EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I EUROPEAN SEED I 19 Dear readers of European Seed, In an attempt to draw much-deserved attention to the movers and shakers in the European seed sector, we have put together a list of people who, in our view, were highly influential in 2017. You may ask what makes an individual worthy of a spot on our list of the most influential seed people? We believe each one of these incredible people have had a significant effect on the European seed sector in the past year(s). As you will see, each of our choices is accompanied by a short piece of text, explaining what the person’s key contributions have been, and why that person should be on our list. We deliberately did not want to make space for any short or long pieces of resumes, as those are usually available in the public domain. Of course, we struggled to decide who should be in this selection and who should not. There will always be people who you think should have been on the list, and question why others were omitted. We very much welcome and look forward to your feedback as to who you think should have been on the list, and why. As we plan on publicizing this list on a yearly basis, we can’t wait to put together next year’s list with your future nominations. We are dedicating a significant number of pages to this as we hope that this will generate more discussion, more engagement and above all, more appreciation for the seed sector, that is so often desperately lacking. We would like to add that although appearing on the list can be seen as an honour, European Seed makes it clear that entrants are recognized for changing the seed world, regardless of the consequences of their actions. We hope you enjoy the list and look forward to your feedback. — Marcel Bruins MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE