James Bruce Memorial Lecture
“Designing with Life: A Horticultural Vision for Regenerative, Nature‑Based Futures” will be the theme explored by horticulturist Kevin Frediani as he delivers The Chartered Institute of Horticulture’s (CIH) James Bruce Memorial Lecture.
Kevin is a seasoned manager and strategic leader in the land use sector, with over 30 years of experience driving change across heritage, horticulture, and ecological stewardship. He currently serves as Operations Manager for the Angus Cluster of the National Trust for Scotland, where he oversees the care and interpretation of nationally significant properties and landscapes, fostering inclusive engagement and sustainable practice.
Previously, as Curator of the Botanic Garden and Head of Grounds at the University of Dundee, Kevin led multidisciplinary teams in conserving biodiversity, facilitating research, and sustainable land use. He is a Co-Investigator of the Horizon Europe / UKRI-funded initiative called Urban ReLeaf EU, that co-creates citizen-powered data ecosystems to support inclusive, climate-resilient urban planning and green infrastructure through collaboration between communities and public authorities.
Kevin’s lecture will draw on his considerable experience and empirical research, exploring how plants and horticulture can be embraced to improve our urban environments that face the intertwined crises of climate, biodiversity loss and social disconnection. Showing how botanic and heritage gardens can help address these challenges as living laboratories to generate place‐based evidence and public engagement.
The lecture will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 16th July, online via Zoom, following the Institute’s Annual General Meeting. Registration is free and open to all via the CIH website.
“We are delighted that Kevin will be giving this year's Bruce Memorial Lecture. His passion and enthusiasm for nature-based design solutions and experience implementing this approach into city-scale landscapes is hugely important in a changing climate. We welcome any solutions to design that focus on plants and nature from the outset, over the all-to-often seen value engineered abandonment of nature. Kevin is an internationally recognised expert in this field and a superb speaker advocating for green solutions. It is sure to be an interesting and informative talk.”
CIH Vice President Lewis Normand CHort MCIHort
James Bruce MBE (1908-1992) was a Fellow of the then Institute of Horticulture (IoH), having previously been a member of the Horticultural Education Association since 1934, the forerunner of the IoH. Bruce had a distinguished career as a horticultural adviser, advising country estates and prisoner of war camps on vegetable production through the Second World War. Bruce later became the Head of the Department of Horticulture at East of Scotland College, where he was responsible for greatly improving the teaching estate and resources. This lecture recognises the enduring influence of James Bruce on the sharing of horticultural knowledge.
In recent years the lecture has been delivered by: David Gwyther CBE, CEO Horticultural Trades Association; Dr Simon Thornton-Wood, Director of Science & Learning, RHS; Roy Lancaster OBE, VMH, FCIHort, FLS; Lord Taylor of Holbeach CBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary, Defra; Linda Lennon CBE, RHS Director of Horticulture and Head of Science; Richard Barley MBE CHort FCIHort Head of Horticulture, Kew Gardens; John Adlam CHort FCIHort, Dove Associates; Hayley Campbell-Gibbons, AHDB Horticulture Board Chair; Prof. Dave Goulson, University of Sussex; Matthew Appleby, Editor Horticulture Week, landscaping expert Alan Sargent FCIHort and Dr Chris Thorogood, Oxford University Botanic Garden.
