Latest News

EGHN network and its partnership (parks, gardens, regions)

International meeting of EGHN regions at Schloss Dyck (June 2010)

On 30th June 2010 the annual Advisory Board Meeting with international representatives from EGHN regions took place on a hot summer day at Schloss Dyck. On the agenda (a.o.): geographic and thematic enlargement of the EGHN routes and European Themes, the agreement on statutes and the future budget of the network based on own income generation, contributions and partnership fees.

Ness Botanic Gardens brings EGHN to EXPO 2010 Shanghai (June 2010)

Ness Botanic Gardens is represented with an impressive multi media presentation on the stand of Liverpool University on EXPO 2010 in Shanghai China.

Visitors can use the presentation, which is based on Microsoft Surface, to get to know more about the history of Ness Botanic Gardens by accessing documents, maps, images and videos.

Information includes some facts about EGHN, which is also represented with its logo (linked to the website) on the front page of the presentation.

More information is available on You Tube. 

2nd Tatton Park Biennial in full swing (June 2010)

Started in May and lasting until 26 September the Tatton Park Biennial shows an excellent range of contemporary art by international artists. Within the park and gardens a map helps to discover the sculptures and installations that add to the attractiveness of the site and open new views and thoughts. 

Some impressions can be found on this website, more and detailed information on a specific website.

EGHN inspires the new Swedish Garden Network (April 2010)

On 25th March Movium, the Centre for the Urban Public Space at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, organised a conference on gardens and tourism. The day before representatives from many Swedish gardens met for a workshop to discuss improved cooperation in the future and decided to establish a Swedish garden network named “The Swedish Society of Public Parks and Gardens”

During these two days, five partners from the EGHN gave presentations on the advantages of working together on a local and regional level, on developing parks and gardens as living heritage sites and as locations for educational activities and events. They also highlighted visitor expectations related to parks and gardens and the often difficult decision on how to restore a “lost” garden.

Presentations by a number of garden managers from Sweden showed the very high quality of parks and gardens as well as their strong inclusion into urban development plans and tourism strategies. Read more about the conference on the website of Movium.

There is no doubt that Europe has to get to know more about the Swedish garden resource and its protagonists. A trip to Sweden is a good start for it. Visit www.swedishgardens.se for more information and inspirations.

European Garden Award by EGHN (March 2010)

The first winners of the “European Garden Award” will be announced in May 2010 by the European Garden Heritage Network EGHN with its current partners in eight European countries (the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy and Ireland).

Within two categories, this award will annually honour exceptional achievements in garden culture and in making use of parks and gardens in urban and regional development policies. The first category will look at historic parks and gardens that have been subject to exemplary restoration, enhancement or development measures or activities related to social inclusion, education, environment or visitor services. The second category will indentify high quality and innovative contemporary concepts and designs of parks and gardens already implemented or in progress of realisation.

Additionally, in an open category a Special Award of the Foundation Schloss Dyck, Centre for Garden Art and Landscape Design, can be awarded, e.g. to a group or initiative supporting the creation or restoration of a park or garden or to a successful garden arts event.

An international jury will discuss the proposed winners in April 2010, and the decision will then be presented to the public. The awards will be handed out to the winners during an event in September 2010 on the occasion of the ”illumina”, the reputable light show at Schloss Dyck.

Painshill Park and beyond (February 2010)

On Thursday 24 and Friday 25 June 2010 Painshill Park, Cobham, Surrey is hosting a conference: PAINSHILL PARK AND BEYOND: The Future of 18th Century Landscape Restoration

Painshill Park Trust marks its 30th anniversary in 2010. This is also a time when the issue of interpreting 18th Century landscape restoration / reconstruction is a hotly debated topic. Painshill Park is bringing together key players in the debate to a major conference, using Painshill’s award winning restoration as a model for past and present approaches, and discussing new ways of looking at landscapes in the future.

IllumiNESS at Ness Botanic Grdens (December 2009)

Ness Botanic Gardens stages a very special flagship event from Saturday, 5th to Sunday, 13th December as part of Year of the Environment 2009. The 64-acre award-winning garden on the Wirral peninsula is lit with a series of specially designed illumination displays giving visitors the opportunity to ’see the garden in a different light’.

Intriguingly the displays utilise the principles of ‘green technology’ by using solar powered lights and bio-fuelled generators to power the displays in this unique pre-Christmas spectacle. In addition, some of the installations use audio visual displays to project images from over 100 years of the Ness Gardens archive including the use of a 3-metre-high water curtain and dancing fountain.

Kevin Reid, Director of Ness Botanical Gardens, got some of the inspirations for this event from two visits to the Illumina at Schloss Dyck in Germany, made possible by EGHN. Now gratulations to a very successful event were given by the EGHN- Chairman Alan Thornley and EGHH-Vice-Chairman Roswitha Arnold who visited to event.

Some first pictures can be found here.

First EGHN Partner Garden in Italy (November 2009)

On November, 5th Villa Fabri in Trevi (Umbria, Italy) was officially launched as the seat of the regional network "Villas, Parks and Gardens in Umbria". That same day, Villa Fabri with its garden overlooking the fabulous Umbrian landscape, was welcomed as the first formal partner of EGHN in Italy. At the end of a long day with technical meetings to prepare a new project of EGHN, the EGHN plaque was fixed by EGHN Vice-Chairman Roswitha Arnold and the Mayor of Trevi, Giuliano Nalli.

Umbria Region, the city of Trevi and the private and public owners of parks and gardens in Umbria are now ready to start a closer cooperation to enhance and to valorise the parks and gardens in Umbria. This will include joint promotional activities and events as well as the work on an EGHN garden route in Umbria. The EGHN partners welcomed their new Italian partners and are keen to intensify international cooperation.

New European project - Good progress made (September 2009)

The Foundation Schloss Dyck hosted another meeting of European organisations to agree on the major contents and budgets of a joint application for a project within the INTERREG IVC programme. The policy framework, challenges and objectives as well as key actions and responsibilities have been brought forward. It is hoped that the next meeting in Trevi (hosted by Umbria Region) in November will bring work on the application to an end.

In addition to the forthcoming application, the group identified many networking opportunities in the near future, including staff exchange (e.g. with the new International Centre for Gardening and Horticulture in West Cheshire), joint promotional activities, the implementation of EGHN routes in Northern and Southern Europe or an international conference on parks and gardens in urban development strategies, scheduled by some German partners for late 2010.

During the night the group visited the "illumina" at Schloss Dyck (shown on picture above). This lighting event with music, poetry, water works and video installations inspired Ness Gardens to have a similar event in December 2009. 

"Ness Botanische" won an RHS Gold Medal and 'Best in show' (July 2009)

Award winning garden designer and TV presenter Chris Beardshaw, Visit Chester & Cheshire and EGHN partner Ness Botanic Gardens are celebrating a unique double - winning a Gold Medal and The Best in Show Award for the second year running, at "The RHS Tatton Show" at Tatton Park.

The highly imaginative show garden entitled “Ness Botanische, Cheshire’s Gardens of Distinction - Under The Microscope" has not only proved a major hit with the judges but also with the many visitors to Tatton, and for those who couldn’t make it to the show, they will have their chance to see the garden when it is relocated in Spring 2010 to a permanent home at the University of Liverpool’s, Ness Botanic Gardens.

The garden was sponsored by Visit Chester & Cheshire in association with the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and Ness Botanic Gardens. The garden celebrates Cheshire’s Gardens of Distinction and reflects on the many links which have, and still are, being forged between German and British centres of horticultural excellence.

Chris’s imaginative circular design was inspired by decades of scientific and academic research which has been carried out at Ness Botanic Gardens. The design represents a microscopic view through a plant stem and the visitors to the Show were unusually able to walk on a journey through the various layers of the stem, represented by differing plant styles including Germanic-inspired prairie gardens

RHS Gold Medal for Tatton Park (July 2009)

Cheshire was also celebrating a Gold Medal for Tatton Park, EGHN anchor garden in Cheshire, who had a back-to-back garden designed by Tatton Park’s head gardener Sam Yould. “The Hermit’s Grotto – Inspiration for Imagination” was inspired by the true story of the famous Cheshire hermit John Harris, who, after being thwarted in his attempts to marry one of the Egerton family, went on to live in a cave until his death at the age of 99.

The garden was a feast for the ears as well as the eyes, as Cheshire Poet Laureate Terry Fox visited the garden to set poetry in motion to encourage children to use their imagination in writing poems and stories about Cheshire hermits.

Fairytale EGHN garden route in North Hesse (July 2009)

North Hesse in central Germany is the homeland of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Here the Brothers Grimm spent the longest period of their lives, a particularly fruitful and productive time to which all their major projects are closely linked. They also loved to walk through the gardens in Kassel or around Kassel in North Hesse.

These parks and gardens can now be explored by following the new EGHN garden route. Among these sites is the Bergpark Wilhelmshoehe with its famous water features, preparing to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status soon. The European Themes add some other highlights and hidden gems as well, ranging from a Spa Park combining heritage and contemporary design to a private garden.

Dublin's St. Anne's Park and Merrion Square join the EGHN (May 2009)

In May 2009 the Advisory Board of EGHN was pleased to accept the request by Dublin City Council for two of their gardens to become partners within the network in 2010. One is St. Anne's Parks, a former estate owned and much designed by the Guinness family at the northern outskirts of Dublin city. The other one is Merrion Square with the Archbishop Ryan Parks in the centre, a stunning Georgian Square, loved and enjoyed by Dublin's citizens, including Oscar Wilde, who lived at Merrion Square.

During their meeting at Dublin (see below) members of the EGHN had the great honour and pleasure to plant a European Tree together with the 339th Lord Mayor of Dublin, Eibhlin Byrn.

Workshop for an application "EGHN+" within INTERREG IVC (May 2009)

A transnationl group of "old" EGHN partners and interessted organisations met again to prepare a joint application for a project related to parks, gardens, urban development and climate change.

The two days meeting was hosted by Dublin City Council. Participants came from Ireland, the UK, France, Italy, Malta, Sweden and Germany. There is also interest from Rhodes and Estonia to become a partner in this new application.

For more details, please contact the project development consultancy.   

City Park Linköpig is the first EGHN partner garden in Sweden (March 2009)

On March, 22nd 2009 the city park in Linköping (Trädgårdsföreningen) celebrated its 150th anniversary. Officals, supporters and the citizens of Linköping joined a small conference and an event in the city park to remember these 150 years of history and to start the next phase of restructuring the park. 

EGHN officials have been pleased to be there and to welcome the city park as the first garden of the EGHN partnership and network in Sweden. The EGHN plaque was handed out and the official flag shown at the entrance area. Together with the Lord Mayor two trees were planted as a sign for a future growth in a local and European community.