AVF brings indoor farming forum to Europe’s largest conference on sustainable cities  

After successful annual conferences in Beijing, Amsterdam and Washington, D.C., the AVF is excited to host the 2019 edition at Oslo’s Urban Future Global Conference on May 22-23. The AVF and Urban Future look forward to welcoming entrepreneurs, companies, technologists, growers, city planners, research institutions, governmental bodies and enthusiasts from all over the globe to Oslo, the 2019 European Green Capital.

Adding to Urban Future’s already extensive audience, the AVF will host a gathering of over 200 experts to discuss developments and propose solutions for the future of indoor and vertical farming. The AVF will facilitate keynote speeches, roundtable discussions and workshops over two half-day time slots. This conference-within-a-conference will touch on all of Urban Future’s main thematic areas but will be the only forum to specifically focus on food production.

Entitled “Unlocking the Potential of Indoor Farming in Cities of the Future,” this conference will give citizens and stakeholders alike unparalleled access to the most pressing topics in the indoor farming industry.

Keynote speakers include:

• Dr. Joel Cuello, Professor of Biosystems Engineering and Director of the Global Initiative for Strategic Agriculture in Dry Lands (GISAD) at The University of Arizona.

• Dr. Leo Marcelis, PhD., Head of Chair Group Horticulture and Product Physiology, Wageningen University

• Josef Schmidhuber, Deputy Director, Trade and Markets Division, FAO

• Gertjan Meeuws, Co-Founder, Seven Steps to Heaven

More speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Workshop Sessions

Establishing High-Tech Urban Food Systems in Cities of the Future

How can cities keep pace with the rapidly-evolving value chain

The next decade will bring rapid change in the technologies and techniques used to grow food in cities. How can businesses and entrepreneurs keep pace with this level of innovation? Join us in guided workshops to learn how to manage this influx of new technologies and apply them successfully to drive down costs, integrate renewable energy, and improve citizens’ access to healthy, sustainably-produced food.

Topics: 

A.    Can Blockchain technology advance the vertical farming industry? Moderator: Bernhard Hecker

B.    Potential of renewable energy sources in the industry and energy efficiency in indoor farms. Moderator: Ramin Ebrahimnejad 

C.   Indoor/Vertical Farming Designs and Strategies. Moderator: Joel Cuello

 Roundtable Discussion

The Science of Food Production in the City

Food and future cities -- growing food where the people live: what, why and how

Moderated panel discussion with public Q&A session.

 Food production meets all of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals; accordingly, it also touches on all of Urban Future’s thematic areas. Why then is food production so often left out of city planning? This roundtable discussion will cover the importance of placing food at the centre of city planning, and the best ways to go about doing so. Hear unique industry perspectives on what is working and what needs to change, and then take the opportunity to ask questions in a 20-minute public Q&A session.

Event info and tickets are available here: https://pretix.eu/associationverticalfarming/urban-future-2019/

Student tickets are available at a reduced price of €220. Please contact kb@vertical-farming.net for a voucher code.

Please send any questions or special requests to info@vertical-farming.net