In 2019, the “Netherlands National Day” event of the Beijing World Horticultural Exposition in China was held recently at the Beijing World Garden Park. The picture shows the band performing in the Dutch exhibition park.

　Photo courtesy of Xinhua News Agency

　　◆China Environmental News reporter Wen Wen

　　Porcelain, glass, paper, 3D printed instruments and even the jaw bones, under the Dutch Hague Percussion Orchestra, produced a beautiful and harmonious music. At the World Horticultural Exposition in Beijing, China in 2019, the “Netherlands National Day” event showed visitors the green development concept of “innovation and change” in the Netherlands.

　　1 Integration of history and innovation

　　The Netherlands is the birthplace of the World Horticultural Exposition. Since the first World Garden Conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 1960, the World Horticultural Exposition has been successfully held for six sessions.

　　Known as the 'European Garden', the Netherlands, tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, lavender and other world-famous, flowers are its pillar industries. In 2018, the Netherlands exported 3.7 billion euros of folded flowers to the world.

　　At the Beijing World Expo in 2019, the Netherlands brought advanced planting techniques and planning concepts to Beijing, allowing history and innovation to be integrated in the Netherlands Pavilion of the World Expo, presenting a beautiful world of flowers for the audience.

　　Entering from Gate 3 of the park, you can see a pure white framed building not far away, that is the Dutch Exhibition Park. Walking through the Dutch gardens of high and low trees and colorful perennial herbs, tulips and other flowers can be seen everywhere. Different combinations and colorful colors form a dynamic and interesting visual effect. Through plants and flowers, the Dutch Garden presents the theme of sponge cities and sustainable food safety to the audience.

　　Dutch garden designer Nick Lozan said that other perennials are planted at the flower border of the tulip, which will contrast with the tulip during the flowering season.

　　In another area called “Summer Garden”, the designer uses a combination of ornamental plants. For example, the scutellaria bark has thick texture leaves and enlarged inflorescences, and provides a rich visual experience by combining the broadleaf scutellariae with the thin leaf type and excellent texture of the acid marsh. Summer flowering bulbs spread randomly, adding to the sense of movement and nature.

　　Nick Lozan said that by using bulbous species such as dahlia, combined with bulbous plants and plants such as Aurora borealis, this plot presents a colorful form. In addition, garden designs such as “Lavender Garden”, “Bee Butterfly Garden”, “Hydrangea Garden”, “Vanilla Garden”, “Red Silver Garden” and “Evergreen Garden” are also unique.

　　In the early summer season, the Dutch exhibition garden is full of gardens, aroma gardens, and bee flying butterflies. It has become one of the most popular national exhibition gardens of the Beijing World Expo.

2 Combination of agriculture and technology

　　High-level garden planting and management is just the tip of the iceberg of the Dutch green development concept. Wouter Verhey, agricultural counselor of the Dutch Embassy in China, further explained the concept of a “green city” in the Netherlands. He said that 'green city' not only means the green coverage of the city, but also means energy conservation and environmental protection. These are the essence of the 'green city' construction. A deeper direction is to create a diverse and livable environment in a sustainable manner. “Public green space is very important for the living conditions of urban residents. It is very important for urban climate and environmental governance. It is also beneficial for the storage capacity of water resources. We must do more in this regard.”

　　Not only that, in urban areas, urban gardening can bring huge economic benefits by reducing environmental pollution, increasing crop yields, and developing sightseeing tours.

　　In the Netherlands, there is a 28-story vertical farm. This is designed by the Dutch Except Sustainability Foundation, which has 14 growing areas. Designers use LED growth lights to replace sunlight, allowing different plants to grow 24 hours a day, thus ensuring that crop production units can increase production by 2-3 times compared to ordinary greenhouses, and increase production by 30 to 40 times compared to open-air crops.

　　Combining agriculture with high technology has broken the boundaries between traditional agriculture and urban greening, and has even changed the concept of agriculture. The World Garden, the Dutch Garden brings this breakthrough concept to China.

　　Niek Roozen and MVRDV Architects have transformed the “Dutch Garden” into a miniature version of the “Green City” by combining steel structures with urban contours and green tree gardens. The plant walls covered by various plants are both landscapes and “vertical farms”.

　　Gardening is a natural manifestation, and it is also the wisdom of human beings to combine technology with nature. With the reduction of cultivated land and the continuous advancement of urbanization, the concept of “vertical farm” has already emerged in the field of architectural design – people can plant food and ornamental plants in urban buildings made of glass and steel. The birth of the vertical farm marks the practical application of the green city concept, the three wins of landscape, environmental protection and food and clothing, and the opportunity for people to truly achieve comprehensive sustainable development.

　　3 Interaction and cooperation dialogue

　　At the entrance to the south of the Dutch park, a few colorful Dutch traditional wooden shoes are hung on the green walls. Dutch garden manager Esme told reporters that they can wear these wooden shoes and walk on the land twice, and feel the traditional pastoral with their feet: 'Wooden shoes are the most national handicrafts in the Netherlands, and they are the epitome of national customs and culture. The shoes that farmers wear everyday. Children can wear it and feel the earth and experience nature.'

　　Feeling nature is a small interaction between tourists and the Dutch garden. The Dutch Garden also shows the exchanges and cooperation between China and the Netherlands in the field of green development in recent years.

　　In the field of “green cities”, the Netherlands has had cooperation and intersection with China very early. Dutch landscape architect Bert Dautzenberg has been in China for 10 years. Based on the principle of the “spong cities”, he developed and patented the ecologically filtered exterior of the roof and walls. Daocheng Behe's design is simple and efficient, and has successfully passed project tests in cities such as Dalian, Shenzhen and Beijing.

　　“In the past, people always wanted to green the city in a short period of time. Now, improving quality has become a new direction of development. The relevant policies of the Chinese government have set the direction for creating more sustainability.” Daocheng Bohe believes that “ China has many opportunities to promote green development, and it can do much.'

　　Nick Northen also said: 'Although the Netherlands has done a good job in environmental protection, it will always encounter new problems in the development of different eras, so we also need to constantly try to solve it. The efforts made by China are worthwhile. We learn.'

　　□ Related links

　　How does the Netherlands create a green and livable city?

　　In recent years, Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, has focused on technological innovation, formulated and implemented a sustainable development program, upgraded urban production, consumption and lifestyle, not only taking into account urban development and the quality of life of residents, but also became one of the representative green cities in Europe and the world. 

　　Once upon a time, Amsterdam was a “problem city”. As the process of European integration accelerates, the negative urban image of Amsterdam and the weaknesses in urban governance are further magnified.

　　Under this situation, Amsterdam realized that it must adapt to changes in the internal and external environment and revitalize the city. Since the 1980s and 1990s, the Amsterdam government has embarked on a long-term environmental protection strategic plan.

　　In 2010, the Amsterdam government issued the 'Vision for the 2040 Amsterdam', which established the basic goals and framework for the transformation of Amsterdam into sustainable development. According to the plan and some short- and medium-term plans issued later, Amsterdam refines the sustainable development strategy into a continuous, goal-oriented policy measure and implementation project, in a comprehensive and holistic manner for urban transport, energy, construction, water resources and The garbage system will be improved to improve the city's functions and create a green and livable city.

　　The implementation of the sustainable development strategy in Amsterdam mainly focuses on renewable energy, clean air, circular economy and climate resilience, and has set corresponding quantitative and qualitative targets.

　　In terms of renewable energy, Amsterdam is committed to energy transformation and will produce more renewable energy to reduce its dependence on fossil energy. It is estimated that by 2025, it will be able to reduce CO2 emissions by 45% compared to 2012.

　　In the improvement of air quality, we are committed to reducing nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter and soot components in the air; more use of artificial power and low-carbon energy to reduce air pollution and noise. By 2025, the maximum concentration of nitrogen dioxide per cubic meter in heavily polluted areas is guaranteed to be 30 mg; the concentration of soot is 30% lower than in 2013.

　　In the development of circular economy, change the past linear production and consumption mode of raw materials-products-garbage, adhering to the environmental philosophy of “cradle to cradle”: the raw materials of products return to nature through ecological cycle, or enter the industrial cycle to make new product. At the same time, the efficient use of raw materials, recycling more natural resources and raw materials; sustainable consumption; through economic and technological innovation to promote economic development to promote financial and business services, life sciences and creative entrepreneurship and tourism, exhibition, trade and logistics industry development.

　　In terms of climate resilience, in response to climate change and its resulting sea level rise and rising water levels, the Netherlands will strengthen relevant government policies such as climate resilience from 2020 onwards.