It’s a wrap!

The 6th Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) Summit on the theme ‘Unifying New Food Systems’ – held together with VertiFarm, the first ever International Trade Fair for Next Level Farming and New Food Systems – was successfully held on September 27-29th, 2022 at the Dortmund Exhibition Center in Germany.

The essential stakeholders of the Vertical Farming Industry gathered once again at this time of extraordinary global disruptions. Diverse industry, scientific and government experts and participants from five continents huddled for three days to discuss regional trends, technology innovations, business and financing strategies, and the road ahead for Vertical Farming. 

Consistent with this year’s theme, the topics covered ranged from alternative proteins to new vertical farm initiatives in China and Saudi Arabia; a holistic method to scale up Vertical Farms; the emerging and imperative role of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in the inclusive global spread of Vertical Farming; advances in lighting, automation and data-driven growing strategies; a regenerative food vision for cities; a new Vertical Farming model for growing food on the Moon and Mars as well as the Antarctic Eden ISS project; AI applications in Vertical Farming; cultivation of medicinal plants in Vertical Farms; microalgae photobioreactor production in controlled environment; new financing instruments for Vertical Farming; best seeds and plant breeding for Vertical Farming; crafting favorable policies and guidelines; and more.

The summit also featured a new project opportunity to build a consortium to refurbish an old industrial area in the heart of Cologne in Germany and transform it into an integrative growing space for Vertical Farms and alternative proteins. This will include education, retail, and many more for future urban production.

AVF also highlighted at the Summit two of its own prime initiatives – the AVF-Control Union Sustainable Indoor Farming (SIF) Certification and the establishment of the new AVF Canada Chapter.

AVF’s diverse and timely Summit program in conjunction with VertiFarm’s global trade fair that was exclusively devoted to Indoor Farming and the New Food Systems created an enlarged and inclusive platform for synergistic communication and cross-fertilization of ideas and strategies among growers, operators, suppliers, manufacturers, investors, researchers, policymakers, academics, students, and other vital industry stakeholders.

AVF and VertiFarm certainly look forward to the next exciting — and even better and larger — edition of its partnership next year on 26-28 September 2023 in Dortmund. And everyone is invited!