Major Earth
In the Netherlands around 11,000 people are employed in the plant reproduction material sector. The sector has a knowledge intensive character and compared with other sectors in agriculture and horticulture has a high number of positions at higher vocational education and university level. For a variety of reasons, the sector is having difficulty in filling vacancies. One of the main causes is the relative unfamiliarity of many young people in the Netherlands with the sector. Accordingly, the members of Plantum have decided to release additional funding for a period of three years (2009-2012) which will be used to promote the image of the sector among young people.

A campaign targeting young people - Major Earth - is currently being run, supported financially by Colland and TTI Green Genetics. A film designed to appeal to the world of young adults forms the heart of the project. Major Earth attends open days at 'green' colleges of higher education, at career events such as the BCF Event and the Career Plaza at Horti Fair and studies fairs with its ‘Meeting Point’. At the meeting point prospective students can watch a film and get information about the sector.

Major Earth works together with other initiatives aimed at encouraging an influx of sufficiently skilled and qualified personnel into the green sector, such as It’s Alive (Dutch), the image boosting campaign run by the Product Board Horticulture, Seed Valley, a joint venture of companies in the Province of North Holland and TTI Green Genetics, who aim to bring the knowledge of breeding in the Netherlands to a higher level and maintain that position.

In the near future, the members of Plantum will invite young people to visit their companies and will visit secondary schools as 'guest teachers' to raise the profile of this innovative and internationally oriented sector.

See the website of Major Earth (Dutch) for more information about the campaign. You can also watch the film on the website.
 
Information services
Plantum actively informs its members and other stakeholders about the latest developments. Members receive a monthly newsletter and can also access a members' net that acts as a knowledge and information portal. Press releases are used to communicate with the media and politicians about the results achieved by Plantum and to air new positions. Plantum maintains an extensive network inside and outside the sector, the political arena and with other interest groups and organisations in order to lobby its cause effectively.