Eden Project plants roots down under
The Eden Project has announced that it is launching a new company to drive the establishment of Edens around the world making Hobart one step closer to having its very own “bio-dome”.
Eden Project International Ltd (EPIL) has formed as part of the Eden Trust to partner with like-minded organisations to deliver social and ecological benefits during a time of global environmental decline and social disruption.
The new projects will focus on the big global challenges as defined by their specific localities (e.g. soil, water, food, biodiversity) and will work in collaboration with a wide variety of organisations, companies, communities, research and conservation groups.
A once-in-a-lifetime development opportunity, Macquarie Point is one of the last remaining vacant urban infill locations in any of Australia’s capital cities. In 2015 the Tasmanian government engaged MONA to create a vision for the 9.3-hectare-site, and in late 2016 they delivered an exciting proposal with vibrant public space at its core.
Macquarie Point Development Corporation (MPDC) later approached Eden as they were seeking an anchor for the mixed-use development.
In a statement to the press, The Eden Project commented that the “project fits with Eden’s ethos as it will transform a polluted, discarded site, as well as ensuring the Eden message can reach a new audience.”
Nestled in a crater in Cornwall, the original Eden Project project features bio-domes housing the largest rainforest in captivity, with stunning plants, exhibitions and stories that serve as a backdrop to striking contemporary gardens, summer concerts and exciting year-round family events. Similar elements will remain for the Tasmanian development.
Co-Founder of the Eden Project, Sir Tim Smit, who travelled to Hobart in July [2016] to discuss the project, has been appointed Executive Chairman of the newly-minted international company.
Sir Tim commented: “Eden’s mission is to explore our dependence on the natural world, to use that understanding to excite people into delivering transformation where they live and to ask really serious questions about what a great future might look like for all of us.
“We want the new Edens to act as a heartbeat for those who feel the same way as we do and to develop in all of them the ability to tell the stories that inspire the people who are their constituency.”
He added: “We need to green the desert of our mind, we need to fertilise our imagination and we need to believe that the future remains ours to make.”
The launch of the new company comes after four successive years of consistently healthy trading by the Eden Project, which first opened in a disused china clay quarry near St Austell in Cornwall in 2001.
In its first 16 years, Eden has attracted more than 19 million visitors and generated £1.7 billion for the regional economy.
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