Meeleespanel Kerkrade: Together for understandable communication
During the Week of Reading and Writing, the Meeleespanel was put in the spotlight during a festive gathering. In this week, which takes place every year in September, extra attention was asked for low literacy in the Netherlands. Because the Meeleespanel is committed to this, this was celebrated with a piece of flan for all members.
After the festivities, the panel set to work reading through a leaflet and a web page from the municipality. Each sentence was carefully read aloud and discussed. Are the sentences clear? Or were difficult words used? All comments were noted and are then used to improve texts. In this way, the municipality wants to ensure that they are understandable and accessible to everyone.
Understandable communication
The work of the Meeleespanel panel ensures that the communication of the municipality of Kerkrade becomes increasingly clear and accessible to all residents. This contributes not only to understandable communication, but also to a municipality in which everyone feels heard and understood.
Since 2022, the Meeleespanel of the municipality of Kerkrade has been helping to make communication more understandable and accessible. Every month, a group of concerned residents get together to review various texts from the municipality, such as letters and web pages. The residents then provide advice based on their experience and background.
People from different backgrounds
The Meelees panel consists of residents of Kerkrade and surrounding areas with different backgrounds such as people who have difficulty reading and writing due to low literacy, a migration background or visual impairment. They are all experts by experience and/or language ambassadors. These are people who used to have trouble reading and writing and therefore have a good understanding of the challenges faced by people who have difficulty with language.
Join us!
Does your background match the Meeleespanel and would you like to use your experience to contribute to understandable communication for all Kerkrade residents? The municipality is always looking for new members for the Meeleespanel. As thanks for your efforts, you will receive a VVV voucher after each meeting. The panel meets once every six weeks for a meeting of about an hour and a half. Are you interested? Then contact Patricia Marcic, policy officer for Welfare, at patricia.marcic@kerkrade.nl or send an app or voice message to 06 48 12 7025.
