Dr Wei Yang delivers speech at Beth Chatto Symposium 2022 - Rewilding the Mind

Dr Wei Yang delivered lecture at the Beth Chatto Symposium 2022 today. The Symposium is organised by Beth Chatto Education Trust which is named after Beth Chatto – a legend in garden-planting. Her principle of placing the right plant in the right place drew on her husband Andrew Chatto's lifelong research into garden-plant origins.

The Symposium - ‘Rewilding the Mind’ explores ideas such as sonic rewilding and examine the ethos of rewilding / nature beneficial horticulture, in urban and rural settings, delving into the detail of ecological restoration, biodiversity net gain, afforestation, sustainable design and the reconnective and educational value of therapeutic projects.

Wei was invited to deliver a lecture titled Living in Harmony with Nature. Wei’s talk discussed the importance of mindset change, jointed up thinking, and multidisciplinary collaboration to tackle the grand challenges of our times. Wei introduced the concept of 21st Century Garden City model which captures the essence of the original Garden City ideas, but adapts them to a more complex, 21st century context, promoting sustainability, tackling climate change and utilising smart technologies. The talk also explored how to modernise the planning profession by forging a common sense of purpose with the wider society thus to create a balanced system for people, nature and society to co-exist in harmony.

The Ambitions of the Beth Chatto Symposium 2022 are:

• To open up the conversation around rewilding and nature-led horticulture and what this can mean.
• To consider the human relationship with the environment and how traditional horticulture interfaces with the goals of rewilding and the many opportunities this can create.
• To consider how nature is encouraged, understood and cared for.

Ultimately...

To generate a greater ‘common’ understanding of the benefits of ecological and sustainable use of plants and inspired design practice.