The meeting is organised with presentations by Henry Freulon (Project Engineer, Végépolys Valley) and Martijn Onderstal (NEFERTITI project, Provincie Zuid-Holland), followed by Q&A and discussion. If you are interested, please contact Ms Ilse Buijs (buijsh@noord-holland.nl, +31(0)631999004 or +31(0)235145653).
Some general information about the Plants working group
It is currently participated by 4 regions (Zuid-Holland, Flanders, Pays de la Loire and Noord-Holland). The aim is to build a basis for long term cooperation and a source for potential partnerships in EU projects. A second aim is to look into the possibilities of using this working group as a tool to raise awareness at EU level (the people in Brussels) about the needs and great potential of the horticulture sector. The participating partners share knowledge between relevant stakeholders within our regions.

To list a number of topics where cooperation seems very useful:

• Sustainability: energy transition, increasing use and production of renewable energy in greenhouses;
• Circular economy: more specifically food waste and the challenges with EU waste regulation. Flanders brought in the example of using (tomato) plant waste in innovative ways;
• R&D in plant and seed development: i.e. crop protection, new breeding techniques, alternative proteins;
• Water: the issues with both quality and quantity of fresh water.