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Both organizations will partner for the upcoming AIPH World Green City Awards and beyond

Salzburg Global Seminar is proud to announce a new partnership with the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) to shape a better world for people and planet.

This partnership aligns the common goals of both AIPH and Salzburg Global Seminar in pursuit of co-promoting the benefits of inviting more plants and nature into our increasingly urban lives. At a time when cities are growing rapidly and nature is diminishing at alarming rates, urgent action is needed.

Plants and nature, which provide multiple benefits and services, are powerful tools with the potential to address many of the ever-mounting challenges faced by growing urban communities.

Through this partnership, Salzburg Global and AIPH seek to accelerate the rate of transformation in cities to bring wider recognition to the value of plants in providing solutions for common city problems and to create an enabling environment to shape and nurture a strategic shift in city governance and planning.

Dominic Regester, a program director at Salzburg Global, said, “We are really excited about this new partnership with the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH). There are many great areas of overlap and alignment in our priorities and the approaches we can take to support and drive change to help inspire better urban futures for everyone.

“It is particularly timely to be able to announce this partnership as COP26 draws to a close. If we are to address the climate crisis, then we will need many more atypical partnerships like this.”

The partnership announcement lays the foundation for sustained collaboration between Salzburg Global and AIPH, who have expressed a mutual interest in working together both in the short and long term. As a means of demonstrating the partnership in action, AIPH has joined the network of partners for this year’s Parks for the Planet Forum, where AIPH has taken up an active facilitation and participatory role.

This renowned forum is a long-term collaboration to reconnect people and nature in an urbanized world. Launched in 2015, it aims to improve human and societal well-being by expanding access to nature-rich urban spaces, increasing investments in urban conservation, and creating dynamic partnerships between people, cities, and protected area systems.

Audrey Timm, a technical advisor at AIPH, said, “AIPH is proud to join the Parks for the Planet Forum as a supporting partner. We are excited to demonstrate our partnership in action through our participation and to connect with a global community of champions for the power of plants and nature. Together with Salzburg Global Seminar, we hope to learn from, share with, and inspire other like-minded individuals and organizations to showcase the power of collaboration.”

Similarly, Salzburg Global has expressed its support for the AIPH World Green City Awards. The AIPH World Green City Awards is an ongoing competition, with entries open every two years. Designed to champion ambitious nature-orientated approaches to city design and operation, they seek to recognize public initiatives relying on a greater use of plants and nature to create better city environments – helping to fulfill local aspirations for improved economic, social, and environmental resilience.

The awards celebrate innovation, achievement, and commitment to the globally recognized imperative to embrace nature-based solutions that harvest the power of plants and associated ecosystems services to help address the major challenges facing cities today – or tomorrow. Launched on April 22, 2021, at the AIPH Green City conference “Champions of Green Cities,” online entries for the AIPH World Green City Awards are now open for the inaugural 2022 edition.

Jennifer Dunn, a program development manager at Salzburg Global, said, “Partnering with AIPH on the Green City Award was an obvious choice for Salzburg Global Seminar. The partnership presents a great opportunity to support our goal of improving the quality of life and biodiversity in cities through enhanced access to nature. We believe our partnership with AIPH will be of great benefit to our Fellows through the valuable knowledge and experience the organization can and has already shared.”

AIPH has, since 1948, united horticultural producers in an international community that thrives to this day. Much has changed in that time. Technologies advanced, cities rose from the ground, and we have become more connected than ever. As a result, our essential bond with nature has been weakened.

Thus, AIPH strives to reignite and uphold an appreciation of plants that it believes are a basic human instinct. Believing that nature is the foundation on which our increasingly urban lives depend, AIPH leads global thinking on the successful integration of plants and nature into the built environment by supporting the bold and ambitious actions of local governments and urban change-makers.

Through its Green City Programme, AIPH promotes awareness of the urgent need for urban greening and the essential role of plants in creating vibrant urban areas. Its mission is to develop an international standard for green cities and be a focal point for green city best practices and a source of expertise.

Salzburg Global is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1947 to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world. Its multi-year program series aim to bridge divides, expand collaboration, and transform systems.

The organization convenes outstanding talent across generations, cultures, and sectors to foster lasting networks and partnerships for creative, just, and sustainable change. Over 38,000 Fellows from more than 170 countries have come together through this work, with many rising to senior leadership positions.

It also works to foster lasting networks and partnerships for creative, just, and sustainable change. Ultimately, Salzburg Global seeks to enable systemic transformation by inspiring new thinking and action on critical issues and connecting local innovators and global resources.

Given its role in convening change-makers, city shapers, and new ideas, Salzburg Global is uniquely positioned to support the work of AIPH, and specifically the AIPH World Green City Awards, by attracting the attention of city leaders and showcasing what is possible if we approach the challenges we face today with the systems-perspective we need to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

AIPH, in return, brings the essential voice of the global horticultural industry to the table to ensure that plants are given the recognition they deserve in global discussions around shaping a better world. Together, we stand united to support the global green city agenda and drive transformative change through the co-development of bold, new ideas.

Tim Briercliffe, secretary general at AIPH, said, “Our partnership with Salzburg Global Seminar formalizes an exciting collaboration to enable transformation for a better urban future. Through our joint work, we seek to inspire the global urban change-making community to drive impactful action to secure the sustainability of our increasingly urban future. We urgently need new ways of working, thinking, and doing to invite more plants and nature into our daily lives. Together we will champion this cause to ignite a movement for greener cities.”

Jointly acknowledging the power of partnerships, a spirit of collaboration underpins the organizational philosophies of both AIPH and Salzburg Global. Together we aim to shape a better world by championing the power of plants and nature and harnessing this power to inspire a movement for greener cities and ultimately secure our collective urban future.