ISU Executive Board re-elected and extended

General Assembly in Nijkerk decides ISU meeting on future topics 2023

(ISU) The members of the International Perennial Union (ISU) re-elected on August 8 in NL-Nijkerk the five board members each unanimously for a full or half term: ISU President Aad Vollebregt from the Netherlands (2 years), ISU Vice President Tomasz Michalik from Poland (4 years), Michel Le Damany from France (2 years), Gerben Tjeerdsma from Sweden (4 years) and Beate Zillmer from Germany (2 years). The different term of office is to ensure the working capacity of the ISU Board in case of a change. Jana Holzbecherova from the Czech Republic (4 years) was newly elected to the Board. Peter Heutinck from the Netherlands and Pascal Klenart from Germany were also unanimously elected for a full term as auditors.
The next general meeting will be held at Summer Days 2024 in F-Angers, with further Summer Days planned for 2026 in Sweden and 2028 in Germany. A botanical excursion of ISU to the Romanian Carpathians will be led by Norwegian guide Geir Moen in June 2023 in two one-week tours.
At the meeting, the perennial horticulturists present from 10 European countries as well as Canada intensively discussed the EU list of invasive species. They believe that zoning is absolutely necessary from a professional point of view. The invasive behavior of a plant is not uniform in the EU and not bound to national borders, but mostly to climatic zones. Therefore, from a horticultural point of view, zoning according to climate rather than political borders is recommended.
In addition, they followed the proposal of the ISU Executive Board to host ISU Future Days in the Berlin area in 2023 to discuss with experts suitable assortments and measures for the conservation and improvement of biodiversity. In addition, plant assortments should be examined and, if necessary, expanded in order to survive in the increasingly heating cities and towns and to be able to perform important functions such as cooling and flooding in retention areas.

Gerben Tjeerdsma is currently planning the ISU Winter Days in Grünberg from February 10-12, 2023.

 

ISU Summer Days group photo
Interesting nurseries and discussions, lots of collegiality and shared fun were experienced by 40 perennial horticulturists from 10 European countries and Canada at the ISU Summer Days 2022 in the Netherlands. (Photo: ISU/Tina Banse)

 

Elections ISU General Assembly
The existing board was confirmed in office and supplemented by another member: (from left) Michel Le Damany (F) , ISU President Aad Vollebregt (NL) , Jana Holzbecherova (CZ) , ISU Vice-President Tomasz Michalic (PL) , Beate Zillmer (D) , Gerben Tjeerdsma (SE) and Executive Director Tina Banse (D). (Photo: Jo Bogaerts)