The Green4C Business Innovation Challenge

by Rik De Vreese | Mar 15, 2022 | Events

A unique opportunity to make green care innovative ideas growing

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ of the European Union, Green4C is a Knowledge Alliance project promoting nature-based solutions for health, wellbeing, and social inclusion. Bringing together universities, businesses, and organisations, Green4C wants to provide interdisciplinary skills and encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in Green Care.

The term Green Care refers to a “range of activities that promotes physical and mental health and well-being through contact with nature”. In the last few decades, a growing body of research is demonstrating the benefits of the contact with nature on health and wellbeing. Green Care can improve mental and physical health, representing an efficient tool for public health issues. In addition, activities such as social farming or community gardening can promote social inclusion and address other social issues.

Recognising the central role of nature for the development of a healthier and more sustainable future, Green4C seeks to foster Green Care as an efficient answer to environmental, health, and social concerns.

To stimulate the creation of innovative Green Care initiatives, the Green4C team has produced an interesting new opportunity, the Business Innovation Challenge (BIC). The BIC is a free competition for anyone with innovative ideas involving nature, health, and wellbeing. Participants will compete by presenting their business or projects ideas to promote the health and social benefits of nature. Ideas can involve one or more Green4C thematic sectors, i.e., Forest-based care, Urban green care, Social agriculture, and Green care tourism.

Winners of the BIC will gain access to the Green4C Summer School. The Summer School is a high specialisation course taking place in Italy (from the 20th of June to the 8th of July 2022), at the Agripolis campus of the University of Padova. Top European experts in Green Care will be sharing knowledge and best practices on entrepreneurship, forestry, nature-based solutions, health, and much more. The aim of this course is to give students all the necessary tools to realise innovative Green Care initiatives. Only 25 participants will be selected for the Summer School.

The deadline to participate in the BIC is the 3^rd of April 2022, at 23.59 CEST. To apply, participants must fill out the application form, which includes the presentation of their business or project idea in Green Care. Learn all the details about the BIC on bit.ly/green4c-bic.

Reimagining Future Cities – The Green Way (webinar 22 March)

by Rik De Vreese | Mar 1, 2021 | Events

Join in Europe – Monday, March 22, 2021 | 1:00 AM Brussels (CET)

This international conference, with a focal point on China and the US, will discuss the science, policies and practices enabling urban environments to meet local, national and global goals to create cleaner, greener, healthier and more beautiful cities. Innovators from a wide range of disciplines in the public and private sectors will present on this crucial topic.
The conference will be planned by Trella Urban Forestry Technology, a naturebased solutions company based in Shanghai and New York City, growing and providing tree-based solutions to Chinese cities，and Nature Based Solutions Institute, a global urban forestry consulting firm based in Malmo, Sweden. Please mark your calendars and join us to explore tomorrow’s green urban solutions, today.

Register through trellatrees.com/event.

You can read the conference brochure here.

Selected Speakers

• Adrian Benepe: Brooklyn Botanic Garden President, 14th Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks & RecreationProfessor Alan Simson: Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture and Urban Forestry at Leeds Beckett University
• Alex Lin: Chairman, Les Enphants Co. Ltd., a Taiwan-based global retailer of children’s apparel and accessories
• Dr. Baohua Yan: Secretary General of Mangrove Foundation
• Dr. Cecil Konijnendijk: Founder, Nature Based Solutions Institute, Program Director of University of British Columbia’s Masters in Urban Forestry Leadership, Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Arboriculture & Urban Forestry”
• Dr. Cheng Wang: Director of the Urban Forest Research Center of State Forestry Administration, China and the Chinese Academy of Forestry
• Dr. Fan Dai: Director, California – China Climate Institute
• Dr. Guangyu Wang: Associate Dean and Director of Asian Forest Research Centre at the University of British Columbia
• Dr. Jessica Gordon: Climate Policy Fellow, California-China Climate Institute
• Jonathan Krane: CEO of KraneShares and Trella, a China-focused investment manager
• Ken Alex: Director of Project Climate at Berkeley Law and former Senior Policy Advisor to California Governor Jerry Brown
• Michael McComb: Vice President, Communications and Sustainability, SAP Greater China
• Raymond Fang: Director of Sustainability at Asia Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd
• Dr. Stefano Boeri: Architect and urban planner, Founding Partner of Stefano Boeri Architetti, Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Chairman of Fondazione La Triennale di Milano, former Councillor for Culture in Milan
• Terry Townshend: Member of the Beijing Urban Forestry Network, Beijing conservationist, founder of Birding Beijing, consultant on wildlife conservation and environmental law, and an advisor to the Paulson Institute and to the Beijing government on a project to protect and restore the capital’s biodiversity
• Willy Gallia: Chief Sustainability Officer at the Schneider Group