Henrik Bos looks forward to his new three-year term as ELCA-President

On October 9^th, 2025, the Presidium of the European Landscape Contractors Association (ELCA) appointed Henrik Bos for a third term as President of this association. In this article, Henrik outlines his ambitions for the next three-year term.

“The extensive network of ELCA in Brussels enables us to influence topics. I am pleased that I can continue working to strengthen our political position in Europe. In Brussels, we continue building a network of cooperation and partnership, identifying changes and responding to them. This requires a lot of effort , but we are already well on the map and a well-known player. The contacts with the EU Parliament and the European Commission will continue to be the main focus of ELCA. Our goal is to influence topics as much as possible already in the preparation phase.

Workforce
The member companies of the ELCA Committee of Firms face a major challenge in terms of workforce management and skills availability. As a result of education reforms across Europe, resources for vocational training have been significantly reduced and the number of people applying for training in the field has fallen substantially. Many landscape garden companies are wondering how to respond to the major changes in the operating environment and the demands for specialized expertise that they need. In addition to professionals, middle management is currently very difficult to find.

Vocational training
Enhancing vocational education for the landscape garden sector is a big goal for us. We need new types of professionals. We are looking for vocational education institutions that want to respond to the big challenges ahead, such as climate change and the adaptation of our sector to it, nature-based solutions, biodiversity, green integration into buildings and infrastructure. The European Platform for Urban Greening project was the starting point for us to build Centers of Vocational Excellence for landscape gardening. It is ELCA's goal is to create one or more of these professional competence centres per country. This can be achieved either with EU funding or with the help of ELCA members. One of our major long-term topic is to influence the content of vocational education programs for our sector. The existing curricula in various countries are partly incomplete, outdated or non-existent. ELCA aims to provide support to develop training programs to better meet the needs of landscape construction companies.

Transition
The transition that our sector makes finds it’s fundament within and uses opportunities from EU-initiatives and regulations. An example is the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. ELCA is appointed in the expert group that advises the European Commission on the implementation of this law. This work will continue until 2028. Our importance and impact on the value of green space is based on our ability to participate extensively in EU activities. Amongst others, we have prepared input on the call for evidence on the EU Taxonomy for sustainable financing. The importance of green space in mitigating climate change and safeguarding biodiversity must be taken into account in EU funding. Another point is that ELCA is in contact with the Commission to become a recognized social partner at EU-level. It is important that we are consulted as the representative of the green sector when preparing and discussing labor and education issues. Until now, our sector has been considered part of agriculture or forestry. Over the next three years, I hope that we will be able to identify the challenges of different member countries. We will try to help our national member associations in their political work and help raise the profile of green sector policy, encourage them to be active and contact regionally and nationally.

Active network
I hope that the member companies of our national and associate members will participate more and more in the activities of ELCA. I expect member companies to participate in the discussion on the direction in which EU legislation should develop and what kind of political goals should be set. The ELCA activities in Brussels may seem far away, but already now and in the future, decisions made in Brussels will increasingly affect the operations of companies. This activity is only possible if our members observe that ELCA's activities are worthwhile and useful and that ELCA member associations in different countries work in the same direction. ELCA member associations have officers who work actively together with our Secretary-General Egbert Roozen. I would like to thank them and many other communities in different countries for the support we receive.

SoGreen
Not to forget; I would like to also highlight the importance of the SoGreen Alliance, our coalition of eight  European associations of urban green professionals. SoGreen reinforces our contacts with, for example, the Parliament and the Commission. The aim is to involve more umbrella organizations in this coalition and I am happy to see that new associations are interested in the SoGreen's activities.

I hope that after these three years the ELCA will have a new president who can represent the entire field with integrity and is recognized by its membership. ELCA needs a strong and respected leader.”

Yours Sincerely,

Henrik Bos, President