From 29. – 31. July 2024 the 2nd International Congress of Historical Botanical Gardens will be held in Vienna.

The Austrian Federal Gardens in cooperation with the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna, the Natural History Museum Vienna and the International Association of Botanic Gardens (IABG) are looking forward to an interesting continuation of the “1st International Congress of Historical Botanical Gardens” held 2021 in Lisbon.

The initial impulse to communicate the issues and importance of botanical gardens to a broader public, highlighting their history as well as their importance and building a common network will be continued 2024 in Vienna. The second event will expand the focus to include conservation and preservation of plants and gardens. How can we protect historical botanical gardens and their heritage from the major threats of our time, such as lack of resources, climate change, war, and conflicts of all kinds? What can we learn from the turbulents in the past?

For more than 450 years, plants have been collected, cultivated, studied and exhibited in Vienna. This long and continuous tradition makes Vienna one of the most important locations for current and historic plant research and conservation.

We invite to submit papers related to the fields of Botanical Gardens, Historical Gardens, Plant Collections, and related disciplines. Submissions from students, associations and independent researchers are encouraged. Presentation formats include 5 min pitch presentations, 20 min talks as well as posters.

Examples for potential presentations:

Session I: The transition of historical botanical collections
- Survival of botanical collections in times of war or crisis
- Transition of princely botanical collections into the ownership of modern republics
- Transition of colonial collections into the ownership of independent states
- Endangerment of historical botanical collections during military conflicts
- Historical botanical collections and climate crisis
- Preliminary protective measures

Session II: Horticulture – Challenges in daily horticulture practice
- Pest control and measures
- Preventions. Biological cultivation and biological treatments
- Changes in cultivation because of climate change
- Cultivation and conservation of single plants of particular high value
- Protection of the collection
- Handling and protection of plants for and during exhibitions

Session III: Science – Sharing of knowledge
- Importance of traditional horticultural crafts in historical botanical gardens
- Methods to conserve and transmit (horticultural) knowledge
- Which knowledge is transmitted
- Transition of traditional knowledge and traditional techniques to modernism
- Networking – international and transdisciplinary relationships

Session IV Historical botanical gardens
- Portraits of historical botanical gardens (existing and lost)

Please send your abstract (max. 250 words excluding title and affiliation) as a word file with the indication of the topic as well the preferred presentation format to ichbg2024bundesgaerten.at before January 15, 2024. You will be informed about acceptance and format of the presentation by March 25, 2024.

For further information please check the website https://www.historicalbotanicalgardens.com and don't hesitate to contact the organizing committee:

ichbg2024bundesgaerten.at
Austrian Federal Gardens
Grünbergstraße 24
1130 Wien
Bundesgaerten.at