News
My first 8 months as Chair of GRO
GRO News
My first 8 months as Chair of the Green Roof Organisation has been a busy period of in-person events, meetings and the GRO National Conference, this year held in the Biophilic City of Swansea.
Meanwhile, GRO prepares to launch a Maintenance Guide to add to our suite of publications. This is led by Mike Cottage, Board member and recent recipient of a GRO Long Service Award to recognise almost 40 years in the industry.
Another recipient of the GRO Long Service Award was Tony Holland, green roof installer at Sky Garden, who has dedicated over 20 years of service to the industry.
Our thanks and congratulations to both Mike and Tony for their continued contributions to roof greening. We also remember key industry figures that have sadly passed away in recent months, Professor Nigel Dunnett and Henk den Ouden, who will be missed.
As our membership numbers continue to rise, now over 100, we warmly welcome our newly joining members, but are focused on continuing to deliver for all of our members. Members feedback from the Conference tells us you care about policy, advocacy, awareness, engagement, training and competency. We will look for ways to deliver on this.
Our new website has now launched, this was led by immediate past Chair, Giles Doland, Managing Director of Diadem Green Cities. This is a fresh and vibrant new platform, where members can have free or enhanced profiles for a small additional cost.
We have also launched the GRO Travel Bursary, a new scheme designed to assist with financing international study trips and knowledge sharing.
Events
In May, I thoroughly enjoyed attending the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) Awards event and have since met with the NFRC CEO, James Talman to discuss opportunities to work together as a Federation. Our main focus will be competency and roof finishes.
The GRO National Conference in June was fun, interactive and kept attendees on their toes! We took part in seated exercise, Welsh language and singing lessons, green roof discussions, roof tours, and even sea swimming for those brave enough. How will we top this next year!?
I also attended the World Congress on Greening Buildings in Berlin in June, accompanied Dusty Gedge, and spoke about retrofitting opportunities on existing buildings and the importance of greening our current infrastructure, of which 80% that exists now will still remain in 50 years’ time.
The Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh was the next stop, where GRO had a training information stand in the Lantra Scotland pavilion to encourage new learners and promote green roofs in the Highlands and Islands. A wee bit of rain over the four days didn’t dampen the enthusiasm or attendance numbers.
The London Rooftop Tour in August was a great afternoon and evening of networking and roof hopping, an event designed with Fiona Brydon of Where’s The Rooftop and supported by the LRWA.
In September, we assembled our ‘GRO, GRO, GRO Your Boat’ team for the LRWA Dragon boat race, for which we won the award for the best dressed team. We also held a successful a panel talk at UK Construction Week in Birmingham, made up of Keith Hills of Eco Green Group, Maggie Fennell Wells of TEP and Luke Rootham of Axter.
This October, we held a members’ networking tour at Origin Green-Tech in Yorkshire. We got to meet their team, explore their site, and find out more about the business, its products and the work that goes into supporting landscaping and green infrastructure projects.
Looking to 2027
Next year, we travel back to Swansea for the Welsh Urban Green Infrastructure Conference in February, later heading north to Liverpool on 16th March for the GRO AGM and Conference 2027. Here we will be hosting workshops to update the GRO Code of Good Practice, so come along to be part of it.
So to conclude my 8-month roundup, I would like to thank the GRO operations team, the Board and all of our members and supporters, I’m proud of what we have achieved and excited about what the future holds for GRO.
Chris Bridgman
Chair of the Board