Meise Botanic Garden

Picture this. You start your event with a welcome reception in one of the largest and most beautiful greenhouses in Europe, surrounded by lush tropical plants. Then you take a five-minute walk through magnificent parkland. Destination: the historic Bouchout Castle, where the plenary meeting is held. After lunch there’s a guided tour of the Botanic Garden, and then it’s time for a break-out session in the best conference room in the world: the open air. During the break, you remember something you learned on the tour: the coffee you’re sipping (and all the coffees you’ve ever sipped in your life, for that matter) wouldn’t taste the same if it weren’t for the scientists of the Botanic Garden. You close off the day with a visit to the bustling centre of Brussels. Or Leuven. Or Mechelen. Or Antwerp. Or Ghent. You choose, they are all close-by.

Conference rooms in historic surroundings

Meise Botanic Garden has been collecting and studying plants for over two centuries. It is located close to Brussels, in a unique setting, created by the merger of two historical estates: 11th-century Bouchout Castle and the 13th-century Meise estate. Round the turn of the 20th century, Bouchout Castle was the residency of Empress Charlotte, a member of the Belgian royal family, and sister-in-law of Austria’s famous Sissi.

The gardens have been a haven for plants for most of their history, as the owners of the estates where avid plant collectors. Their passion was continued by the botanic garden staff. Today, Meise Botanic Garden is a place where plants are studied and preserved. It has a collection of 18,000 species from all over the world, an impressive herbarium and it is also home to a seed bank containing over 7 million seeds of important wild plant species. It is a ‘Green Ark’, where plants are safeguarded for future generations, and conserving biodiversity is a top goal. The scientific staff is world leader in the fields of coffee, bananas, beans and edible fungi.

But Meise Botanic Garden is more than a scientific institute. It’s also a magnificent place to visit, with its sloping parklands, wild nature reserve, and historic buildings and greenhouses. It’s a place where people connect with the wonders of the plant world. Every year over 200,000 visitors come and enjoy the grounds.