Netherlands: Start of Preparations for Floriade 2022 in Almere

From April to October 2022 the Floriade World Horticultural Expo, which takes place every ten years and is coordinated by the Dutch Horticultural Council, will see its 7th edition in the Dutch municipality of Almere (near Amsterdam), following the previous location of Venlo in 2012 (cf. EAP 3/2012). Under the topic of “Growing Green Cities”, the Floriade 2022 will present the four main themes “green”, “food”, “energy” and “health”. After the six-month expo, a new green urban district is to be created in its place, making use of a large part of the infrastructure specially developed for the expo.

For the design of Floriade in Almere, a collaboration agreement was signed with the Dutch Design Foundation yesterday, the scope of which includes the realization of the “Dutch Innovation Experience”, a major part of the expo consisting of two buildings. Creative heads from the foundation will develop design concepts according to the main themes. “[…] There is so much talent around, so it’s inevitable that inspiring ideas will come out of this collaboration,” says Peter Verdaasdonk, CEO of Floriade Expo 2022. A number of international congresses, network meetings and debates on the Floriade themes will precede the expo, taking place in 2020, 2021 and 2022. (eap)