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25 Jul 2017
Eden Project launches international company to open parks around the world
BY
Kim Megson
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A planned Eden Project in Ya'n'an will explore the theme of land and soil and its importance for life on earth
photo: Eden Project
Cornwall’s iconic Eden Project is set to be replicated in China, Australia and New Zealand, with further developments being planned in the Middle East, North America and the UK. The British attraction has launched a new company to drive the establishment of Eden botanical parks around the world.
Eden Project International Ltd (EPIL) is the new entity, formed to partner with like-minded organisations and conservation groups across the globe and establish new parks that “deliver social and ecological benefits during a time of global environmental decline and social disruption.”
The company has linked up with design firm Grimshaw Architects, creators of the original Eden Project, which opened in a disused china clay quarry in Cornwall in 2001. It features two vast biomes, housing plants collected from Mediterranean and rainforest climates.
Three projects will be developed in China and others in Australia and New Zealand, some of which have been previously announced. Other overseas projects, including some in the Middle East and North America, are due to be revealed in the coming months, and EPIL also has plans to build more attractions in the UK.
In a statement, it revealed that each will have a focus “on the big global challenges as defined by their specific localities, such as soil, water, food and biodiversity.”
“Eden’s mission is to explore our dependence on the natural world, to use that understanding to excite people into delivering transformation where they live and to ask really serious questions about what a great future might look like for all of us,” said Sir Tim Smit, the co-founder of the Eden Project and the executive chair of the new company.
“We want the new Edens to act as a heartbeat for those who feel the same way as we do and to develop in all of them the ability to tell the stories that inspire the people who are their constituency.
“We need to green the desert of our mind, we need to fertilise our imagination and we need to believe that the future remains ours to make.”
Grimshaw Partner Jolyon Brewis added: “Grimshaw's relationship with Eden Project spans over 20 years and we’re proud to help bring Eden's ethos to new audiences through unique architecture, landscapes and immersive content; all delivered with characteristic joy.”
Eden Project executive director David Harland has taken up the role of CEO of EPIL.
In its first 16 years, the Eden Project attracted more than 19 million visitors and generated £1.7bn for the regional economy. In 2016/17, accounts showed a cash surplus from trading of more than £1.6m.
During 2016, four per cent more people than the previous year visited and, for the first time since 2011, Eden welcomed more than one million visitors in a 12-month period.
To cater for the growing demand, the attraction will soon add a 109-bedroom on-site hotel designed by architectural studio Tate Harmer.
Details of the international Eden Projects in the pipeline are outlined by EPIL below.
China:
• Eden Qingdao will explore the theme of water and its importance for life on earth.
The project is still on the drawing board, with construction due to begin later this year.
As with similar projects it will link with other Eden Project centres around the world, sharing content and programmes. This will be an Eden Project for China but with a global relevancy.
• The second major project in China is in the historic city of Yan’an, famed for being the end of Chairman Mao’s Long March and north of the Xian, home of the terracotta warriors.
This project will explore the theme of land and soil and its importance for life on earth. The project will showcase ecological restoration as a vital tool for the future and restore a degraded site just outside the city into a fertile valley full of flowers, agriculture, craft and education.
A feasibility report is complete and Eden Project International is now ready to present its plans.
Like Eden Qingdao, It will link with other Edens around the world, sharing content and programmes.
• The third Eden project in China is based at Sheng Lu Vineyard in Beijing. The aim is to create a place to reconnect with nature. Education and training programmes will run from here, offering the chance for children and adults to play in natural environment.
Eden has been asked to provide support in turning the vineyard into a profitable and educational visitor attraction as well as supporting education and offering horticultural and landscaping advice.
Australia:
• Macquarie Point Development Corporation (MPDC) of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, approached Eden as the corporation is looking to regenerate an environmentally-damaged piece of land (15 hectares) around the port area. MPDC contacted Eden as they were seeking a flagship/anchor for the mixed-use development.
Hobart itself is a rapidly developing city with an alternative side which has been brought to the fore by the Museum of Old & New Art (MONA).
This project fits with Eden’s ethos as it will transform a polluted, discarded site, as well as ensuring the Eden message can reach a new audience.
New Zealand:
• In Christchurch, Eden is working with a local trust to develop plans for a social enterprise and attraction in an area of the earthquake-damaged Red Zone. Here Eden will explore stories of nature and culture and will include restoration of native ecology along the iconic River Avon shoreline. There will be benefits for the community and tourism with the aim of boosting visitors to the city again.
The project is currently in the early stages of concept development.
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