On April 6th, 2019 over 3,500 passionate adventurers, nature lovers, gardeners, green folks and families joined the GROWing movement at the Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo.
Thousands of passionate adventurers, nature lovers, gardeners, green folks, families, organizations, business, and experts gathered on Saturday, April 7th at the Western Fair District Agriplex to grow a greener, healthier Ontario.
In 2018-2019 we developed a collaboration with The London Environmental Network to organize and execute the 2019 Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo to ensure an amazing event for Londoners. In 2019, the Expo engaged 3,000 Londoners through environmental exhibitors, sponsors, workshops and activities. This collaboration was a huge success and we are continuing to develop this partnership to host 2020's Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo together as well.
Sustainable Model
From 2015-2018, we worked on an Expo sustainability plan and after 4 years, we achieved sustainability and ran our first Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo without major grant funding!
Celebrating 5 Years of Go Wild Grow Wild and 500 + Partners
- 242 Exhibitors
- 75 Sponsors
- 190 Volunteers
- 72 Workshop Presenters
Speakers, workshops, and wildlife shows, oh my!
All day the Expo featured workshops and presentations designed to share and inspire attendees about exploring, adventuring, gardening, and wildlife shows.
The Expo had over 20 different workshop time slots ranging from learning about native plants for function & beauty to attracting pollinators, to urban ecology gardening, to connecting indigenous culture through paddling, to urban beavers, to wildlife shows and more!
In 2019, the Expo featured:
- Forest Therapy demo garden!
- 21 workshops slots with 13 different workshops
- 111 environmental exhibitors
- 28 sponsors
- Over 70 volunteers!
Climate-Smart Yards Display with support from RBC Foundation - Owen Williams
Focus on Building Climate-Smart Yards
Thanks to support from the RBC Foundation, we were able to create a traveling Climate-Smart display and Climate-Smart Yard Passport that was debuted at Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo 2019!
This display and passport will help inspire better backyard decisions across the Carolinian Zone and support our In The Zone Gardens project.
The Wild Guide
Our online resource and blog, the Wild Guide continues to offer our network tips, tricks, and guidance from experts and Green Champions from across the region!
Taking the message beyond the Expo, the Wild Guide provides year-round connection to our audience of adventurers, families, gardeners, nature lovers, and green people.
Media Coverage
In 2019, Go Wild Grow Wild was featured and promoted on CTV news, Bell media, Rogers Live TV, Globalnews.ca, 980 CFPL FM interview, XFM news!
In addition, we marketed through Facebook, Radio advertisements, Roadside Billboards, London Hydro Flyer and more. Our exposure is year-round, with media saturation reaching its peak 1-2 weeks prior to the event.
Volunteers
The Expo would not have happened without our amazing community support!
Go Wild Grow Wild was able to offer a quality Expo in part due to the incredible support of 80+ volunteers signed up! We cannot thank our volunteers enough!
Community Task Force - The Engine Behind the Expo!
For the 2nd year in a row, we leaned on our task force full of community members and industry experts. This extremely dedicated group of individuals represented many sectors across the London community.
Many thanks to the incredible dedication of these individuals!
Task Force Member | |
|---|---|
| Owen Williams | Ontario Invasive Plant Council |
| Beeca Cambridge | Western University Student |
| Carol Dyck | Environmental Consultant |
| Veronica Sferrazza | Retired teacher, CCHS |
| Sheila Simpson | Independent Community Consultant |
| Greg Sandle | City of London |
| Susan Ratz | London Environmental Network |
| Skylar Franke | London Environmental Network |
| Kathryn McLeod | Carolinian Canada |
Sponsor Support
Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo would not be possible without the generosity and support from our many partners. This support allowed us to create a movement of community members coming together to green the future, together.
Exhibitors
We couldn't do it without our amazing exhibitors! This year we had a full house with 111 environmentally focused exhibitors!