The World Green Infrastructure Congress (WGIC) will take place in June 2023 after the original date in 2020 had to be cancelled. For three days, the congress will deal with all topics related to building greening, in Berlin and online. Read more here.

27 to 29 June in Berlin

The World Green Infrastructure Congress will take place in Berlin from 27 to 29 June 2023. For three days, the focus will be on the topic of green roofs. In addition to roof, façade and interior greening, there will also be discussions of related topics such as urban climate, rainwater management, sustainability and the city of the future. A trade exhibition will accompany WGIC in attendance. And at the online event, the exhibiting companies will also offer information.

This is the first World Green Infrastructure Congress since 2017. Six years ago, the event also took place in Berlin. Over 800 participants from 44 countries took part. The hybrid event aims to build on this success in 2023 and reach even more people in the process. The target group includes planners, project managers, and local, state and federal politicians, as well as investors and companies from the sector.

The programme is divided into two days of congress and one day of excursions. The Federal Minister for Building, Klara Geywitz, has agreed to act as patron and to give a welcoming speech. The participation of State Secretary Dr. Silke Karcher from the Berlin Senate Department for the Environment, Mobility, Consumer and Climate Protection also shows the importance of the World Congress for politics.

Registration is still possible until 26 May at the normal rate. After that, the booking will change to the “late booker rate”.

The programme of the World Green Infrastructure Congress

The programme is ready with over 100 speakers from 29 countries. Worldwide events from the field of building greening will be in focus. Impulse lectures by, for example, Düsseldorf architect Christopher Ingenhoven or the French botanist Patrick Blanc will provide impetus on the very first day of the conference. Federal Minister Klara Geywitz and State Secretary Dr Silke Karcher will also give their presentations on June 27th.

The first two days of the World Green Infrastructure Congress will offer five parallel series of lectures. These will include 90 lectures on current topics related to greening buildings and their diverse, promising applications, including practical examples.

On the third day of the World Green Infrastructure Congress, June 29th 2023, there will be excursions on the four main topics of green roofs, green facades, green interiors and green buildings. Various Berlin properties will serve as destinations. The number of participants is limited, so early registration is recommended.

These are some of the planned topics:

• Climate adaptation strategies
• Sustainable building
• Rainwater management
• Biodiversity
• Urban strategies for greening buildings

Accompanying trade exhibition

In addition to the congress programme, there will also be a trade exhibition in Berlin. This provides an overview of various products, systems and services in the sector. More than 50 exhibiting companies and associations have already confirmed their participation, which means that the exhibition is almost fully booked.

In addition to showcasing best-practice examples by experts from Germany and abroad, the exhibition will also focus on networking. Participants from planning, politics, cities, industry, real estate and associations will have the opportunity to expand their network.

The organiser of the World Green Infrastructure Congress is the Bundesverband GebäudeGrün e.V. (BuGG), supported by international green building associations from Austria and Switzerland as well as the World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) and the European Federation of Green Roof & Wall Associations. The Federal Association for Garden, Landscape and Sports Ground Tree, Patzer Verlag and 23 congress and 10 media partners are also promoting the event.

The World Green Infrastructure Congress 2017

The organisers hope to build on the success of the last World Congress in 2017 and reach even more trade visitors. The three-day World Green Infrastructure Congress in September 2017 also took place in Berlin and, with 825 registered participants from 44 countries, was by far the largest congress on greening buildings held in Europe to date. 104 speakers from 21 countries and 49 exhibitors provided an unprecedented information opportunity on green roofs, facades and interiors.

The following congress should have originally taken place in June 2020 and was almost fully prepared in February of that year. However, due to the Corona pandemic, it was necessary to postpone the congress. After a provisional date in 2021, it quickly became clear that it would not be possible to plan an on-site event until 2023. Since it was important to the organisers to have interpersonal interaction, to network in person and to hold several workshops in parallel, a purely online congress was concluded. With the variant now planned, a combination of online and face-to-face events should succeed. Tickets already purchased have retained their validity.

By the way: Read more about green roofs here.