Let’s Get to Work — First Partner Meeting in Ghent
At the start of 2025, the Bonsai project team officially kicked off with an inspiring partner meeting in Ghent (Belgium). This gatherings marked the beginning of an exciting journey of collaboration, innovation, and shared goals.
Kick-off in Ghent — January 10–12, 2025
All project partners came together in Ghent for the official start of the project. We were warmly welcomed by The Flamish Waterway and the Department of Mobility and Public Works.
During these three days, we began transforming the project proposal into a concrete work plan. Highlights of the meeting included:
- Making plans for more trans national cooperation.
- Getting to know each other better and strengthening the team spirit.
- Creating a shared project timeline and outlining key milestones.
- Working in thematic groups on the different topics within the Bonsai project.
We also visited our test site in Vlassenbroek, where we explored the area and discussed the knowledge we can generate there. To involve everyone, an online session was organised for associated organisations who couldn’t attend in person, ensuring their valuable input was included from the start.
Creating lasting teamwork
During the meeting time was reserved for sharing information and cooperation through the different countries. All partners really enjoyed getting more connected and sharing stories.
Project Timeline
Everyone placed their most interesting events or activities of the project on a big calendar, thus creating a project timeline. This way connections between different topics are clear and partners can start planning to visit activities.
Working on topics
All partners joined sessions discussing the various topics of Bonsai. In these sessions everyone could add to the ideas of others and jointly shape the project.
Visit of test site Vlassenbroek
Within the Bonsai project, we are working with several test sites where experiments will be carried out and valuable knowledge will be gathered throughout the project. These sites are located in different regions, allowing us to learn from each other and from different climate conditions.
During the Ghent meeting, we visited the Vlassenbroek test site in Belgium. This visit gave us a first-hand look at the area and its potential for among others erosion and grass cover experiments. Seeing the site in person helped us better understand the opportunities it offers for future research.
We’re excited to follow the developments here and look forward to seeing the results emerge over the coming years.
Because we value our associated organisations, all were invited to join the field trip. For everyone that couldn’t join an online session was organized to get as much organisations involved as possible.
