As part of the Birkenhead Park’s 175th anniversary, the park is hosting an international conference on The Genesis of the Green Infrastructure, focusing on the international diffusion of new concepts and design principles in the period between the early nineteenth century and the outbreak of the First World War.

Despite recent research, little is known about how new concepts and design principles for public parks, now regarded as key heritage and public health assets, were disseminated in the nineteenth century, or how the green infrastructure was developed from a planning and aesthetic perspective. We have been able to bring together a very strong team, drawn from the USA, continental Europe and the UK:

Dr. Kristof Fatsar (Kingston University London), Professor Daniel Nadenicek (University of Georgia), Dr. Jan Woudstra (University of Sheffield), Ass. Professor Theo Eisenman (University of Massachusetts-Amherst), Assoc. Professor Heidi Hohmann (Iowa State University), Professor Paul Elliot (University of Derby), Professor Sonja Dümpelmann (University of Pennsylvania), Dr. Ursula Benedetti (CIVA Foundation, Brussels), Professor Robert Lee (University of Liverpool), Professor John Crompton (Texas A&M University), Professor David Bawden (City University, London), Paul Rabbitts (Chairman of the parks management association, Southend-on-Sea), Elizabeth Davey (Wirral).

During this conference, four key themes are discussed:

Ideas and visions (27/04/2022)
Transmission processes and adaptation (25/05/2022)
Lessons from abroad (29/06/2022)
Replication mechanisms (28/09/2022)

The four sessions are delivered online, although the symposium will end with a face-to-face meeting mid-November at Birkenhead Town Hall, UK.

On the 28th of September, join us for the fourth session:

Duration: One hour 15 minutes

Subject: Replication mechanisms

Speakers:

Professor David Bawden (City University, London), ‘Transmitted as never before’: the nineteenth century communication revolution and the development of public parks and the green infrastructure’.

Paul Rabbitts (Chairman of the parks management association, Southend-on-Sea), ‘Maximising the impact of parks: the diffusion of park bandstands in the second half of the nineteenth century’.

Elizabeth Davey (Wirral), ‘In the footsteps of a pioneering neighbour: Parks, Promenades and Pleasure Grounds – The green infrastructure of Wallasey, 1845-1914’.

Registration: marieledevehat@wirral.gov.uk