Systems approaches and ecological modernisation of horticultural production systems

During the last decades horticultural science started a transition from an empirical, trial and error based science into a scientific discipline which is based on understanding and process knowledge. In the same period, society began to re-assess the role of horticulture using a much wider range of criteria than the traditional achievements of amount of physical product or production value. For horticultural science to contribute to these issues old paradigms need to be replaced by new concepts. In this paper the new challenges and perspectives are described and it is shown how renewal of agricultural and horticultural sciences will enable them to contribute to a new mission in a dynamic society.