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Cities and regions across Europe are facing multiple challenges. Climate change, the biodiversity crisis and the ongoing land consumption make it necessary to develop targeted solutions and approaches to action. A multifunctional response to these problems can be provided by Green Infrastructure, offering a range of benefits. Even though European regions have to deal with similar challenges they have generated very individual, successful methods to develop and implement Blue and Green Infrastructure in their area. We want to bring the regions together to share these innovative approaches.

The idea of the summit

The 1. European Green Infrastructure Summit will take place in June 2025 in the Ruhrgebiet. The event seeks to enable a professional exchange between European regions on the subject of how to successfully develop and implement Green Infrastructure. Different strategies, best practice projects as well as current challenges will be presented and discussed in order to learn from each other’s approaches. Working phases of varying formats will provide a platform to find strategic solutions for individuall challenges.

Program of the summit

Date	Program	Location
24.06.2025	Tuesday
18:30	Informal get-together (optional)	Essen City
25.06.2025	Wednesday
10:00	Opening and Introduction	Digital Campus Zollverein
11:00	Presentation of the Regions + Projects
15:00	Keynote: European Land Policy
16:00	Workshops - (see below)
18:00	Guided Tour "On Coal and Miners"	Zeche Zollverein
19:00	End day one
26.06.2025	Thursday
10:00	Guided Tour at Nordstern Park	Gelsenkirchen
13:30	Key-questions Speed-Dating	Digital Campus Zollverein
15:00	“Market place” for matching of the regions
18:00	Festive Evening Program	Brost Pavillon, Zollverein
27.06.2025	Friday
09:00	Outlook and future cooperations	RVR Building, Essen
12:00	Official Closure + Departure

Workshops

The workshops will address topics requested and proposed by the participating regions. They will last two 45-minute sessions. Each session will include a brief introduction, followed by a discussion on the topic and a recording of the results.

You are hosting a workshop? Please check out our Workshop Concept as a suggestion for your preparation.

	Wednesday, 25.06.2025, 16:00h
Workshop 1	International cooperations
ICLEI	What makes an international cooperation succesfull? Learn from ICLEI about key elements of working together.
Workshop 2	Digital Tools
Krampe/ Halbach, RVR	Possibilities and implementation of digital tools for climate change and adaptation.
Workshop 3	Informal planning processes
Wenning / Schmitt, RVR	Learn about the successful governance design of the regional Green Infrastructure Strategy for the Ruhr area.
Workshop 4	Financing
Mr. Ramses Grande Fraile, DG Regio	EU support and financing options for green infrastructure.
Workshop 5	Green Metropolis 2120
Mrs. Evi Sengers, GMR	How does the future look like in the year 2120? How to apply backcasting from this vision towards concrete projects in the present.
Workshop 6	pending
Workshop 7	pending
Workshop 8	pending

Venue

The event will take place at the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen in the premises of the DigitalCampus. The building is called “Schalthaus”.

The nearest Tram Station is “Zollverein”. It can be reached with line 107 from Essen Central Station ("Essen Hbf").

Adress:

UNESCO-Welterbe Zollverein Schacht XII
Schalthaus
Gelsenkirchener Straße 181
45309 Essen

Google Maps

Downloads

Presentation joint meeting 2025-03-11 (4 MB)
EGI Summit Program (210 KB)
EGI Summit Flyer (195 KB)

Green infrastructure strategy Ruhr metropolis (19 MB)The regional Green Infrastructure Strategy serves as an informal planning basis for the further development of green infrastructures in the Ruhrgebiet.
Green infrastructure charter Ruhr metropolis (8 MB)The green infrastructure charter will function as a comprehensive strategic framework in the future. Guiding themes and overall targets form the basis for working out objectives and detailed solutions, negotiating them and jointly implementing them.
Factbook Green Infrastructure (english) (33 MB)Factbook Green Infrastructure in the Ruhr Metropolis. People. Nature. Space.

Partners

25-50-25 grau

Frequently Asked Questions

► What is the summit about?

The conference is about the exchange of ideas between European regions on the topic of Green Infrastructure and related subject areas. The focus is on professional exchange and learning from each other. Therefore, various successful approaches will be presented and compared on the summit. These can be both processes and implementation projects. Based on challenges and existing questions, possible solutions will be discussed and exchanged at the conference.

► What is the goal of the summit and the potential network?

The long-term goal is to develop a network of regions that can provide support and knowledge with the possibility of joint future Green Infrastructure projects. To do this, we first need to get to know each other and exchange our approaches, this is what the Summit 2025 is for. After this, it would be great if we could establish a regular exchange. This could be in small working groups that meet more often on a specific topic or for example on a common platform and of course the summits that take place regularly in different regions. We would like to discuss the network-idea together with you on the summit and how the involvement could look like.

► How were the partners and regions selected?

The regions that have been contacted for the summit in 2025 are those, that are already partner regions of the RVR or with whom we have already worked together on Green Infrastructure topics.

► Who is attending the summit? Can the network be expanded?

The first summit would take place on a rather small scale among the regions selected, every region being represented by 4-5 experts. These experts can be project managers, topic managers, international experts or representatives of the administration from their region. Other representatives of the regions can also be invited, but the summit should primarily be an exchange between the experts from the group of people mentioned above. If you know of other regions with similar projects, let us know!

► Will there be financial support for participants?

Participation in the event is free of charge.

We intend to reimburse participants from outside Germany for accommodation and transport costs. This is possible thanks to funding from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The accommodation is booked centrally by the RVR and pre-financed. Please send us proof of your travel expenses. We plan to partially finance them with a flat rate per person.

Excursion

The transformation of a park into a Future Garden

A highlight of the summit will be a half-day excursion to Gelsenkirchen, where we will visit Nordsternpark.

As part of the IGA 2027 in the Ruhr region, the future garden "Zukunftsinsel mit Nordsternpark+" (Future Island with Nordsternpark+) is developing innovative solutions for the challenges of our time: digitalization, climate resilience, environmentally friendly mobility, and innovative forms of housing. The plans are based on the already established Nordsternpark and utilize the existing diversity of leisure and recreational opportunities as a foundation for future-oriented problem-solving and innovative developments.

Planners from the International Garden Exhibition 2027 will accompany us on this guided tour. They will explain the concept of the Garden of the Future and tell us about the plans for its implementation.
Do you have questions about the International Garden Exhibition? You can talk to our experts here!

Der Gelsenkirchener Zukunftsgarten entsteht schwerpunktmäßig auf der Zukunftsinsel - im Bereich des Nordsternparks.

The summit is supported by the state initiative “Europa-Schecks” of the Minister for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs, Media and Head of the State Chancellery of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.