s important to collectively deepen and broaden our knowledge. The Future Green City World Congress is a place to connect civil and cultural technology to build a sustainable public space for the future. Over four days, we bring together thinkers and doers from around the world. This way, a trip to Utrecht grants you access to a global network eager to engage with your knowledge and expertise. The Future Green City World Congress mutually beneficial exchange benefits us all.” – Maarten Loeffen, CEO Royal Association Stadswerk the Netherlands
Marc van Rosmalen, Director of the Royal VHG: “We are facing a significant greening challenge, everyone agrees on that. What should the healthy, livable, and climate-resistant city of the future look like, and how do we shape it? What does this mean concretely? Our green specialists play an essential role as creators in both knowledge and implementation. Future Green City 2024 highlights all aspects of the green city. Global challenges and opportunities of urban greening are thoroughly explored and deepened during this event. This is an event you can’t afford to miss!”
Councilor Linda Voortman (Green): ‘Utrecht wants to be a city in which health and quality of life come first. In addition to courage and ambition, this also requires cooperation. Because we make Utrecht together. That is precisely why the Future Green City World Congress is so special, because experts from all over the world share their passion and knowledge in Utrecht about the green, healthy city with a future.’
“The 2024 Future Green City Congress is a crucial platform for municipal engineers and public works professionals to collaborate on sustainable urban development strategies,” says Chris Champion, Secretary General of IFME. “As co-hosts, we are committed to advancing innovative green city solutions through this Congress that will shape more livable, resilient cities for all.”
“This event serves as a critical forum for sharing best practices, exploring new technologies, and fostering collaborations that advance the creation of sustainable and resilient urban environments.” Luis Romahn, CEO says, “The collaboration between World Urban Parks and the amazing group of organizers of the Future Green City event exemplifies the power of partnerships in the urban parks sector. Through our combined efforts, we leverage a wide array of expertise and resources, enhancing the impact of global initiatives. This synergy not only amplifies our individual goals but also drives significant progress in the global movement towards greener, healthier cities.”
“We are extremely proud to be hosting the 2024 AIPH World Green City Awards ceremony in Utrecht. The Future Green City World Congress is the perfect backdrop against which to showcase the most inspiring examples of green city transformations from all over the world. As a co-host of the Congress, AIPH is thrilled to contribute to bringing this global event to life. Together with our partners, we are united in our aim of shaping a greener, healthier, and more resilient future for nature, for people, and for the planet” – Mr. Tim Briercliffe, Secretary General, AIPH.
Meet keynote speakers who cannot be seen and heard every day in the Netherlands
From Asia Kongjian Yu (China) and Siew Leng Fun (Singapore) on ‘sponge cities’ and urban design. Lilli Licka (Vienna) and Tina Saaby (Copenhagen) highlight urban development in their cities. Carine Saloff-Coste (Paris) and Anthony Paul Diaz (Seattle) will speak specifically on greening the city. Cycling professor Marco te Brömmelstroet and landscape architect Adriaan Geuze will provide the Dutch contribution to the keynote programme. In various master classes hotshots such as Cecil Konijnendijk (of the ‘3-30-300 rule’ on urban green space) and Pier Paolo Mudu (World Health Organization, WHO) will speak.
Special forces
No Future Green City without the enthusiasm and brainpower of the generations who will build and inhabit the city of the future. Throughout the congress – but on September 24th in particular – there will be plenty of room for upcoming generations. Including the finals of the Future Green City Student Challenge and the AIPH Youth award.
Organisation
The Future Green City World Congress is an initiative of Royal Association Stadswerk the Netherlands and Royal Dutch Association of Landscapers and Gardeners (VHG) In Utrecht, they bring together the worlds of green and civil engineering, in cooperation with World Urban Parks (WUP) and the International Federation of Municipal Engineering (IFME). The congress connects construction, greenery, infra and water. By showing different solutions and by connecting networks in these domains, we are building a city with a future together.
Partners
Co-Partners
Knowledge partners
