Salzburg Global staff members contributed as judges to selecting finalists for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2024
Derived from the Latin words hortus and cultura, horticulture is the art and science of cultivating gardens. Today, however, horticulture is lost in modernity. Rapid urbanization and globalization have severed a once deep and symbiotic relationship between humans and nature. To restore this forgotten yet instinctive connection, the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) has worked across continents since 1948 through research, exhibitions, and, most recently, the World Green City Awards 2024.
Launched in 2022, the biennial World Green City Award aims to recognize and revitalize urban greening efforts worldwide. Unlike any other award for cities, the World Green City Awards is unique in spotlighting plants and nature. This perspective is shared by Salzburg Global and its Parks for the Planet Forum, which aimed to expand access to nature-rich urban spaces. Although Parks for the Planet as a distinct program came to an end in 2022, a lot of the work continues through the Salzburg Global Center for Education Transformation. With a common goal, AIPH and Salzburg Global announced a partnership in 2021, and since then, the two have been sharing valuable knowledge and connections.
Specific to this year’s World Green City Awards, Salzburg Global staff members Dominic Regester and Jennifer Dunn joined 26 other judges on the Technical Panel. Following the first round of assessment guided by the Awards’ six evaluation criteria, the panelists’ multidisciplinary expertise and knowledge of Green City principles shortlisted 21 Finalists, three from each of the Award’s seven categories.
Dominic, who was also the Category Lead for AIPH for "Living Green for Social Cohesion and Inclusive Communities", said “the breadth and quality of the 2024 applications and award winners was remarkable. AIPH’s Green City Awards play a really important role in terms of both celebrating and catalyzing a wide range of different urban initiatives that will help cities and urban residents change their relationship with the natural world for the better”. The categories highlight contemporary challenges cities face, from loss of biodiversity to social cohesion, but opportunistically showcase the potential versatility and power of plant-based problem-solving. In addition to the 21 Finalists, the Technical Panel also nominated entries for a Certificate of Merit. Although these cities did not score as highly as the Finalists, they demonstrated innovation and ambition that other cities should replicate.
To conclude this significant Award, AIPH is hosting its Awards ceremony as a gala dinner on September 25, 2024 at the Royal Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, Netherlands. In addition to the winners of each category, a special Youth Award and a Grand Winner will also be announced. The much-awaited ceremony will be part of the four-day Future Green City World Congress, where more than 3,000 experts will convene on the future of sustainable urban planning.
