Aga Khan Parks and Gardens
In an engaging conversation on climate change and how we preserve life on earth, award-winning television host and environmental journalist, Aliya Jasmine Sovani is joined by Dr. Stanford Blade, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta, and Onno Ruhl, General Manager of Aga Khan Agency for Habitat. The experts discuss some of the collective actions we can take as a society to help bring about a more sustainable world for all. AKD-014
La version francaise du film Al-Khimyah qui retrace les actions de l'Aga Khan Trust for Culture au Caire. A film by Prince Aly Muhammad Aga Khan.
The Aga Khan Park was inaugurated by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne in the presence of Mawlana Hazar Imam on 25 May 2015 in Toronto.
Ismaili Centre Lecture: New Visionary Voices The Architecture of Pluralism: The Aga Khan Gardens in Edmonton.
Featuring a conversation with the Mayor of Edmonton and the President of the University of Alberta, with a dialogue between Thomas Woltz, the architect of the gardens, and Hanif Kara, Professor of Architecture and Design at Harvard.
The short documentary, Islamic Gardens: Catalysts for Change, is about the vast network of parks and gardens around the world developed by the Ismaili Imamat, under the leadership of His Highness the Aga Khan.
Gardens bring people of different backgrounds together to enjoy and appreciate nature. They also seek to improve people’s quality of life by providing spaces for reflection, spirituality, education and leisure.
The creation of parks and gardens has been an important part of the AKDN's work, with the objective of using green spaces to catalyse positive economic, social and cultural change. This short documentary "Islamic Gardens: Catalysts for Change" is about the Network’s vast network of parks and gardens. It explores their significance and the reasons for creating and revitalising parks and gardens, including their role as spiritual and communal spaces, in environmental stewardship, their capacity to act as springboards for economic development, and their role as educational spaces to teach about the rich diversity and heritage of Muslim cultures and civilisations.
The film looks at the numerous park and garden projects undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, as well as those found in the Ismaili Centres and many other spaces globally, with special focus on the three projects opened during the Diamond Jubilee year of the Aga Khan: the Sunder Nursery in India, the Islamic Gardens at Kings Cross found in the Aga Khan Centre in London, and the Aga Khan Garden in Edmonton.
You can read more about AKDN's Parks and Gardens projects on the AKDN website »
To learn more about the Close to Home film series, visit the Close to Home website »
Al-Khimyah, written and directed by Prince Aly Muhammad Aga Khan, explores the work of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) in the historic city of Cairo, Egypt.
The film shines a spotlight on the 30-hectare Al-Azhar Park — converted from a mound of rubble — and the stories of local residents of the adjacent Darb al-Ahmar neighbourhood. Since opening in 2005 after 20 years of careful excavation and design, Al-Azhar Park has provided much-needed leisure and recreational space to the inhabitants of the city, and is today often referred to as "Cairo's green lung."
Located in the heart of Egypt’s capital, the urban oasis has become a popular destination for both locals and tourists. Landscaping features include walkways, fountains, lawns, and gardens overlooking a lake in the traditional chahar bagh style. Hundreds of young men and women have found work in the park, in horticulture and park maintenance: The park features over 300 different plant species — many native to Egypt — grown in a special nursery, and an orchard provides shade from the sun.
The park has also proven to be a powerful catalyst for urban renewal, evolving beyond the green space itself to include the restoration of monuments and public spaces, and socioeconomic initiatives including housing rehabilitation, microfinance, crafts apprenticeships, and healthcare.
The film is Prince Aly Muhammad's account of a city whose foundations were laid over a thousand years ago, which has seen a 500-year-old rubbish dump rebuilt into a lush green oasis, and a poor inner-city district transformed into a thriving community.
Learn more about AKDN's work in Egypt on the AKDN website »
On 16 October 2018, Lt Governor of Alberta Lois Mitchell, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and the Aga Khan inaugurated the new Aga Khan Garden, Alberta, the northern-most Islamic garden in the world, and the first garden of its kind in western Canada.