Organised by the Beth Chatto Education Trust, Rewilding the Mind – The Beth Chatto Symposium 2022 is taking place at The Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall, University of Essex’ Colchester Campus, from September 1-2, 2022. It offers a mix of lectures, discussion panels and an opportunity to meet other professionals. Accommodation is also available at the university halls at an affordable price.

The latest guests to join the list of high-profile speakers and/or panellists at the Symposium are Richard Scott – director of the National Wildflower Centre at the Eden Project, Poppy Okotcha – trained horticulturalist and regenerative grower, and Sid Hill of Sid Hill Ecological Gardens.

Also speaking at the Symposium, which is hosted by garden designer and television presenter Arit Anderson, are the esteemed: Errol Reuben Fernandes, Sarah Price, Professor Dave Goulson, Professor Alastair Driver, Dan Pearson OBE, Fergus Garrett, Tom Stuart-Smith, Giacamo Guzzon, Dr Sue Stuart-Smith, Dr Mike Edwards, Dr Gemma Jerome, John Little, Dr Wei Yang, Jo Mckerr and Ton Muller.

Furthermore, landscape designer Adam Hunt, of Urquhart & Hunt, is now a panellist at this two-day event. Urquhart & Hunt’s A Rewilding Britain Landscape, which used native plants to showcase a rewilded landscape after the reintroduction of beavers in southwest England, won the coveted Best in Show prize at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

As rewilding continues to gain greater recognition as a way of reversing our planet’s alarming biodiversity loss, the Symposium will:

• examine the ethos of how rewilding interfaces with horticulture in urban and rural settings
• explore new ideas in architecture, landscape design and horticulture that could offer the environmental benefits of rewilding in the built environment – and how this may be achieved
• delve into the detail of ecological restoration, biodiversity net gain, afforestation, and sustainable design
• discuss the reconnective and educational value of therapeutic projects.

Landscape designers, gardeners, and other professionals such as ecologists, garden designers, growers, landscapers, architects, developers, and planners, are encouraged to attend the Symposium, which follows the successful inaugural Symposium held in 2018.

All proceeds from the event will go to The Beth Chatto Education Trust. Set up by the late Beth Chatto OBE (1923-2018) in 2015 (when she was 91), the charity offers a wide range of horticulture education opportunities to people of all ages.

Beth began transforming an overgrown wasteland in Elmstead Market near Colchester, Essex (UK), in 1960. Then, she applied her pioneering “right plant right place” principle to create the Grade II-listed Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens. This trailblazing approach saw Beth use plants adapted by nature to thrive in different conditions to create a biodiverse haven for wildlife.

Symposium attendees will be able to draw inspiration from Beth Chatto’s sustainable planting designs because each ticket includes access to an exclusive Evening Garden Party held at the world-famous Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens on the Thursday evening.

To purchase your Symposium tickets, or for more information, visit

https://www.bethchatto.co.uk/the-beth-chatto-symposium-2022/tickets.htm