Does preserving Amst elpark’s heritage support or hinder efforts to give all life a voic e and work towards multispecies justice? And could a broader understa nding of immaterial and living heritage and that moves beyond the div isions between culture and nature offer new ways of bringing heritage and the Zoöp together? Join us on the October 8th to explore these questions and celebrate one year of Zoöp Amstelpark.
On O ctober 2025, Amstelpark became the first public Zoöp, a governance m odel that seeks to actively represent the interests of all living bei ngs in decision-making. You can learn more about Zoöp here.
< p>Amstelpark was originally designed for the international horticultu ral exhibition Floriade 1972. Much of the original structure of the e xhibition remains in place, and in 2022 the park was granted monument al status.The transition from horticultural exhibition site an d monument to public Zoöp raises questions about how heritage and ec ological transformation can coexist. Now, one year after, this specia l symposium will explore what it means for Amstelpark to be both a he ritage site and a Zoöp, and whether these two designations can offer new perspectives on the ecological challenges of our time. Duri ng the symposium, speakers will consider what it means when a heritag e site becomes a Zoöp (or when a Zoöp is also a heritage site).
The symposium, Living Heritage in and beyond Amstelpark, is organised by Zone2Source in collaboration with the Environ mental Humanities Center Amsterdam and UvA Critical Heritage Ecologie s. We will be there representing VU Amsterdam as a knowledge partner of Zoöp Amstelpark, alongside Yuverta MBO.
Does the desire to preserve the park's heritage support or hinder efforts to give all li fe a voice and work towards multispecies justice? And could a broader understanding of heritage — one that includes immaterial and livin g heritage and sees heritage as a process of collective meaning-makin g beyond divisions between culture and nature — offer new ways of b ringing these two designations together?
The central question o f the symposium is whether the heritage of Amstelpark, as the former location of the 1972 Floriade, can become a learning ground f or the ecological issues of our time.
The symposium br ings together researchers, landscape professionals, artists and parti cipants in the Zoöp Amstelpark to reflect on the relationship betwee n heritage, ecological change and multispecies perspectives.
Sp eakers include Imke van Hellemondt, Joost Em merik, Elyze Storms-Smeets, Janna o ud Ammerveld, Theun Karelse and Ann e Jesuina de Andrade. The symposium is moderated by Marilena Mela of the Environmental Humanities Center at VU a nd Colin Sterling, whose work focuses on critical he ritage ecologies at the University of Amsterdam.
For more infor mation and the full symposium details, visit the En vironmental Humanities Center Amsterdam.
DESCRIPTION: Does preserving Amstelpark’s heritage support or hinder efforts to give all life a voice and work towards multispecies justi ce? And could a broader understanding of immaterial and living herita ge and that moves beyond the divisions between culture and nature off er new ways of bringing heritage and the Zoöp together? Join us on t he October 8th to explore these questions and celebrate one year of Z oöp Amstelpark. On October 2025, Amstelpark became the first public Zoöp, a governance model that seeks to actively represent the intere sts of all living beings in decision-making. You can learn more about Zoöp here.Amstelpark was originally designed for the internatio nal horticultural exhibition Floriade 1972. Much of the original stru cture of the exhibition remains in place, and in 2022 the park was gr anted monumental status.The transition from horticultural exhibition site and monument to public Zoöp raises questions about how heritage and ecological transformation can coexist. Now, one year after, this special symposium will explore what it means for Amstelpark to be bo th a heritage site and a Zoöp, and whether these two designations ca n offer new perspectives on the ecological challenges of our time.&nb sp;During the symposium, speakers will consider what it means when a heritage site becomes a Zoöp (or when a Zoöp is also a heritage sit e).The symposium, Living Heritage in and beyond Amstelpark, is organised by Zone2Source in collaboration with the Environ mental Humanities Center Amsterdam and UvA Critical Heritage Ecologie s. We will be there representing VU Amsterdam as a knowledge partner of Zoöp Amstelpark, alongside Yuverta MBO.Does the desire to preserv e the park's heritage support or hinder efforts to give all life a vo ice and work towards multispecies justice? And could a broader unders tanding of heritage — one that includes immaterial and living herit age and sees heritage as a process of collective meaning-making beyon d divisions between culture and nature — offer new ways of bringing these two designations together?The central question of the symposiu m is whether the heritage of Amstelpark, as the former location of th e 1972 Floriade, can become a learning ground for the ecologi cal issues of our time.The symposium brings together researc hers, landscape professionals, artists and participants in the Zoöp Amstelpark to reflect on the relationship between heritage, ecologica l change and multispecies perspectives.Speakers include Imke van Hellemondt, Joost Emmerik, Elyz e Storms-Smeets, Janna oud Ammerveld,