A voucher from the ' Groenpact Versnellingsprogramma Internationalisering ' ( Internationalisation Acceleration Programme ) enable a mission from HAS Green Academy , InHolland , and Yuverta to travel to Kentucky . Indeed , the cooperation plan between the Netherlands and Kentucky could use some quickening . According to Groenpact , there is still small cooperation , especially in the field of operations of Department of Education .

Towards hefty foodKentucky is a United States Department of State with high unemployment and major health problems . To release this tide , Kentucky decided to forsake tobacco production in favour of horticulture . Locally produced , healthy nutrient : a fine aspiration . James Leonard Farmer were given burrow greenhouses by the government to produce vegetables . However , entrepreneurs appeared to lack the necessary cognition and skills . An ecosystem of cooperation between education , line of work , and government activity is also lack . Two topics in which the Netherlands excels . So in 2020 , an ambitious cooperation agreement was sign between 17 parties from Kentucky and the Netherlands : rent ’s maturate together .

" If we want to set something in motion , we have to go there . "

pressing want for knowledgeMarjo Baeten is the programme director of HAS International Projects and one of the trailblazer who traveled to Kentucky . " Beforehand , there were online conversations to gauge needs , " Marjo state . " But I know : if we want to set something in apparent motion , we have to go there . " The university of Kentucky are despairing for knowledge and need to set up an intact horticultural cluster . Dutch didactics has a lot to offer . " We were therefore receive with undefended blazonry , met instructor , and visited a phone number of universities and party . We could participate in develop a curriculum . That would require funding . That is still a falter block . "

speed outside opportunity with a voucherThe challenges of our time are great . That is why external cooperation and knowledge communion in teaching , research , and innovation are all-important . Groenpact ’s Versnellingsprogramma Internationalisering give educational institutions the hazard to get international cooperation off the solid ground faster . Per schoolhouse year , 20 verifier worth € 15,000 can be get . To qualify , applicant submit a undertaking proposal of marriage . With the awarded amount , educational introduction can explore abroad and make the necessary contacts .

( More data on a new voucher round can be foundherein Dutch )

Sustainable cultivationDutch greenhouse producer can look forward to the necessary orders because horticulture is an significant part of the hereafter of grow in Kentucky . " With a minimum of water , nutrients , and pesticides , you could accomplish sizable yields as a grower in a greenhouse , " Marjo explains . " That makes this direction of grow sustainable . Per kilogram of vegetable , the comment is minimum . But , managing this controlled cultivation organisation requires knowledge and acquisition , and the enterpriser has to be train for this . moreover , for the average farmer , such a nursery does represent a Brobdingnagian investment , so it is not for everyone yet . It , therefore , seems much more logical to focus on open cultivation and growing in tunnel greenhouses . Here , too , you may reach excellent yield with minimal investing . "

" Growing in a greenhouse is more sustainable . But you have to have the right cognition . "

Hurdles to clearMarjo observe everything : the will to move forward is utterly there among all party postulate . " We bulge out look for low - hanging yield , such as educatee interchange and internships . But you necessitate visa for those . Besides , the Dutch organization is very different . In America , as a student , you come to a campus , and everything is arranged for you . We do n’t have that at our MBO ’s or HBO ’s . You also have different types of universities in America with different sources of funding . Then , you have to deal with the grade differences between the different types of education . Finally , for us , knowledge communion and cooperation between education , business , and government is tired . But it is really very different there . These are the hurdles we will have to clear . "

" For us , cognition communion and collaboration between instruction , business , and government is so common . But in America , it ’s really quite dissimilar . "

Dreamed - of resultsThe visit to Kentucky was mean to good identify what exactly is require , both in business and Department of Education . It also want to elucidate what steps are necessitate to bring cooperation to life . Marjo : " This all worked out . The next step is to get a educatee exchange choke . We do n’t have the funds for that yet , but we still need to commence the first exchange in January 2024 . Internships with a research project would be fantastic . But teacher exchange are also call for . "

Photos by Marjo Baeten .

Source : Groenpact