Overview
Inspiring, rejuvenating, radically different and free to experience
"LUGA – Luxembourg Urban Garden" is being organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development (Ministère de l'Agricul ture, de la Viticulture et du Développement rural) and the City of Luxembourg, in close collaboration with the Fédération Horticole Luxembourgeoise.
Rendering the invisible visible is the common thread across the exhibition for introducing and exploring LUGA's 15 main themes and areas of interest: the environment, agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, food, biodiversity, heritage, the arts, culture, well-being, sustainable development, the circular economy, social inclusion, technological innovation and tourism.
LUGA 2025
From May to October 2025, LUGA – Luxembourg Urban Garden will be inviting the public to an open-air exhibition for an extraordinary journey from the invisible to the visible. Among other components, the LUGA exhibition – which will be running for six months across five sites – will feature landscape creations, art exhibitions, temporary structures and cutting-edge agricultural techniques that show visitors things they've never seen before.
"Sow in 2023 – Harvest in 2025"
The Minister and the mayor believe that "THE LUGA EXPERIENCE: Sow in 2023 – Harvest in 2025” (L'EXPERIENCE LUGA: semer en 2023 – récolter en 2025), coming on the heels of the completion of the first phase of the Pétrusse Valley restoration project, will be the perfect springboard for the horticultural exhibition in 2025. Actions undertaken so far include a public consultation on the first set of development projects – most notably the horticultural development projects, the launch of a website to facilitate dialogue between players in the "green" sector, and the programming of events in the lead-up to the exhibition.
Owing to the scope of the projects and their financial implications, and economic factors such as the increase in prices, substantial budgetary allocations are required. As such, the Luxembourg government and the City of Luxembourg have reviewed the budget, and as the initial allocation of €10 million – which was based on cost estimates determined through a feasibility study carried out in 2015 – no longer reflects today's realities, they have decided to increase the amount allocated to LUGA 2023 to €22 million.
First events of the pre-exhibition programme, "Sow in 2023 – Harvest in 2025"
The "Sow in 2023 – Harvest in 2025" event series will kick off in June 2023 to start the countdown to the LUGA exhibition.
"Sow in 2023 – Harvest in 2025" is a series of one-time events and ongoing initiatives that publicise LUGA's message and values in the run-up to the main exhibition. The programme of events was drawn up in close collaboration with LUGA's partners.
4 June 2023: Piano concerts in the Amélie rose garden
Partners: the Luxembourg City Conservatoire and the City's "My Urban Piano" initiative, the non-profits Lëtzebuerger Rousefrënn and Patrimoine roses pour le Luxembourg, and the City of Luxembourg's Service Parcs (Parks Department).
Pétrusse Valley
Ecological revitalisation of the Pétrusse Valley
The Pétrusse Valley, a recurring fixture in panoramic images of Luxembourg City, dominates the capital's picturesque landscape.
The main aim of this project is to revitalise the valley's deteriorated and modified ecosystems, and return them to a more natural state.
Pétrusse Valley: Inspiration and creation
The five LUGA sites are designed in line with the natural spaces, target audiences and exhibition themes. This means that visitors can create their own LUGA experiences by following one or more routes.
International calls for projects open to the entire world for ground-breaking, sustainable approaches
The creation of urban gardens and temporary landscape installations will be the subject of international calls for projects to design 20 landscape and/or artistic creations at different LUGA sites located in the Alzette and Pétrusse Valleys.
- The first call for projects is for the design of 10 innovative international gardens located along the Alzette Valley.
- The second call for projects is directed at start-ups to encourage and promote up-and-coming creators. Landscape architects, young gardeners, designers and artists who are currently studying or have been working professionally for less than three years are invited to design 10 gardens located in the Pétrusse Valley – a site that is currently being restored –, taking a scientific approach to addressing the ecological challenges.
Starting in September 2023, subsequent press releases and official publications will publicise other national and international calls for projects for the LUGA exhibition.
Background
The exhibition has aroused great interest nationwide and its focus on "green" themes has resonated strongly with the public, proving that the organisers made the right choice in mounting an exhibition in the spirit of partnership with the support of a host of players from the Grand Duchy.
Since its official launch in 2019, the association LUGA 2023 has received a multitude of project ideas in anticipation of the horticultural exhibition "LUGA 2023 – Luxembourg Urban Garden”, which had initially been scheduled to take place in Luxembourg City from May to October 2023.
However, the vagaries of the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the shortage of raw materials and labour, together with the ongoing economic uncertainty, have significantly delayed the organisers' plans.
In the interest of putting on an exhibition that would showcase the Grand Duchy and the Greater Region in their best light, while at the same time opening a green window to the capital and the country as a whole, Romain Schneider, Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development, and Luxembourg City mayor Lydie Polfer announced that "LUGA 2023 – Luxembourg Urban Garden" would be postponed for two years.
While the organisers have made significant progress in planning the event, drawing on hundreds of ideas collected through a participatory process launched in November 2019 involving players in the agricultural, ecological, cultural and tourism sectors, they decided it would be best to postpone the exhibition to ensure that it will be a resounding success in 2025. Implementing the themes covered at the LUGA exhibition, which are of crucial importance for our plural societies, demands careful preparation and appropriate budgetary support, especially since the preliminary work undertaken so far has already created a spirited dynamic among the partners involved.
