Deltaland 2025 Speakers

His specialty is landscaping projects in public spaces, ornamental vegetation in urban settings, and landscape restoration, fields in which he has been working since 1998. Albert Bestard holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and a Master of Landscape Design from Newcastle upon Tyne University. He is an associate professor of the Specialization Diploma in Urban Arboriculture at the University of Girona, an associate professor of the Landscape Architecture degree at the UPC, and an associate professor of MBLandarch. In his lecture, “Trees, Pavements, and Construction Solutions,” he will address a common problem faced by green infrastructure technicians: the difficulty of tree growth in paved areas. Albert will discuss the various techniques that have emerged in recent years to build cities in such a way that roots can make their way in without (too) compromising infrastructure and services.

As Director of Environment and Circular Economy and European Projects and Strategic Objectives at Cieza, a position he has held since 2017, Miguel Ángel Piñera has promoted a paradigm shift in green infrastructure management with the goal of transforming it into a biophilic city. In his presentation, he will address concepts such as the “placebo tree,” low-cost innovation, minimum viable product, strategic analysis, fundraising, continuous improvement, smart cities, and “having a soft touch.” With 35,000 inhabitants, the capital of the Vega Alta del Segura region is today a model of success, exportable to other cities of similar size in the country.

A quintessential gardener, Fergus Garrett runs one of the world’s most celebrated gardens, Great Dixter House & Gardens, in East Sussex, England, where he has been head gardener since 1992 and general manager of the trust that has kept the legacy of its founder, Christopher Lloyd, alive since 2006. At DeltaLand, he will explain the different planting and maintenance techniques he has been experimenting with recently, which allow him to efficiently manage the workload of such extensive and diverse gardens with a very small team (five gardeners, including himself) and maintain the innovative nature and experimental drive of his own gardening.

Landscape designer, nurseryman, and gardener, Caroline Bourdillon was born in Béziers, Occitanie, where her family owns a nursery. She trained at the Mediterranean School of Gardens and Landscaping in Grasse, and has designed, implemented, and overseen the maintenance and management of gardens in the south of France. From 2020 to 2024, she worked on the management of Château Capitoul, located in Narbonne, an arid garrigue area, a seven-hectare non-irrigated garden designed by James and Helen Basson, with whom she had previously collaborated. She will speak at DeltaLand about the technical challenges of Château Capitoul, plant selection,development, and the assessment of three years on the ground. In 2024, Caroline returned to her nursery career: today she manages BRL Espaces Naturels in Vestric-et-Candiac, Gard, a 40-hectare nursery where she oversees a team of 20

In his personal garden on the island of Sardinia, where he lives, Marco experiments with a palette of Sardinian, South African, and Australian plants within an approach he defines as “ecological planting,” based on plant communities that respond to local character and a sense of place. A garden designer and Mediterranean plant specialist, he works with the natural life cycle of these species, embracing summer dormancy to create gardens that look good in midsummer and blend seamlessly into the landscape. He has worked in California and frequently travels to South Africa to draw inspiration from both the natural context and low-water naturalist planting projects. His talk will focus on his experience maintaining two naturalist gardens he designed in Sardinia, to which he applies different maintenance and irrigation regimes.

The Swedish scientist, curator of the Gothenburg Botanic Gardens and honorary research associate of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, focuses his work on understanding the optimal woody plants for urban environments, both private gardens and public parks. His research paves the way for greater precision in the selection of the most suitable trees and shrubs for each location and function. Henrik Sjöman teaches as a postgraduate lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin and as an associate professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

He has written The Tree Selection Guide, now a leading publication on the subject. His presentation will focus on species selection criteria for public spaces, with particular emphasis on shrubs for dry urban areas in times of global warming, emphasizing their tolerance to drought and wind.

Eleftherios Dariotis, known online as Liberto Dario, is a Greek horticulturist and botanist who has been passionate about plants since childhood. Today, he runs two nurseries on the Greek mainland—one in Paianía, near Athens, where he grew up, and another under development in Crete—which together house a collection of more than 8,000 species. To this end, he has carried out intensive plant hunting: over the past 12 years, he has collected more than 5,000 taxa, which he tests in his non-irrigated experimental garden. Trained in horticulture in Greece, plant biology at the University of Davis, California, and with a Master’s degree in Horticulture from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, he has worked in municipal horticulture and landscaping and collaborates with several botanical institutions, for which he collects and researches rare and endangered plants.

Liberto will focus his presentation on the use of bulbs in Mediterranean gardening projects.

Mireia Fernández, an agricultural engineer, and Mireia Rubio, a biologist, both landscape architects, lead a studio with more than 25 years of experience in the creation and design of public and private spaces based on vegetation as the main axis, pursuing creative, sustainable solutions tailored to each project. In their talk, they will present a practical case study of the transformation of a stretch of hard promenade in Vila-seca (Tarragona) into a landscaped space where they have combined native coastal species with species adapted to the site’s conditions. This talk will be complemented by a guided tour on Sunday, October 19, to observe plants on the Ebro Delta coast and their applications in gardening.

Agustí and Carolina, representing the Gardening Guild of Catalonia, will present a water efficiency certification that allows green spaces to be classified according to their efficiency and sustainability. This provides green space managers with clear guidelines to optimize water use and improve the sustainability of their practices and spaces, and provides administration with an objective tool to apply fairer restrictions during periods of drought. Agustí, technical director and founder of Drim Medi Ambient, has extensive experience in managing high-level landscape  projects. He holds a degree in agricultural engineering from the UPC (University of Catalonia), with a consolidated career in the field of environment and landscaping since 1991, and is  an expert in slope stabilization, bioengineering, and sustainable land management. Carolina, project manager at Cetaqua since 2024, holds a degree in Environmental Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a master’s degree in Renewable Energy and Sustainability from the University of Barcelona. He has experience in sustainability, circular economy, and environmental impact projects, with a special emphasis on life cycle analysis, carbon footprint, and water footprint.

As secretary of the Spanish Green Roof Association, David Mª Gómez will announce this professional association made up of companies, entities, and individuals committed to promoting, disseminating, and advising on green roofs and vertical gardens, essential landscaped spaces in urban environments. Asescuve brings together the various stakeholders in the sector: installers, manufacturers, architects, engineers, and students, promoting active communication with the public administration.