The people
behind the revolution

Imagine that you could no longer work for PlantLab, what would you miss?

• John: I would miss the challenging aims. I would miss the network of innovative co mpanies and inspiring people who have made a hobby from their work. I would have to give up something which we have laid the basis for together in the last 20 years. I would miss the combination of plant know-how and technology.
• Leon: the energy and enthusiasm that we create with each other and our customers.
• Marcel: The drive to do something together which could really change the world. Without PlantLab we cannot complete the puzzle from the separate pieces. We would then miss the main aim on the horizon.
• Gertjan: I would miss the challenge of working towards a goal that inspires us all enormously. You could wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me about PlantLab and our vision for plant production ‘local for local’ and ‘just-in-time’ with a maximum of 10% of the water need of traditional cultivation methods.

What would PlantLab miss without you?

• John: The spider in the web who likes to arrange things behind the scenes, who thinks it’s a challenge to make understanding complex matters easier and likes to calculate from plant to current account.
  Leon: technical knowledge, improvisation, all-rounder.
• Marcel: stubborn drive, the ‘pit bull’ who does not let go if he wants to keep hold.
• Gertjan: At PlantLab we are all enthusiastic. We think about how it can and will be better; we see the possibilities through the difficulties. I make my own contribution to that in my way.

Walt Disney once said ‘If you can dream it, you can do it’. What is your dream?

• John: Developing a crop growing environment where people worldwide can produce food and plants. It would be wonderful if in 50 years time everyone in the world had decent food!
• Leon: being able to mean something for the global food problem
• Marcel: I’m not such a dreamer, I’m a doer! I want to put my shoulders to the wheel, full power ahead!
• Gertjan: A world where healthy daily food is available to everybody. A world where we don’t just believe what others say is true and in any case do not assume it for our own thoughts. With a bit of research almost nothing seems to be true and we can do a lot more than we often think. This creates room for amazement and development. This is also the basis of PlantLab.

Can this be converted into ambition or reality?

• John: Our current Center for Improving Grow Concepts was something that we dreamed about for years and worked towards. Now it is a reality and we can speed up and show everyone what we were doing. Now we can continue developing the ideal cultivation environment for plants.
• Leon: PlantLab
• Marcel: Yes, we are going further, step-by-step. It’s getting faster all the time. At PlantLab we keep each other nicely in balance. Sometimes accelerating, sometimes being extra careful by slowing things down.
• Gertjan: At PlantLab we are working on a vision for tangible ideas. Within the foreseeable future we are building Plant Production Units which 5 years ago we thought would take at least another 10 years. After a phase of thorough preliminary research we are now making speed every day. Originally everything seemed barely feasible but appears to be achievable now. That is so exciting!

What would you like “people” to do differently?

• John: That sounds rather vague, “people” do not do things differently that easily. If you want to achieve something together with other people you will always have to take a step forward yourself to get other people enthusiastic.
• Leon: Converting long-term thinking of 1 week in advance into real advance thinking.
• Marcel: Being more open to the possibilities that there are. Maybe the earth is not flat but round! We are not going to wait until something happens, we will make sure that it does happen.
• Gertjan: Living my life with a certain unflinching openness. Continuing to be amazed by the wonders of nature. Exploring limits by crossing them. Accepting reality and working from it to a better and more interesting world.

What subjects should they add in schools?

• John: Clear communication: it is unimaginable how much energy we waste by miscommunication with each other.
• Leon: PlantLabiology
• Marcel: Creative thinking. The subject W.W.W W.W.W.H. (who, what, where, why, what for, how). Carrying on when you are supposed to stop thinking for yourself!
• Gertjan: As well as communication, physics and philosophy I would like people to learn to continue to play and discover. Staying a bit of a child, somewhat naive even. No idea what a subject like this would be called. Daring? Daydreaming? Jumping and waiting to see where and how you land? A “why not” attitude? I dare, we live.

What should people who visit this site find out about you?

• John: They don’t have to know anything about me. I hope that they are inspired and want to cooperate with the achievement thereof!
• Leon: That I think it is so wonderful to realise the dream using new and existing technology together with colleagues who have one and the same vision.
• Marcel: That I am in the middle of the world and want to make a contribution to a better world. Further they don’t need to know that much about me but more about the content and the possibilities offered by PlantLab.
• Gertjan: I believe in PlantLab. We have a lot at PlantLab but we do not have everything. We would also like to expand our world. Make contact with governments that are looking for new ways of horticulture for example. I would like to come into contact with people and companies who can strengthen us and vice versa.