The municipality of Kerkrade attaches great importance to the perspective of young people

Both the Boys' Advisory Council and the Children's Council Kerkrade are there for young people, but are therefore also run by young people. This allows them to influence their own voices. The core task of both councils is to advise the college, solicited and unsolicited, on issues raised both by the municipality and by them themselves.

Young people are our "ears and eyes," so to speak, within the various districts of Kerkrade. After all, they are at school, live in the districts and therefore know better than anyone else what is going on in the municipality. What they like and find well organised in our municipality, but also where things could be improved.

Alderman Jo Schlangen ( Youth and Education): "We would like to let the youth participate, think along and come to a decision together. After all, that is the basis for democracy."

Mayor Dassen adds: "Who better to advise us on the wishes, needs and bottlenecks that young people encounter within our municipality than these young people themselves? Young people often look at certain issues with a refreshing and different perspective. This youthful perspective certainly helps us as a municipality in determining our policy and ensuring that it is nice living in Kerkrade for everyone. In recent months I have already had the pleasure of working with our children's mayor Hidde Sieler, who represents the Children's Council as chairman. We are in close contact with both councils."

Children's Council Kerkrade

The children's council represents young people up to the age of 12 in the municipality of Kerkrade. It consists of a delegation of group 7 pupils from all elementary school of the MOVARE educational foundation in Kerkrade and from out-of-school childcare centers Parkstad (KOP). Members serve on the council for two years at a time.

Jens Hanssen (Children's Council member): "I'm glad I'm on the Children's Council so I can point out things that adults might not notice at all."
This is precisely why youth participation is so important. Reasoning and seeking solutions from the perception of youth.

The Children's Council itself has compiled a list of 15 topics, which they indicate they consider important and would like to work on. These include topics such as poverty and traffic safety around the school, but also the future Martin Buber College and the (in)safety of the Internet are topics of discussion.

Youth Advisory Council

The Youth Advisory Council represents young people between the ages of 12 and 26 in Kerkrade. It has three focus areas, namely poverty and debt, VIE and young family caregivers. However, this is not to say that they do not discuss other topics that are considered important by them.

Noa Heutz (Youth Advisory Council member): "I think young people should express their ideas and creativity because young people often have a completely different image/vision than other age groups. To achieve this goal, the Youth Advisory Council is a perfect starting point."

In issuing opinions, both the Youth Advisory Council and the Children's Council Kerkrade are supported and guided by several officials, who incorporate all their findings into a memo to the college and the city council.

Youth Participation

The municipality of Kerkrade is conducting a pilot together with five other municipalities in the Netherlands (including Groningen, Urk and Etten-Leur), in which we are learning from each other how best to do justice to youth participation.

This year, a few members of Youth Advisory Council and the Children's Council will introduce themselves in the town journal and talk about what concerns them.