The new Aga Khan Garden, near Edmonton, in the Canadian province of Alberta, is the largest garden in North America to interpret the landscape traditions of Islam. For centuries, gardens have symbolised a spiritual ideal in Muslim culture. They are places "where the human meets further proof of the divine," His Highness said in speeches on the subject, "and where the ingenuity of humanity and the beauty of nature are productively connected." Sponsored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the 12-acre project within the University of Alberta Botanic Garden is intended to foster intercultural dialogue and understanding.