People, Proflora and Planes ... a recipe for good
Robin Eagle is young and passionate about sustainability. But that doesn’t mean he is blind to the issues and challenges nor believes it is only about the Planet. In his opinion it must be a much broader thought process. Having met him at Proflora we asked him to share his thoughts in the first of our new Point of View features.
At the beginning of October, I was in Bogotá to attend the 30th Proflora | The Best Floral Trade Show. It was a fantastic event, full of positive energy, showcasing the very best of Colombian flowers. I had a chance to meet so many great people and have encouraging conversations regarding the sustainability of the sector.
Understandably the sustainability narrative is dominated by environmental concerns. Every year the impacts of global warming intensify and become self-evident. It's only natural therefore to look for environmental solutions to environmental problems.
Collectively however we won't achieve what is needed to protect safe living conditions for future generations by ignoring the social aspects of sustainability. Sustainability is as much about education, employment, and empowerment as it is anything else.
The flower sector can and should become a vessel for change. Employing local people into stable work, taking them away from dangerous and often environmentally damaging alternatives. It's about fostering pride and stewardship in your surroundings. People don't choose to harm nature when equipped with the right knowledge and more importantly, when the alternatives are easier and more rewarding.
Whilst visiting the farms and talking to people at the expo it was obvious that the social considerations are well understood. Young people are being encouraged into the sector and many schemes are run to help support workers and their families.
As part of the tour, we heard fantastic stories of people working together during Covid, floods and all manner of challenges. These same people are being inspired to improve the biodiversity of farms and their local communities through tree planting schemes and wildlife protection initiatives.
And my journey to the show? Well, any long flight comes with its own moral considerations as to whether the impact of travel is appropriate, particularly as I work for FSI - an organisation which is leading the move to sustainable production and trade.
However, I can say 100% that the messages we were able to convey in one week at Proflora would simply not have been possible online over months ... maybe even years.
Now I look forward to building on all that was learnt during my trip and pushing on with an exciting agenda for change.
Above: Robin (2nd right) with fellow Association members on their collective booth at Proflora and. From Left to Right: Jeroen Oudheusden, FSI Executive Officer, Caroline Marshall-Foster, Editor Florist Trade Magazine, Tony Bruggink, Program Director at IDH and Chair of FSI, Sylvie Mamias, Secretary General Union Fleurs, Robin Eagle and Treve Evans, Senior International Relations Manager at AIPH
About Robin
He read History and Politics at Leicester, moving on to achieve a MSc in Sustainability Studies. After a Pandemic enforced stay in Australia and some interesting experiences in a camper van … the only place he could live given the circumstances … he moved to the Netherlands where, after a stint in the nuts and fruit sector, he joined IDH which drives sustainability from niche to norm and where he has main responsibility for FSI - The Floriculture Sustainability Initiative
About the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI)
Founded in 2013 the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative has enabled exchange between leading organizations and businesses in the floriculture sector on sustainability, helping them to progress on this important agenda.
Having reached their first milestone ambition of 90% of flowers and plants being sustainably produced and traded by 2020, the FSI25 ambition is for further advances in transparency and responsibility in the floriculture supply chain.
Under the three pillars of responsible production & trade, responsible conduct, and integrated reporting, FSI members have collectively set four main objectives for 2025:
1: The broadening of the 90% responsibly produced and traded volumes ambition to include new environmental and social aspects.
2: A reduction of the carbon footprint for selected products.
3: A Reduction of the living wage gap of workers at farm level.
4: Encouraging FSI members to report on progress and integrate due diligence reporting.
To find out more about the work of FSI click here
Want to know more about Proflora and what was on offer. Click here to read the Editor's report on a potential game changing flower, which insects she now knows everything about and some other rather gorgeous new blooms.
