Newly elected ISU President Aad Vollebregt announces closer international networking

Dr. Andres Altwegg steps down as ISU President

The members of the International Hardy Plant Union elected their new president Aad Vollebregt on 13 August in Breslau. The owner of the company “Staudengärtnerei Gebr. van der Reep BV” based in Hillegom, the Netherlands, has been a member of the ISU Committee since 2014 and has worked on behalf of the interests of hardy plant gardeners in the fields of nomenclature and invasive species. He is also President of the Perennials Advisory Board at NAK Tuinbow and a member of the board at the Perennial Power Initiative.

Before his election, he thus also campaigned for greater networking on international committees in the interests of hardy plant gardeners, as well as for closer cooperation with international associations representing other specialist areas. The around 30 members who were present at the meeting supported the closer and more intensive cooperation, as well as the stated goals, and unanimously elected Aad Vollebregt.

His predecessor as president, Dr. Andres Altwegg, had already announced at his election in 2014 that he would only hold the position of president until 2018. Dr. Altwegg was Managing Director of ISU between 1984-2006 when it was based in Switzerland. Following the general meeting, he officially stepped down from his post in the company of two of his predecessors as president.

Aad Vollebregt thanked Dr. Altwegg for his dedicated work and the experience he brought to the position: “We were both elected to the ISU Committee in 2014. You had long-standing experience in the organisation, while the other members of the committee provided their own ideas and initiatives. We have implemented our policies together and, for example, managed to publish a new version of the list of plant names that takes into account both scientific findings in the field of nomenclature and also the interests of hardy plant gardeners. This list is now available in a standardised form for producers and distributors internationally. As a leaving present, Andres Altwegg received an invitation to the next ISU Botanical Excursion to the Pyrenees in 2019.

The committee members Beate Zillmer (Uchte, Germany), Michel le Damany (Pleumeur-Bodou, France) and Tomasz Michalik (Dobrcz, Poland) were reelected. Gerben Tjeerdsma (Mölnlycke, Sweden) was elected as a new member of the committee.