By signing the Technician Commitment, RHS joins a community of organisations improving visibility, recognition, career development and long-term sustainability of technical professionals in higher education, research and innovation.
The Royal Horticultural Society is a UK-based charity that employs seven technical professionals whose work underpins ground-breaking research into sustainable horticulture, soil science and climate-positive gardening practices.
These technicians support projects that translate research into practical advice and resources on climate-positive horticultural practices used by millions of people. This includes a portfolio of flagship projects on soil health and climate change, including leading work on peat-free horticulture and advising gardeners on efficient and climate-positive soil health and nutrition. RHS technical professionals also contribute to biodiversity-focused initiatives such as the recently relaunched list of year-round Plants for Pollinators to tackle the decline in pollinating insect numbers, as well as emerging analysis of crowd-sourced data on which flowers are most preferred by bumblebees.
Ian Waghorn, Senior Laboratory Manager and new Technician Commitment Lead at RHS, said:
In my role as Laboratory Manager, I was very keen to champion our technical team and give them the support and resources they need. I'm really excited to join the community and develop relationships!”
Carly Dellar, Operations Manager, Technician Commitment said:
We warmly welcome the Royal Horticultural Society to the Technician Commitment community. The expertise of technical professionals is central to delivering world-leading research, innovation and public benefit, and RHS technicians play a critical role in advancing sustainable horticulture and environmental science. We look forward to supporting RHS as they enhance visibility, recognition and career development for their technical workforce, and to sharing learning across our growing global community.”
The Technician Commitment is a pledge to implement a long-term action plan to enhance technical careers, opportunities and skills within the organisation. Since launching in 2017, it has now grown to a global community of more than 140 organisations championing technicians and their contributions to higher education and research. The initiative is hosted by the UK Institute of Technical Skills & Strategy.
