Harvesting and sowing together for a resilient Delta
Text : organisor Zuidwestelijke Delta
Goal of the event
How can we continue to innovate and collaborate between regions and administrations? This question ran like a thread through the program of the Harvest Meeting on February 13 to reflect on 4 years of cooperation within the Interadministrative Program Vital Countryside Southwest Delta (IBP VP ZWD). This took place at Cosun Beet Company in Dinteloord, an inspiring location to meet each other, exchange results and explore new collaborations.
Opening
After a welcome from host Cosun director Paul Mesters, chairman of the Southwest Delta Regional Consultation, Arno Vael (Province of Zeeland), stated that the fertile Southwest Delta has the solutions in store for the challenges that lie ahead. As an example, he mentioned goal management with the KPI system: “Farmers work with nature and adapt quickly. Give them the space to steer themselves, then this will become the system of the future.”
Administrative leader IBP VP ZWD, Arne Weverling (Province of South Holland) added that the goals remain undiminished: “We have to take the step forward. It is essential to continue to work together in an area-specific way on a vital countryside in the Southwest Delta.”
Harvest
After this, deputy Frank Rijkaart (Province of South Holland) looked back on the IBP and expressed the strong ambition to continue the IBP as a knowledge platform. Subsequently, Martijn van Kalmthout (Scheldestromen Water Board), Irene Bouwma (Wageningen University & Research), Bart Housmans (Boerenverstand) and Pieter van der Valk (Agricycling) took the audience through their projects with flashy Pecha Kucha presentations.
Agricultural economist Tessa Avermaete (KU Leuven) gave a provocative keynote in which she compared the agricultural transition to running a marathon and pleaded for realism in order to give new generations of farmers perspective.
Workshops
In 3 workshops, the participants delved into the possibilities and bottlenecks of the agricultural transition. Angela Noordhoek, Jurgen Maassen, Lauwrens Struik, Marius Monen, Andries van Dongen, Rian Govers, Casper Lambregts and Gillis Klompe told more about goal management, technological innovation in arable farming and water management.
Magic in the air
Illusionist and inspirer George ∞ Parker closed the day. He showed that real change requires a different mindset, a different way of thinking and working together. No tunnel vision but interactive and adaptive! Chairman of the day Suzan Klein Gebbink powerfully summarized the insights of the day together with Arno Vael
Future-proof solutions are needed for a vital countryside. New techniques help us accelerate the agricultural transition, but good inter-administrative cooperation is at least as important. Collaboration is the key to a resilient Southwest Delta