50 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I n the fall of 2018, the new Sow to Grow experience will officially be opened in Enkhuizen, The Netherlands. It is the successor of the erstwhile museum ‘Saet and Cruyt’ (which was located in Andijk, NL), that took visitors on a journey through the past centuries showing thousands of historical artefacts of the seed sector and at the same time highlighting the impor- tance of seeds and plant breeding for the Netherlands and the world. The museum is now closed and has relocated to a beautiful new location: a former historical orphan- age right in the centre of Enkhuizen, cradle of the Dutch seed sector. To learn more about this exciting new experience, European Seed went for a visit to the experience, and talked with Henk van Wielink, Foundation chairman and Gerard Meijerink, Implementation manager. EUROPEAN SEED (ES): HENK AND GERARD, CAN YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT THE BACKGROUND OF THE NOW CLOSED MUSEUM ‘SAET & CRUYT, WHEN AND WHY WAS IT FOUNDED AND WHAT WERE ITS AIMS? HENK VAN WIELINK (HvW): The museum was founded a little over 30 years ago by the Dutch Seed Trade Organization (NTZ). The goal was, besides gather- ing the memorabilia of the plant breed- ing activities in Holland, to get more attention for the sector especially from younger people. In 2001, after the forma- tion of Plantum, the trade organization withdrew from this initiative and Saet & Cruyt had to organize its own funding to continue. Also, from that moment on Saet & Cruyt actively started looking for another location closer to Enkhuizen in order to attract a larger and broader group of visitors. ES: WHY WAS IT NECESSARY TO CHANGE LOCATIONS AND FORMAT? GERARD MEIJERINK (GM): The location Andijk, although the fact that this was the original cradle for the vegetable and flower plant breeding and seed sector, was not an ideal place because it is not easy to reach and attracted very little visitors. Not enough at least to invest in future needs to update the museum and paying the necessary attention to the developments in the sector. Also, the above-mentioned objective to attract younger people to visit the museum, required us to develop more exciting and interactive activities. They would rather do things and learn from it than looking at ‘old and dusty’ objects and reading text. That is the reason why we spent more than three years to develop an interactive experience about plant breed- ing including all important activities of the industry. ES: THE SOW TO GROW EXPERIENCE INHERITS A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF HISTORICAL OBJECTS, SUCH AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE NEW SOW TO GROW EXPERIENCE. BY: MARCEL BRUINS FROM STORY TO GLORY AS PICTURES, SLIDES, MOVIES, BOOKS, CATALOGUES, PAINTINGS, MACHINERY AND A LOT MORE. WILL THE NEW EXPERIENCE HAVE ENOUGH SPACE TO EXHIBIT ALL OBJECTS? HvW: We created a unique event with our experience, but it is still supported by the collection from the Saet & Cruyt museum. In this way we mix the past with the actual and the future. In our build- ing we have also room to store our entire museum collection and the aim is to use the collection for future changes and additions in the experience. On request our storage depot can also be visited for those who are interested in the history of the business. ES: SOW TO GROW IS NO LONGER A MUSEUM, BUT AN ‘EXPERIENCE’. WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHANGES? GM: We went from story line to glory line, from static to dynamic and from observation to interaction. The tools we use to present the information to the public are based on modern technics, the use of electronic devices and information over the internet. Visitors will find very little textual reading information in the experience. All visitors receive a tablet (or may download an App on their own tablet or smartphone). Via the tablet they are offered more than 100 pieces of infor- mation related to the objects displayed and the processes of plant breeding. This