Under the motto ‘Choose Nature’ about 500 participants joined the annual event of Network Nature in Brussels. This network is funded by the European Commission, while the annual event is organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and ICEI Europe (network of local municipalities for sustainability). ELCA is partner of this network and was invited to join a panel discussion on ‘Businesses for Nature’.

The session ‘Businesses for Nature’ was opened by six short presentations. For example Barbora Chmelova from the Czech Ministry of Environment gave an overview of the process of making the national restoration plan in the framework of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. Kerry Waylen, working on the MERLIN-project on behalf of the James Hutton Institute, explained the role of energy companies in a hydro power project. ELCA Secretary-General Egbert Roozen got the opportunity in this panel to introduce ELCA and to elaborate on what the landscape garden sector needs in taking up its role in creating urban nature. He emphasized on the importance of including the expertise of landscape gardeners at the beginning of the designing process and to make sure that the long term maintenance of the project is considered. This element is often forgotten in the early stage, but essential for achieving the aimed ecosystem services.

The Network Nature event was a great opportunity to build further on our stakeholder network and to reinforce our contacts with the European Commission. It is nice to see on LinkedIn how our contribution to the panel discussion is appreciated and many times shared.