Boerma Instituut

Dutch Floral Design
For many years, Holland (the Netherlands) has been known abroad as the country of water, wooden shoes, windmills and bicycles.
Especially as a result of a very good organisation and also because of an advertisement campaign by the Flower Council of Holland, our country has become widely known as a flower (exporting) country.
Not only the quality of these products are of a very high standard, but also their subsequent use. Many well-known Dutch floral designers regularly travel around the world to give demonstrations.

This way of arranging is known abroad as Dutch Floral Design and is very highly thought of by many foreigners.
Many foreign florists and students come to Holland from all over the world to see and learn from this method at exhibitions and trade fairs.
If they want to follow a good professional course in Dutch flower design, then Holland is the only possible country in which to do that.
Boerma Instituut in Aalsmeer (only 1500 meters from the world's largest Flower Auction and only a few minutes from Schiphol, Amsterdam Airport, offers all possibilities in this field.

The teachers of Boerma Instituut have also taught, given workshops and demonstrations in many countries of the world and that has certainly helped enormously.
Here below is a list of countries of origin of our (former) international students. We have left out most of the more familiar western European countries because of the space factor.
Tsjechowaskia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Romania, Poland, Kazchastan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Lebanon, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, India, Pakistan, Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Southern Africa, Canada, The whole of United states and Hawaii, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina.
From this list you can see there is an increasing demand for flowers world-wide!

Over 30 years
For over 30 years now, the Boerma Instituut has been specialised in giving national and international professional floristry courses.
Our teachers are very experienced and capable in teaching, demonstrations and giving workshops, in country’s all over the world.

Please note that teaching a professional floristry course, is a very specialised job, that demands a skilful teacher:
In experience, knowledge, motivation and enthusiasm. Let these words help you to decide where you want to pursue your career in floristry.
As soon as you enter Boerma Instituut you will notice something special. Not only is the school small and intimate but also the atmosphere is different. You will never get the feeling of being back at school sitting in school benches.

Floral Design Books
Right next to the entrance there is a special floral Design book shop where you can buy floral design books and all kinds of flower arranging materials, you can have a look at our wide range of floral design books, and maybe discover some new ideas.
After all, what would an International Floral Design School be without floral design books?

Our shop is opened during course days, or you can arrange an appointment by phone to come and visit us. We even had a group of 40 ladies from New Sealand who just visites us just for the books.

Café de Mijnen
We also have a comfortable and inviting bar, Café de Mijnen.

Boerma Instituut is the only International Floral Design School in Holland, and at this level probably the only one in the world.
It is also the only privately owned school in Holland especially built for the study of floral design. It has three instruction rooms and its own bar facilities.

All courses at Boerma Instituut give you many new ideas and will be the gateway to a fresh and new way of thinking and working with flowers.

During the early years of the Boerma Instituut, the Professional course was only conducted in Dutch.
In 1985 we slowly started to conduct courses in English. Everything just went into fast gear after that.
From all over the world professionals have come to our school, individually as well as in groups.

Champions
We have 'gathered' a great number of Dutch-, European- and World Champions in the past years, who will assist us when we need their help.

For example, in alphabetical order. : Aad van Uffelen, Bart van der Elsken, Dorien Roling, Gregor Lersch, Irma Mus, Johan Huisman, Moniek Vanden Berghe, Petra van der Veen, Xander Zijlmans, Wally Klett.

Florint
Jacqueline attended the Course for European Judging in Floral Design organised by the FEUPF. Nowadays called Florint. The course was held in Amsterdam March 2007. On 29th of March, she was awarded the title and thus officially recognised by the organisation as an European Judge in Floral Design.

Frans Mank was the Course leader.
The contestants came from different countries:
János Szabó; Hungary;
Isabel Wilton, Susan Wills Pope; England
Sergey Malyuchenko, Elena Zakharova, Anna Yemelyanova, Alexander (Sasha) Bermyakov, Natalia Koryakina and Ksenia Vinogradova from Russia;
Monika Kudlacz; Poland;
Hanneke Frankema & Jacqueline from the Netherlands.

VBW
The Boerma Instituut is a member of the VBW (Vereniging Bloemist Winkeliers) (or the Dutch Union of Florists) which is also part of Florint.
In the Netherlands, there are more then 1400 florists who are members of this organisation.
The main goal of the VBW is to improve and advance the entrepreneurial perspectives and business activities in the floral industry.

WFC
The Boerma Instituut is also a member of the World Flower Council or the WFC. The WFC is an international organisation with members from 29 countries all of whom are involved in the floral industry.
They seek to promote world peace through the beauty of flowers and facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge amongst professionals in the flower industry.

In short the WFC seeks to promote:

The exchange of design ideas and techniques amongst professionals throughout the world.
Study in the latest information and development in the care of flowers.
Student exchange programme, in order that the students of the flower trade can meet their peers from other countries.
The meeting of people from all over the world and to seek out mew sources and products.
The spread of knowledge of the flower industry world wide.
Contacts and friendships amongst professionals of the floral industry.
World peace through undertaking together the study in the beauty of flowers.
An annual meeting organised for its members somewhere in the world. In 2008 it was in Macau from the 19th till 23rd of September.

Foot-note:
According to Wim Meulenman, former director of Euroflorist Holland, now CEO Euroflorist Europe: The Professional Diploma of the Boerma Instituut is “Euroflorist proof”.
In the Netherlands, there are about 1400 florist who use EuroFlorist in the transport of flowers and floral works both locally and internationally.
This international floral transport organisation celebrated their 25th anniversary in October 2007 in Barcelona.
It was a special and inspiring weekend for all involved. (for more details go to Jacqueline)

BFA
Last but not least since June, 2010 Boerma Instituut is also a member of the British Florist Association (BFA) the public voice of the UK flower industry.

CSR / MVO
At the Boerma Instituut we are working on changing to the CSR regulations..
CSR brings the three drie P's in balance:. Profit, People & Planet.
MVO is a matter of good manners and mostly leads to innovation, through which the entrepreneur can amplify his international competitive position.

We use green electricity and in 2009 we have replaced (almost) all normal light bulbs for LED (light-emitting diode) and have changed the way we use the fluorescent lighting. In the near future we intent to change it into Green tubes energy-saving lamps.

In our bar 'Café de Mijnen' we serve coffee with the Fairtrade Mark Max Havelaar, as for tea you can also choose for biological tea varieties.

In the classrooms we divide garbage into green and grey containers, paper and cardboard is removed separately.

The Boerma Instituut works with Ecover products, these products are fabricates on a base of renewable plant products and minerals. They are produced on a ecological, economic and social. responsible manor, in a unique ecological factory.

Family business
The Boerma Instituut International Floral Design School is a family business. Theo and José Boerma are in 1980 the initiators of the school, to our great loss José passed away in September 2009.
Their eldest daughter Jacqueline works there (in 2010 already 29 years) and also she has earned her wages world wide.

Alongside our fixed small team of family members we rely on the help of other well known floral artists.

Flower Auction FloraHolland
Our school is located at the Legmeerdijk 227 (N231), right in the hart of the worlds biggest flower central, Aalsmeer. Just 1500 meters from the head entrance of Flower auction FloraHolland in the direction of Amstelveen.
Here we have turned a former greenhouse into an admirable floral design school.

Boerma Instituut abroad
Boerma Instituut in Taipei, Taiwan exists since 1993.
Since 2001 there is a Boerma Instituut Japan in Tokyo, this is a franchise company, where the same professional courses and short courses are, given, conducted by the Japanese teachers over there. Trained by the Boerma Instituut and Aad van Uffelen.
Since 2006 we give the professional course in Holambra, Brazil. So if you think Aalsmeer is too far away for you, you can always find an other possibility to join one of our courses.

Feel right at home
The good thing about our private school, is that it is small and intimate. Students feel right at home, because of this the students always come back to school with lots of enthusiasm.

Open House
To give as much information to you as we can, the Boerma Instituut doesn’t only hand out brochures and leaflets, we also have a, so called Open House.
During these days, the Boerma Instituut is opened from 12.00 till 16.00 hours.
There will be demonstrations in floral art, given by our teachers and/or (former) students.

Come and have look
Don't just believe us, drop by and have a look around, compare and see for yourself. Soon you will be convinced that flower arranging is our speciality.