ParkSeason Expo – 2021. Russia's main park expo successfully completed

On August 25-26, 2021, ParkSeason Expo, an international exhibition and conference on creating, maintaining, and developing a comfortable urban environment, recreation parks, and public spaces, was held at the Expocentre Fairgrounds in Moscow. The event was organized by the Russian Association of Parks with the assistance of the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of Russia and with the support of the Federation Council, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Moscow Department of Environmental Management and Protection, and the World Urban Parks organization. The official sponsor of ParkSeason Expo was the International Lighting Engineering Corporation, BL GROUP. Also it was sponsored by Makita (Japan), a world leader in professional tools and accessories.

"I would like to remind you that Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, set the task to increase the comfort of the urban environment by 2030 by one and a half times, and we are moving towards this goal together with you," said Maxim Egorov, the Deputy Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation, member of the Board of Guardians of the Russian Association of Parks, to the participants of the exhibition at the opening ceremony.

Delegates from 311 towns, cities and localities of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus took part in ParkSeason Expo. In just two days, the expo was visited by 2,957 accredited professional visitors and experts. There were built up 4,662 square meters of exposition. Nine countries were represented within the framework of the exhibition and business program. In addition to numerous booths of manufacturing companies, there were displayed collective booths from the regions of Russia, organized by municipal administrations and regional governments.

"This event is a great opportunity for manufacturing companies to demonstrate the cutting-edge achievements of the Russian industry," said Vasily Osmakov, the First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.

The speakers and guests of the business program were Alexey Reteyum, Chairman of the Council of the Russian Association of Parks, Director of the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University Botanical Garden Aptekarsky Ogorod; Vitaly Likhachev, Mayor of Volgograd, member of the Presidential Council for the community development, member of the Council of the Russian Association of Parks; Denis Chizhik, Deputy Minister of Improvement of the Moscow region; Evgenia Murinets, Advisor to the Governor of the Astrakhan region on urban planning policy, a member of the advisory council on the formation of the comfortable urban environment of the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of Russia; Yulia Rybakova, Advisor to the Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism; Tatiana Sharshavitskaya, Deputy Chairman of the Tourism Committee of Moscow City Government; Vladimir Filippov, Deputy Head of the Department of Labor and Social Protection of Moscow City Government; Larisa Kanunnikova, Deputy Chairman of St. Petersburg Committee for Improvement; Robert Garipov, Director of the municipal budgetary institution Directorate of Parks and Squares in Kazan; Ivan Demidov, director of the State Autonomous Institution of Culture of Moscow Zaryadye Park, Department of Culture of Moscow; Taisia Volftrub, President of the Association of Landscape Architects of Russia (ALAROS); Diana Grishina, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of the Tula region; Anna Tereshkova, Vice-Mayor of Novosibirsk; Anatoly Boyarkov, President of the Union of Parks and Amusement Parks Association (SAPIR); Alexander Sapronov, Director of Moscow State Autonomous Institution Park Yauza; Elizaveta Fokina, member of the Council of the Russian Association of Parks, Director of the museum-reserve Tsaritsyno; Andrey Lapshin, a member of the Council of the Russian Association of Parks, Director of Moscow State Autonomous Institution Sokolniki; Alexander Mitroshkin, Director of the Municipal Autonomous Institution Krasnoyarsk City Park; Alexander Bukatov, Deputy Director of the SUE Mossvet of Moscow Housing and Utilities Department; Sergey Gorsky, Deputy General Director of Messe Frankfurt, and many others.

"Thanks to the exchange of experience, discussions and fresh ideas of this international event, life is changing in Russian cities. New public spaces appear, and areas acquire aesthetic and modern look", said Anton Kulbachevsky, Head of the Moscow Department of Environmental Management and Protection.

The conference also included speeches by foreign experts, including Bishop Ngobeli, President of the Institute of Management of the Environment and Recreation of South Africa (Johannesburg, South Africa); Izascún Martí and Gabino Carballo, representatives of the Barcelona City Hall, heads of the Barcelona Parks and Gardens Maintenance Management (Spain); Mark Bovater, Director of the Parks, Sports, and Recreation Service (Auckland, New Zealand); Felix Lo, Director of Gardens by the Bay (Singapore); Scott Stewart, CEO of Millenium Park Foundation (Chicago, USA). "This Parks Association exhibition is a big step toward making Russia's public spaces even more attractive to visitors. The world around us, the nature and architecture form taste and outlook of each of us, so our common task is to improve this part of life," said Dmitry Shvidkovsky, academician, professor, President of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, Rector of the Moscow Institute of Architecture, a member of the Board of Guardians of the Russian Association of Parks. The exhibition showcased state-of-the-art achievements in the management of urban spaces, creating centers of gravity, general improvement and landscaping, cleaning and lighting of areas, planning of sports facilities and playgrounds for children. The business program was attended by heads of municipal governments, representatives of relevant ministries and departments, directors of parks, architects, urbanists.

"The project was held for the first time after numerous postponements due to the pandemic and, despite all the challenges in organizing it, confirmed its status as the country's premier park exhibition. There were 62 booths of parks, industry institutions, and manufacturing companies from all over Russia, which is an excellent indicator for the first exhibition. But first and foremost, the exhibitors appreciated the quality of their target B2G audience and have already received several orders at the event," said Denis Tsukanov, Director of the Russian Association of Parks, member of the federal autonomous organization supervisory board of the Project Directorate of the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of Russia, and General Director of ParkSeason Expo.

The next ParkSeason Expo exhibition and conference will be held on April 6-7, 2022 at the Expocentre in Moscow. Applications for participation with a booth are accepted at expo@urbanparks.ru.