YPARD Netherlands agri(re)solutions - starting 2018 with the right foot

As every January, resolutions for the New Year storm in our brain as we try to prioritize efforts, plans, and ambitions. With this in mind, YPARD Netherlands’ working team could not help but wonder. What about the young professionals in agriculture? What are they up to? What are their and our needs and objectives for 2018? In other words, what are the agri(re)solutions for the fresh new year?

The core group of YPARDians in the Netherlands wanted to come together to hear about these agri(re)solutions and share ideas on how YPARD can help local youth make their resolutions concrete.

On a Thursday evening in January, we met in Utrecht, a central location which can easily be reached from anywhere in the Netherlands, in a cozy café – a couple of drinks and a warm meal were the basic ingredients for this informal event. The first resolution in our agenda was to build up a stronger critical mass of active members. How can we reach out to more young professionals in the Netherlands and share the opportunities that the YPARD network has to offer?

This question led us to the next two resolutions:

1. Organize a meet-up with agrifood stakeholders and universities in the Netherlands to join up forces and tap into their networks of youths;
2. Organize a series of informal meet-ups for youth – which we could reach through universities and farmers organizations – to share experiences and challenges.

Of course, we wanted to get started as soon as possible! As for the first event, we are in the process of contacting universities, farmer’s organizations and other stakeholders to join-up at the beginning of March 2018. As a result of this meeting, we are planning to meet with young professionals and students a couple of weeks later.

Other ideas came up to organize a market-place event in which different young professionals could showcase their expertise and challenges, in the form of a pitch-presentation and concrete question or discussion point. We aim at organizing this event by the end of the year.

We left the cafè with a good dose of positive energies, ideas and the main resolution to join forces to make the voice of youth in the agrifood sector in the Netherlands heard! Keep an eye on our social media for more news on the upcoming events!

Picture credit: Maya Turolla, YPARD Netherlands communications focal point