A Case for Bamboo – Convincing the Sceptics
- What if the answer to a more sustainable future for Birmingham and the UK is already growing in our gardens?
- How do we transform bamboo from a botanical wonder to a mainstream UK material?
- How is bamboo good for Birmingham and other UK cities?
We are delighted to announce the UK Bamboo Summit 2026 programme.
This is our working draft and will be updated, please re-check before arrival.
Full Programme
10:00: A Tour of Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ bamboo collection – limited spaces available.
10:30: Welcome to Birmingham
Sara Blair-Manning, Birmingham Botanical Gardens; Harris Beider, The Forward Institute Birmingham; Orit Azaz, Imagine Bamboo & Bamboo in the UK group
10:40: Setting the Scene
Bamboo in the UK Group: Chris Matthews, Atelier One; Gemma Thomas, Brilliant Bamboo
10:50: Who is in the Room?
11:00: Inspirational International Case Studies include:
Innovation in engineered bamboo – Richard Lin, Bamboo International (Group) Ltd, Hong Kong
Convincing Policy Makers – Jennnifer Snyders, House of Bamboo & Australian Bamboo Society.
World Bamboo Science – an AI Platform – Manish Godkhindi, World Bamboo Organisation
Sustainable Growing of Bamboo at Scale – Sundar Bharadwaj, Terragrn
12:00: Break
12:20: How can Bamboo be good for Birmingham and other UK cities?
Neil Thomas, Atelier One responds with A Case for Building with Bamboo at Scale in the UK followed by a panel discussion moderated by Harris Beider, The Forward Institute; and including Sara Blair Manning, Birmingham Botanical Gardens; and more to be announced.
13:20: Lunch
14:20: Special Announcements
14:40: Working groups will drive forward bamboo development including:
Mainstreaming & scaling up engineered bamboo in construction & design with Harris Beider, The Forward Institute; Neil Thomas & Chris Matthews, Atelier One; Colin Knight, Coventry City Council
The Benefits of Bamboo Growing – Helen Chen, UK Bamboo Society; Fran Clifton, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and the Gardens Team at Birmingham Botanical Gardens
What is the role of UK academia to drive forwards a road map for bamboo development? Towards an Academic Bamboo Research Conference – Dr. David Trujillo
World Bamboo Congress 2027 – Planning
The role that bamboo can play in sustainability & biodiversity policies – with Kavita Purohit
How artists and the arts can help drive public engagement and enhanced understanding – Ivan Thorley, Puppets With Guts; Orit Azaz, Imagine Bamboo
15:50: Break
16:10: Working Groups report back on actions; pledges from delegates and reflection
17:00: End
Plus a visit to the spectacular botanical gardens and gets hands on with public programme Bam-BOO! co-produced with Outdoor Places and Unusual Spaces (OPUS) and Brilliant Bamboo for the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.