Inauguration Speech 2011 - Copenhagen

Ladies and gentlemen,

at first I want to thank for the trust you gave through your representatives in the General Assemblee to the Dutch federation for organising our 2014 International Congress, and connected to that, from now until 2014 fulfulling the Presidency of our international organisation.

This trust is very important because the Dutch federation is eager in letting the world know about the importance of allotment gardeners and their contribution towards a better society. I thank my fellow members of the Dutch Executive Board for sharing and supporting this aim and for their willingness to participate in our international meetings during our Presidency. I hope you have noticed that nearly the complete Dutch Board has been actively participating in this Copenhagen meeting. And even Rinda den Besten, the highest ranking elected member of the Board of Utrecht, the host town for the 2014 Congress is here to present her town which has outstanding examples of ambitious and creative allotment garden planning. At the end of this meeting when leaving this room you wil get a DVD and a memory stick with information about Utrecht and the 2014 congress. Please look at the internet adres on the outside of the memory stick: the website adress www.utrecht2014.org will be fully operational from the next week and will give you up to date information about this congress which is prepared in a concerted action with our Zürich meeting next year and the 2013 meeting in Germany.

I thank the members of the executive committee of our international organisation in letting me share in the meetings in preparing for the Dutch Presidency. And finally I thank Hervé Bonnavaud, Mogens Ginnerup, Preben Jacobsen, Malou Weirich and Willy Wohatsek for their trust and openness in sharing their thoughts in my preparation time.