Challenge accepted! That is probably what Puck van Holsteijn also thought when she said 'yes' to the role of director of the World Horti Center in September 2021. A challenging position, for various reasons. Because it is quite an undertaking: innovating, connecting, inspiring and sharing knowledge all together with entrepreneurs, researchers, education and the government. How does she accomplish this? We spoke with her to get her thoughts on her latest endeavor.

The first question comes from Annie van de Riet, chairman of AVAG, with whom we interviewed last time: "How can we (WHC and AVAG) help primary horticulture in the Netherlands to have a future?"

Puck: “I think we can play multiple roles in that. First of all, we must continue to drive innovation in the sector. After all, that's what brought us initial success. It is important that we continue to develop and improve ourselves - collaboration is essential for this. Secondly, it is important that we continue to promote the sector. Last year, the WHC had more than 32,000 physical visitors and 35,000 online visitors, from 156 countries. We notice that visitors are often impressed by our knowledge and skills. “Gosh, you actually have it really well done,” they say surprised. 

Many people do not realise how large the greenhouse horticulture sector is, or how much expertise, technology and knowledge it contains. We don’t highlight that enough together. That is partly due to our Dutch culture — just act normal. But we can work together to change that. One initiative in this context, by WHC together with AVAG, Dutch Greenhouse Delta and HortiHeroes, is Let’s Connect. It’s a monthly network meeting for and by professionals and entrepreneurs within and beyond the horticultural sector, designed to spread the story more widely.”

WHC originated as part of Greenport Horti Campus Westland with the goal of guaranteeing the long-term economic position of the Greenport and continuing to seize new opportunities. We asked her what WHC’s biggest challenge is at the moment.

Puck: “We have several challenges right now. One of them is to continuously innovate. The new theme squares at WHC are a result of that. Previously, WHC was more like a static trading floor, and that no longer worked as effectively. With the theme squares, we bring together diversified expertise and the latest innovations in a dynamic way, working with knowledge partners and participants. Themes include water, energy, automation and health. By the end of the year, we are working towards enabling visitors to make their own rounds independently and gain the knowledge they need using an app. Of course, human interaction remains very important, and we will always continue to offer that.”

Puck: “Another ongoing challenge for a campus like WHC is to maintain smooth long-term operations. Of course, we have many stakeholders involved, which makes it exciting, but it also has to be funded. And determining who does what — that is part of my job as director, and it is a challenge.”

We asked about her personal motivation as director of WHC.

Puck: “What I find really fantastic is that you get to work with so many different parties here and no day is the same. I see an incredible number of opportunities for the greenhouse horticulture sector — especially in collaboration among government, researchers, educators and entrepreneurs. If you look, for example, at linking students with the business community and research, a lot of good steps have already been taken in recent years, but there is still a world to be won.”

Puck: “What I also like is that we work here every day to make the world a little more beautiful, greener and healthier. That makes working in this sector special. Together, we can accelerate transitions.”

You are also director of HortiHeroes, which focuses on young talent. We asked how she feels about interest among young people in greenhouse horticulture, given that many people say interest is low.

Puck: “Yes, that is true — at least among young people who are not familiar with the greenhouse horticulture sector. They simply don’t know the sector and therefore don’t see its opportunities and possibilities. Nine times out of ten, young people and young professionals are pleasantly surprised when they get to know the sector. In February we organised a Talent Week at WHC. The first two days we hosted 400 ISW students, Wednesday was an education market, Thursday a job market and Friday we had two groups from primary school. All of this aimed to involve young people in the sector at an early age. You can really see that most of them are positively surprised.”