See what it was like at the GREEN IS LIFE 2024 Trade Fair!
From 5 to 7 September 2024, the GREEN IS LIFE trade fair – hosted by the Polish Nurserymen Association (ZSzP) and the Agencja Promocji Zieleni – was held in Warsaw, Poland. The reach and rank of this well-recognised event was enhanced by the presence of members of the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) from all over the world – participants of this year’s, 76th congress of the organisation, which was one of the many events accompanying the exhibition Green is Life. The fruitful cooperation between ZSzP and AIPH went hand in hand with the 2024 slogan of the fair – “Experience the Power of Synergy!”, which referred to the overall collaboration aimed at the development of the green industry. Even more noticeably than ever before, the exhibition featured topics relating to climate change and its impact on the nurserystock sector, horticultural market and urban greenery. The importance of these issues was made strikingly clear to exhibitors as well as visitors by the exceptionally hot, dry, prolonged weather at the beginning of September, so far unprecedented in Poland at this time of year.
Green is Life – plants and knowledge in the centre of Europe
The director of the fair, Joanna Filipczak called it ‘the greenest event in the country’. She emphasized that it had earned the AIPH’s recommendation, which this association awards to distinguished international horticultural fairs. She referred to the slogan of GREEN IS LIFE 2024 and expressed her satisfaction at the synergic collaboration of the Polish organizers and the AIPH in creating a valuable programme of training events for trade visitors. Conferences and seminars, as usual, accompanied the exhibition of plants, horticultural technology and landscape accessories, guaranteeing professional knowledge from Polish and foreign speakers.
The president of the AIPH, Leonardo Capitanio said that Poland, represented by the ZSzP, has been an active member of this international association for a few years already, and thus it was a pleasure to accept its invitation to Warsaw to hold the 76th Annual Congress here, alongside the exhibition. He pointed out that the world needs the green sector’s activities more than ever before, and the ‘Green City’ idea promoted by the AIPH can not do without nurserystock producers in particular.
The AIPH’s Secretary General Tim Briercliffe summed up this year’s congress, the fair in Warsaw and the members’ visits to local ZSzP’s nurseries by saying:
Hosting the 76th AIPH Annual Congress alongside the Green Is Life International Trade Fair offered AIPH members from around the world a unique opportunity to engage with the Polish horticultural industry and exchange knowledge with growers from this dynamic region.
Increased number of exhibitors
There were 172 exhibitors from 7 countries: Poland, as well as Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands.
After the pandemic standstill and the transition period, there was an increase of 8% in the number of exhibitors at Green is Life, compared to the previous year. Director Filipczak welcomes this progress with satisfaction. She hopes that the development trend will be continued, especially when it comes to companies offering products for landscape architecture and garden centres.
As usual, plants for gardens and landscapes – trees, shrubs, perennials and climbers – formed the core of the exhibition, with 58% of the participants showing them. Other sections of the fair that stood out in terms of space occupied, were “Techniques, technologies, sales support” and “Equipment, materials, decorations”.
Synergy of show garden and urban trends
Again, in front of the Warsaw EXPO XXI Centre, which is the venue for the Green is Life trade fair, the show garden was created, available for visitors throughout the three days. It warmed up the industrial space of the outdoor exhibition area and, in addition became another example of the synergic efforts of the green industry representatives.
Namely, seven companies, including one nursery of the Polish Nurserymen Association, created the biodiversified zone named ‘Archipelago of Greenery’. It consisted of islands of plants – dominated by groups of trees and shrubs, complemented with perennials – connected to each other by irregular paths. The creation of the garden was guided by: functionality, sustainability as well as the climate change challenges. Landscaping materials such as permeable paving were used, for example.
FILM: GREEN IS LIFE 2024
Visitors from 42 countries, five continents
The fair was visited by around 9,600 people, 5,616 of whom were trade visitors (an increase of 5.5% compared to 2023). They came from 42 countries, with Lithuania, Ukraine and Latvia standing out among them, as far as the attendance is concerned.
Thanks to the congress of the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), participants from outside Europe – countries like the USA, Canada, Qatar, Rwanda, South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan – were prominently represented at Green is Life in 2024. The Far East was also represented by the official, highest-ranking guest of the event, who once again took part in the opening ceremony of the GREEN IS LIFE fair – the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Poland, H.E. Sun Linjiang. Traditionally, there were also representatives of diplomatic missions from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
The largest group among the professional visitors consisted of people who deal with plant production (29.94%), followed by the next categories: landscape architecture, garden contracting, gardening equipment, decorations and constructions (24.53%), retail sales – garden centres, stores, markets (12.54%); government administration, offices, housing management (5.8%); floristry, florist shops, cut flowers, potted plants (3.08%).
The interest in the fair was generated by the exhibitors’ stands, but also by 8 accompanying events – educational (on the first and second days for professionals, and on the third day for hobbyists) or other. One of the eye-catching presentations was the florist show organized by the Warsaw wholesale market WR-SRH “Bronisze”, with the Polish masters of floristry Sylwia Bednarek and Zbigniew Dziewulski as the stars.
Collaboration, climate change, green industry’s potential
The word synergy – from the leitmotif of this year’s fair – reminded that together we can really achieve a lot. This is especially relevant to the green industry, which, since the pandemic and in the era of climate change, is gaining more and more recognition – as an important remedy for contemporary global pains. Thus, it has great potential.
Evidence of the “power of synergy” was given by a number of lectures of the GREEN CITY CONFERENCE, which – as always – touched on the current issues and needs of the audience, providing practical solutions. For example, Dr. Stephan Treuke from Germany presented the results of constructive cooperation in transforming the industrial areas of the Ruhr district into green oases, for which more than €5.5 billion has been allocated (the “Klima-Werk” initiative, a project illustrating a participatory approach to regional management of the urban transformation process). Climate change and its challenges were the obvious theme of several lectures of this conference, which was attended by 545 people.
The KNOWLEDGE FOR TRADE AND PRODUCERS seminar – with 8 speakers from 5 countries – was dominated by the topics of sustainability as well as marketing. Solutions forced by the market and increasingly conscious customers were presented by, among others, the speaker from France: Catherine Muller of the industry organization Val’hor discussed ways to label and certify products and companies. The more and more important role of social media in the green industry was covered by Brenda Swinkels of the Dutch nursery Smits Nurseries, holder of the Greenfluencer 2021 title.
Biodiversity and ornamental grasses on top
GREEN IS LIFE is currently characterized by a (bio)diverse range of presented nursery stock, with perennials showing an upward trend. This year’s edition of the fair has highlighted the further development of breeding and production of ornamental grasses in Poland, among which spectacular launches continue to appear.
In this context, the varieties awarded in the PLANT NOVELTIES COMPETITION, which is another prestigious distinction of the Green is Life fair, are to be mentioned. In 2024, the jury granted 6 medals and 3 special mentions to novelties selected from 30 entries. The most valuable “gold” went to the ZYMON Nursery for Cornus kousa FLOWER TOWER and to the SŁOWIŃSCY Nursery for the Miscanthus sinensis ‘Lady in Red’ PBR. The latter, bred by Krzysztof Słowiński, turned out to be the undisputed winner of two other votes within the Plant Novelties Competition: it won the international Journalists’ Prize – from trade media editors, and the award of the Internet Voting, conducted in social media among a wide audience.
Catalogue of Proven Plants in English
During this year’s fair, the official premiere of the new edition of the “Catalogue of Proven Plants – trees, shrubs, perennials” recommended by the Polish Nurserymen Association took place. This time, apart from the Polish, 6th edition of the catalogue, its English version was published for the first time.
Highly valued in the industry, it is a practical tool for designers, contractors, traders and other users of plants. The basic source of professional information on proven and recommended plants, including new products. The greatest advantages of the catalogue are reliable information on 2872 taxa, containing: a short description of the key features, requirements and applications of a given plant, a sketch of its target silhouette (at the age of 10 or 30 years) and a photo. Tips have also been added to help you make the right choice of plants when shopping, as well as information on biological plant protection against diseases and pests and 107 inspirations of garden arrangements.
– We are happy about the positive reception of our flagship publication, with its Polish version present on the market for more than 20 years, comments Joanna Filipczak. – We are very pleased to be able to offer this valuable overview of the plant assortment also in English, and thus – to the international users, she adds.
At the same time she invites the members of the industry to the next edition of the GREEN IS LIFE trade fair – on September 4-6, 2025.
STATISTICS – GREEN IS LIFE 2024
- The event was joined by 172 exhibitors from 7 countries: Poland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary and Italy.
- The fair was visited by nearly 9,600 people, including 5,616 professionals, an increase of 5.5% compared to 2023.
- Visitors included representatives from as many as 42 countries from 5 continents, with the largest share of visitors from Lithuania, Ukraine and Latvia.
- As far as the professional profile is concerned, the most numerous groups among the professional visitors were: plant producers (29.94%), landscape architects, contractors, manufacturers and distributors of garden and landscape equipment (24.53%), traders from garden centres, shops, markets (12.54%), local government and property managers (5.80%), florists, wholesalers and manufacturers of cut and potted flowers (3.08%).
- Nearly 1,800 participants attended side events such as conferences, seminars, workshops and talks, including:
- Green City Conference – 545 professionals involved in urban green space management
- Seminar ‘Knowledge for Trade and Manufacturers’ – 391 nurserymen and traiders
- Garden Creators’ Meeting – 502 designers and hobbyists
