How can industry help drive the urban green infrastructure story? EUGIC 2017 investigates

Industry is a key part of the ecosystem services and green infrastructure strategy in Europe. Part of the strategy is implicitly to promote, develop and create innovative nature-based solutions. These solutions, it is hoped, will help drive and meet the vision of a Europe whose cities are green. 

While Europe’s green roof, wall and landscape industry already has strong nature-based solutions, many of these are not necessarily seen as strategic by policymakers and financiers. The continent is the birthplace of the modern green roof industry and it is still home to some of the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers, but the industry continues to be viewed as a niche market. There are, however, a wealth of opportunities the industry can grasp in order to innovate and develop a more strategic-based approach to nature-based solutions. Technology is key. The ‘internet of things’ will not only drive new approaches and products but also provide a platform from which to push existing approaches into the mainstream.

Megatrends, market drivers, restraints and opportunities

The future does look bright for existing industries involved in the urban green infrastructure market. Furthermore, as the market becomes more visible, new players are developing products and services to meet the needs of the nature-based economy. There is, however, still a need to understand this evolving market. At the forthcoming EUGIC conference, Manfred Peritsch, the co-founder and managing director of IMG Innovation-Management-Group GmbH, will be delivering a keynote speech on how he envisages this market evolving in the future. Peritsch, who specialises in innovation management, has been examining the green infrastructure market in Austria. Peritsch's work on the market takes three questions as its starting point:

• Will the market get into a two-digit growth phase within the near future?
• If so, who will benefit from this growth rate and how will market dynamics shape the industry?
• Who will be the market makers and how can those smart companies, who clearly see these opportunities, create and execute their specific corporate strategies to drive growth?

The industries that are currently involved and those that are in the process of developing new products and services for this emerging market will find Peritsch's insights useful.

Speed-dating session to bring the industry to the table

Peritsch's keynote speech is a perfect introduction to our new and innovative speed-dating session. The organisers of EUGIC listened to industry players who attended the Vienna conference in 2015. The clear message was that the industry loved the fact that the conference was a forum in which they could interact directly with the delegates. Having exhibition stands is an existing model, but what many industry players found most constructive in Vienna 2015 was the wealth of opportunities for face-to-face meetings that EUGIC offered. We have embraced this approach and now have an entire session dedicated getting the industry together with delegates in a speed-dating format. We anticipate that the session will be a forum in which to discuss the issues raised by Peritsch. If buyers and sellers in the world of green infrastructure can better understand each other, then this will surely help drive the market in the long term.

Urban green infrastructure - developing a strategy to bring nature-based solutions into the mainstream is the way forward 

Peritsch's market analysis and the speed-dating session on the first day of the EUGIC conference will demonstrate that significant opportunities exist in cities and other urban areas across Europe for a vibrant and dynamic economy to develop. Apart from the obvious benefits that green infrastructure offers citizens across Europe, an innovative and forward-thinking industry will also create new markets and generate jobs. Companies and service providers who wish to take a part in the speed-dating session can contact EUGIC at [email protected] for further information.

To book a place at the EUGIC conference on 29-30 November so that you can join the conference. If you have any ideas and thoughts on the urban green infrastructure market and economy in Europe, do comment below.