A delegation from the Municipality of Westland and Greenport West-Holland recently paid a working visit to Almería. The aim of the trip was to strengthen international cooperation in greenhouse horticulture and to establish new connections with partners in southern Spain. The delegation also attended the GreenSys, the annual international conference organised by the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).
The visit had two main reasons. First, there is an existing Letter of Intent between the Municipality of Westland and the Municipality of El Ejido, expressing the ambition of both municipalities to strengthen cooperation. In addition, Greenport West-Holland aims to expand its international network of horticultural clusters, with a particular interest in establishing a structural partnership with a cluster in the Almería region — one of Europe’s most important horticultural areas.
Visit to El Ejido
On the first day, the delegation visited El Ejido, where meetings were held with councillor Manuel Martínez Molina and policy officer Rafael Almohalla. The discussions highlighted many similarities between Westland and El Ejido: both are leading horticultural municipalities with strong cooperation between governments, growers and suppliers.
Particularly interesting was the local consultation model Consejo, in which representatives of growers, suppliers, the municipality and knowledge institutions meet regularly. This model is comparable to the cluster approach used in the Netherlands. Current themes such as water reuse and the challenges surrounding migrant labour were also discussed.
The delegation also visited a local start-up hub featuring twenty innovative projects. The councillor expressed interest in visiting the Greenport to gain inspiration for the further development of their own innovation centre.
GreenSys conference and new networks
During the visit, the delegation also actively participated in the GreenSys conference. In addition to attending lectures and presentations, a poster about the RE-Greenhouse project was presented.
On the second day of the conference, a meeting took place with Esteban Baeza from Coexphal, an important organisation in the region that is well familiar with the Dutch horticultural system. The discussion focused on his possible role as a link between growers, clusters and governments in Almería.
Another highlight was a visit to Innovacal, a recently established cluster of horticultural suppliers based at the research centre Tecnova. Innovacal is interested in joining the European Plant Inter Cluster (PIC) network and is actively seeking international partners. 🌱
