Welcome

„Botanic gardens – where people and plants meet”

Dear Members of the European Botanic Gardens Community,
Dear Colleagues from and around Europe,

on behalf of the Hungarian Association of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens, celebrating the 30th anniversary of its foundation, as well as celebrating the 250th anniversary of existence of the Botanic Garden of Eötvös Lóránd University, as the first BG in Hungary, I greet you on the website of the IXth European Botanic Garden Congress.

I am pleased to inform you that after elaborate preparation we have set the dates and venue of the Congress. The Organizing Committee and our staff do their best to ensure that from 16th to 20th of May 2022 we hold a high-quality and successful EuroGard congress in Budapest.

We expect that the Central European location of the Congress will facilitate participation from all Europe and even from further.
EuroGard congresses have been professional forums for a quarter of a century on classic botanical garden topics such as biodiversity conservation, research, education, maintenance, and more. In addition to these, EuroGard IX intends to address the relationship, joint programs and collaborations of the Botanic Gardens and the various thematic gardens as a priority topic, highlighting the importance of cooperation. Therefore, we are especially looking forward to presentations on this topic from both, the botanic garden sphere and external partners, as well.

We look forward to the personal meetings, the sharing of experiences and results and the opportunity for forward-looking mutual thinking.

We hope that further waves of the pandemic will no longer drift the event that has already been postponed by a full year from the originally set dates.

Please, follow our website and help communication and planning with pre-registration!

We warmly invite and look forward to seeing you in Hungary next May!

Greetings with respect,

Vince Zsigmond
Chair
The Hungarian Association of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens

Greetings

Our Füvészkert is a quarter-millennium years old, this is history itself. During this period it has witnessed and actively participated in the formation and development of the Hungarian botany. Many relocations occurred in its history – unwanted; however these relocations later proved to be advantageous. It witnessed the climax of the Hungarian plant science, facilitating the work of the biggest botanists.

Füvészkert has a special position in the line of botanical gardens, beginning with its name – understood only by people who speak Hungarian – which can tell a lot. In its early years it committedly served the education of the future medical doctors, which knowledge is deeply rooted. According to the stories ancient wise people looked for and used herbs (in Hungarian: füvek) for medical purposes, so the name Füvészkert seems absolutely right for a shrine of the science of herbs. Looking back to its history, the 250-year Garden has gone through numerous glorious and hard times as well. These periods interlacing with each other came in cycles.

For those studying its shining history this is a well-known fact, empowering them to bring our Institute to such a long life and to have a bright vision of the future. That future which we aren’t allowed to see clearly now, but we do know that those tasks which have been fulfilled by our Garden in this past long period of time, give us hope. Because our future cannot be imagined without our living environment, in studying it and in the conservation work botanical gardens can play a more and more important role.

I hope we can celebrate this special occasion together at the EuroGard IX. conference too.

Dr László Orlóci
Director
Eötvös Loránd University Botanical Garden

Dear Colleagues,

it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the IXth European Botanic Garden Congress to be held from the 16-20th May 2022 in Budapest.

Eurogard IX is a meeting we are all looking forward to after such a long period of self-isolation. Located in the beautiful city of Budapest, and coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Hungarian Association of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens, and the 250th anniversary of Hungary’s first botanic garden at Eötvös Lóránd University, we have many reasons to celebrate.

Eurogard meetings are an opportunity to share knowledge, learn from each other and – perhaps most importantly of all – make new friends and build new partnerships. The botanic garden community is extraordinarily good at working collaboratively and in partnership, which is essential because there is so much to do! Whether you are interested in the conservation of biodiversity, specialist horticulture, public engagement, research or botanic garden management, there will be plenty to keep you interested and occupied.

BGCI and the European Botanic Gardens Consortium looks forward to supporting our Hungarian hosts in organising this Congress, including encouraging and enabling participation in this highly anticipated meeting. Most of all we look forward to seeing you in Budapest!

Dr Paul Smith
Secretary General
Botanic Gardens Conservation International