COMENIUS-LLP- BILATERAL INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE PROJECT CHARLEMAGNECOLLEGE LANDGRAAF THE NETHERLANDS 2013-2014 I.E.S.UROLA IKASTOLA AZPEITIA-AZKOITIA THE BASQUE COUNTRY (SPAIN)
PART I : 9-18 January 2014 The Netherlands PART II: 18 February–27 February 2014 The Basque Country
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Index 1. The participants The Dutch participants The Basque participants The matchings 2. Rules and agreements 3. The programs 4. Our day reports 5. The projects we had to make 6. Some pictures Participants of Charlemagne College in the Bilateral Comenius Project with Urola Ikastola 2013-2014
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Allysha Hanneman Paulissen
Amber Rademakers
Anouk Hakens
Carolijn Hanneman
David
Ejla Pasic
Emma Weelen
Jasmijn Hellebrand
Kelsey Haan
Lidia Lobak
Lorenzo van de Laar Theissen
Lotte Lemmens
Maite Goebbels
Naomi de Vree
Nina
Remy VanderBroeck
Riana Duister
Ruben Moorer
Sophie Dautzenberg
Stef Smeets
This is a list of the participating students from Landgraaf.
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COMENIUS-LLP-BILATERAL INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE PROJECT "Limburgish and Basque in bad times: We need , We offer”. VISIT I.E.S. UROLA IKASTOLA AZPEITIA BASQUE COUNTRY SPAIN TO CHARLEMAGNECOLLEGE LANDGRAAF 9-18 January 2014 Morning
Afternoon/Evening
th
Thursday 9 January
17.00 Meet and great at Location Eijkhagen by host to families
Mr.Hans Luesink will meet and 13.30 Departure great our guests in Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Depart bus from school 13.30 14.45 Arrival at Düsseldorf Airport Basque teachers, Flight number JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ-GIL SERNA MIKEL ALBERDI IRIZAR
Friday 10th January 8.00 Departure to Brussels Host family Mr Luesink and Mrs Bergsma are in 11.00. Visit European charge during that trip Parliament Students bring their own Mrs Ria Oomen Dutch packed lunch The whole group of Dutch and MP member Basque studens take part in this Christian Democrates will be excursion our Host 13.00; Guided tour Brussels Interviews will be done by to Grote Markt and Anouk Hakens – Lotte Lemmens Manneken Pis Maite Goebbels – Jasmijn Free time till 16.00 Hellebrand 18.15 Arrival at school Sophie DautzenbergCarolijn Hanneman
Basque teachers, JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ-GIL SERNA MIKEL ALBERDI IRIZAR
Saturday 11th January Basque teachers,
Family day
Host family
Family day
Hostfamily
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ-GIL SERNA MIKEL ALBERDI IRIZAR IGOR ANDRES OLAIZOLA
Sunday 12th January
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Basque teachers, JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ-GIL SERNA MIKEL ALBERDI IRIZAR IGOR ANDRES OLAIZOLA
Monday 13th January 8.30 Headteacher Hostfamily Mr Luesink and Mr Ketzer are in Jos van Eyk charge from 8.30 –16.00 welcomes the Basque teachers and students Students bring their own • Mr.Hans Luesink packed lunch From 10.30 – 16.00 Introduction of the project All Dutch students are involved at school •Walk around the school Interviews will be done by Anouk Hakens – Lotte Lemmens Maite Goebbels – Jasmijn Hellebrand Sophie DautzenbergCarolijn Hanneman
Basque teachers, JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ-GIL SERNA MIKEL ALBERDI IRIZAR IGOR ANDRES OLAIZOLA
10.30 interview with Mr Jos Eussen Director RCE Rhine-Meuse / United Nations University 12.30. Interview with Mr.Stan Chudy Student International Health Faculty Maastricht Univesity 14.00 Interview with Mr Cor Chudy. Manager “Eurode Bussiness Centre” 16.00. Back home
Tuesday 14th January 8.30 – 11.20 Study time Hostfamily Mr Ketzer is in charge from 8.30 – 11.30 : Departure to 16.00 Coalmine Museum in Blegny (Belgium). Students bring their own From 11.30 – 16.00 are involved: 13.00 You really go down to packed lunch Remy Vanderbroeck pit David Paulissen 15.00 departure to Stef Smeets Landgraaf Lorenzo van de Laar 16.00 Arrival at school Ruben Moorer
Basque teachers, JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ-GIL SERNA MIKEL ALBERDI IRIZAR will leave IGOR ANDRES OLAIZOLA
Wednesday 15th January
Hostfamily 8.30 – 9.15 Study time
Mrs. Bergsma is in charge from 8.30 5
– 16.00
9.30 Visit to the Town Hall. Interview with Dutch Students attend today their Alderman Mr Andy Dritty lessons concerning the project Students bring their own theme packed lunch From 9.15 – 11.00
Interviews in the Town Hall will be done by Anouk Hakens – Lotte Lemmens Maite Goebbels – Jasmijn Hellebrand Sophie DautzenbergCarolijn Hanneman
11.00 Back to school
Basque teachers,
14.30 Departure back to school
11.30 Departure for Continium, Museum Kerkrade The first Discovery Centre in the Netherlands Here yo can discover what Only Basque students will go to the Sience and Technics means Continium museum ! for your life. JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ-GIL SERNA IGOR ANDRES OLAIZOLA
15.00-16.00 Project works Thursday 16th January 8.30-10.10. Study time Hostfamily Mr Ketzer is in charge from 8.30 – 16.00 10.30 Excursion to Eurode Bussiness Centre Students bring their own From 10.30 the following Dutch and the city of Aachen packed lunch students will join the excursion Naomi De Vree 12.00. Visit of Dom and Kelsey Haan Rathaus Lidia Lobak 13.00 Free time Riana Duister Amber Rademakers 15.15 Departure back to Allyshia Hanneman school Emma Weelen 16.00 Arrival at school
Basque teachers, JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ-GIL SERNA IGOR ANDRES OLAIZOLA
Friday 17th January 8.30-10.10. Study time Mrs.Bergsma and Mrs Van Buren 10.10 Break are in charge from 8.30 – 16.00 10.30 Departure From 10.30 the following Dutch Maastricht students will join the excursion 6
Hostfamily
Students bring their own to packed lunch
Anouk Hakens Lotte Lemmens Maite Goebbels Jasmijn Hellebrand Sophie Dautzenberg Carolijn Hanneman
11.30. City Walk, * OL Vrouwe Basiliek * Fortification of Maastricht 12.45 Free time 15.15 Departure back to school
Basque teachers, JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ-GIL SERNA IGOR ANDRES OLAIZOLA
16.00 Arrival at school
Saturday 18th January
Students bring their own packed lunch
6.30 Departure from Eijkhagen Location 10.05 Flight to Bilbao From Düsseldorf Airport
BILATERAL COMENIUS "Limburgish and Basque in bad times: Azkoitia We need , We offer”.
CHARLEMAGNE COLLEGE UROLA IKASTOLA AZKOITIA-AZPEITIA BHI Tuesday 18th February through Thursday 27th February 18 FEBRUARY, TUESDAY
Azpeitia http://www.azpeitia.net/index.php/eu/azpeitia/txokobazterrak Zestoa http://www.zestoa.net/eu/html/44/1506.shtml
Arrival at Bilbo Airport. 18 February: Arrival Bilbao Airport 13.20 o'clock Flight NR SN3713 from Brussels Dutch group collected and transfer to Azkotia-Azpeitia by coach. Meeting with Basque families at +-15:00
19 FEBRUARY, 7:40-09:00 WEDNESDAY Presentation
11:00-12:00
13:00-14:00
14:00
Udalbiltza Iruñea
Iruñea-Pamplona
Free time in IruñeaPamplona
20 FEBRUARY, 7:40-09:00 09:00 THURSDAY Iñaki Homework Mr Irazabalbeitia Project Member of the work European Parliament
10:30 departure 12:30 14:00 Departure 17:00 to Presentation of Free time in DonostiaDonostia-San “Donostia-San San Sebastian Sebastian 2016 Sebastian European Capital of Culture”
“On European Issues”
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Departure 16:30
21 FEBRUARY, 7:40-09:00 09 :00 FRIDAY Homework Departure Project work
10 :30-12 :00 Caves Pozalagua
12:30
14:00
of Bilbo
Departure 17:00
Free time in Bilbao
Guggenheim
22 FEBRUARY, Family day SATURDAY 23 FEBRUARY, Family day SUNDAY 24 FEBRUARY, 7:40-09:00 MONDAY Homework
09 :00
10:00-13:00
Gaztelugatxe- Bermeo
15:30
Departure
Zamudio-Derio
The coast of Bizkaia
Back home
Technology park and Biotechnology workshop
Project work
25 FEBRUARY, 7:40-10:00 TUESDAY Project work
10:00
11:30
13:00
14:00
17:15
Departure Sightseeing Free time in Departure the Vitoria_Gasteiz “On Global, European and from Old Quarter Basque Economy” school of Mr Oskar Arantzabal
VitoriaGasteiz
26 FEBRUARY,
7:40-09:00
WEDN ESDAY
Project work
9:00-10:00
10:0011:00Mrs Ruth Coley 12:00 “New Zeland-Spain-The Loiola Basque Country-Europe “
12:00-13:00-14:00
Home for lunch
Presentation
27 FEBRUARY, DEPARTURE 11:00 CHECK-IN TIME 12:00 27th February: Departure flight from Bilbao Airport 14.00 THURSDAY o'clock Flight Nr SN3714 to Brussels
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The Day reports 18-02-2014 We all had to wake up really early in the morning, because at 7 o’clock we had to be at Eijkhagen. Our bus left a few minutes after 07:00 and after driving for 2,5 hours we finally arrived at Brussels airport. After we gave our luggage and our carry-on-baggage was checked we had some free-time, most of us used the time to eat something or to look around in the shops. At 11:15 our airplane took off and we flew to Bilbao, Basquecountry. The flight was good and took about 2 hours, we had a little bit of turbulence but it wasn’t that bad. When we arrived in Bilbao we still had to drive for an hour before we arrived in Azkoitia, Azpeitia and Zestoa. We met our host family at about 15:00 and we had some time with them. Around 17:00 we all went to Azpeitia, to a local of one of the Basque girls. We sat around and had something to eat, we talked with the other Basque and Dutch students and we got to know each other a little bit better. We went to see the church and we walked around a little bit. In the evening we went back home and everybody did something else with their host family. Anouk
19-02-2014 Because it was our first real (school) day in the Basque country, we first got an explanation of the things we were going to do at the Basque country, what we were going to do that day, got explained some rules and how we had to behave. After that they guided us a bit through the school. Then someone gave a presentation about the city we were going to visit which was Pamplona which is famous for its bull races. After all the presentation and explanation stuff we went with the bus to Udalbiltza Iruñea, where we got another presentation about their view on Europe, the Basque country and Spain, the presentation wasn’t always clear because of the accent of the presentator. After everyone had peed (because in the bus itself was no toilet) we continued our bus trip to Pamplona, where we first got another presentation and then finally some free time. In the free time most of us went to the burger king to eat something or just walked a bit around in the town, the only stupid thing about it was that most of the shops were closed at that time because they had their lunch break. Then we went back to school and got picked up by our guest families. And then I think for the most of us it was different from what they did after school, but we went that evening to the local of the girls in Azkoitia, met some of their friends and went home at around 10 pm. By Ejla Pašić & Nina Theissen 9
20-02-2014 We started the day with one and a half tour homework time. After that we had a presentation from a member of the European Parlement: Inaki Irazabalbeitia Fernandez, he told us about the Europeon Union, what he does for the Basque country and how it is to have job in the European Parlement. Than the ´boring´ part was almost over. And it was time to go to San Sebastian with the bus. After a 45 minute bus drive, the bus driver gave us a guided tour through the beautiful Donostia. When it was over we went to the cultural centre, the building used to be a fire station but now they are using it for cultural activities. San Sebastian is nominated for the cultural city 2016 of Europe. SO a guide gave us a presentation about it. The ´boring´ part was officially terminada! We walked to the old part of the city with the whole group. Than it was time to go to the beach, shop and discover the secrets of San Sebastian. Emma Weelen & Allysha Hanneman
21-02-2014 After a very long drive through a mountainous area of the Basque country we arrived at the caves. We had a very interesting tour there and we got to see the stalactites and stalagmites. Afterwards we went to Bilbao. WE were dropped at the Guggenheim Museum. The rest of the day we walked through the city, went to some shops and had some food. Lorenzo van de Laar & Ruben Moorer
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22-02-2014 The majority of us went to San Sebastian in the early morning because our Basque students had to make an exam. We stayed there all day and ate Mc Donalds. Jasmijn, Maite and Ruben went to Elgoibar in the afternoon by taxi. We went to several clubs and danced. We took the bus at around 21u back to Azpeitia, went to the centre and visited a lot of bars untill 4/5hclock. Maite Goebbels & Jasmijn Hellebrand
23-02-2014 We woke up at 11.30. at 13.00 went we to the port at Gataria. with both families. It was really beautiful. We went to the bar and had a little snack. After that we went to Zarautz and had lunch. It was a big lunch with chicken, chips and salad. The meat wasn't good because it wasn't cooked. After that we went to the beach and met Stef and David with their exchange partners. but we didn't walk with them. we went home. in the evening Naomi went to Ane's grandmother and had dinner. Naomi de Vree & Kelsey Haan
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24-02-2014 Today we woke up at 6 o´ clock, Riana’s breakfast was sandwich with chicken and Lidia’s breakfast was milk with cookies. We walked to school in ten minutes. We got an hour to do our homework. At 9 o´ clock we departured to the technology park, we stayed there till 1 o´ clock. We liked it and it was very interesting. The building was very beautiful, it had the shape of a pyramid and it had a lot of lights with different colours. We learned a lot about DNA and we had a biotechnology workshop which we liked the most. Our guide put a lot of effort into talking English, we liked him. He explained everything very good even though it was his first workshop in English. We also played a lot of technology games which we also learned from! After that we went to the coast of Bermeo, we took a lot of pictures because it was beautiful. We ate ice cream but unfortunately we only stayed half an hour, the weather was good so we enjoyed the day. When we got home Riana went for a walk through the town with Amber because their matches had to study. Lidia was with Sophie, Maite and their matches and they went to a carnivals shop in Azkoitia, after that they walked to Azpeitia, it was a long walk.. but after all it was a great day! Lidia Lobak & Riana Duister
25-02-2014 Almost the last day started from our stay in the Basque Country. Today we had to do project work, and we also had to do our homework :(. After that we had a presentation from Mr Oskar Arantzbal. He told something about the economic situation in the Basque Country, but also something about the economic from the global. After that, we went to Victoria Gasteiz. A very important place in the Basque Country. Sightseeing the Old Quarter of Victoria Gasteiz was the first thing we did there. We saw some old buildings and we learned something about Victoria Gasteiz. After that we had free time! We got some food, and we shopped. At 5 o'clock we left at Vitoria Gasteiz by bus. Sophie Dautzenberg Hanneman
&
Carolijn
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26-02-2014 We started this day by coming to school at 7:40 am for an hour and twenty minutes of project work. After this, Mrs Ruth Coley gave a presentation about ‘’New Zealand-Spain-The Basque Country-Europe’’. She talked about the relations between these areas and what it’s like to move to a completely different country and how the cultural differences changed her way of daily life. After this presentation we were supposed to go to Loiola, the birthplace and basilica of Ignatius de Loyola. But since we had already visited Loiola in the first week of our visit, we stayed at school and got the presentations of the Basque students earlier than planned. We got quick looks at the presentations of the Basque students and after this, at around 2 a clock, we were dismissed from school and went to the local. The rest of the day consisted of sitting in the local, playing soccer and eating. Remy VanderBroeck & David Paulissen
27- 02- 2014: Today we went back home. We were at school at 7:40 and then we sat there a few hours. At 11:00 we said goodbye to our exchange students and we went to ‘Bilbao Airport’. There we have spent 3 hours for tax-free shopping and sitting in a little restaurant. At 14:00 we sat in the airplane to Brussels. The flight took about 2 hours so around 16:00 we arrived at Brussels. A few minutes later we sat in the bus so at 19:00 we arrived at Eijkhagen College. All our parents were waiting for us so it was a nice ‘meeting again’. Amber Rademakers & Stef Smeets
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Economical Situation Euregio History of Kerkrade and Herzogenrath Two places that are tight confederated are Kerkrade and Herzogenrath. In 1804, the consisting borders were abolished. The whole region was included in the big, French, empire. Throughout the years, a lot of things happened and changed. But the dialect, culture and a lot of familial aspects and social contacts just remained. There is a road exactly at the border between Germany and the Netherlands, the Neustraβe/Nieuwstraat. At one side, Dutch people live, and at the other side, German people live. The border between Herzogenrath and Kerkrade has never really formed an obstacle for the intesive contacts between the people from Germany and the Netherlands. After the First Worldwar this changed. For the first time, a physical border arose. A high fence was placed right at the border and soldiers patrolled to secure it. After the Second Worldwar, the bordermarkings dissapeared gradually. But, only after the Berlin Wall fell and the opening of the European borders, both municipals wished to get the wall destroyed on the Neustraβe/ Nieuwstraat so that a whole new start could be made. The Euregio Meuse-Rhine The euregio Meuse-Rhine is one of Europe’s many euregio’s. What is special about our euregio is the cooperation between 3 countries: Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The Meuse-Rhine euregio consists of the following provinces Liège, Limburg (Belgian), the German-speaking community, the Region of Cologne and Limburg (Dutch). The euregio has around 3,9 million inhabitants in total. EMR has expert groups on 8 issues, one of those 8 topics is economical development. One of its aims is to strengthen the cooperation between universities and colleges. Possible courses of action to achieve this cooperation are: -Increasing communication between the universities and colleges. -Education and research supply, exchange projects -Supporting cooperation agreements in the area of exchange of students, teachers and researchers between colleges and universities . -Sharing specialized infrastructure Stimulating cross-border initiatives . The 2nd aim is the transfer of knowledge between industries and schools. Some possible courses of action are: -Increasing the communication between the industries, schools, employers organizations and employee organizations, development associations and innovation centra. -Exchanging best practices. -And again stimulate cross-border initiatives with special attention for euregional growth sectors. The 3rd aim is to stimulate relations between businesses within the EMR. -Searching for ways to finance. -Stimulating cross-border initiatives with special attention for cross-border innovation projects between businesses. -Consultation with Euregiochambers, employers organizations, employee organizations, development associations and innovation centra.
Made by Ruben Moorer & Lorenzo van de Laar
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Description social cultural situation Euregio (introduction) First, as an intro, we would like to tell you what an Euregio is; an Euregio is an area (mostly in different countries) and the whole area works together, as a covenant. We are specifically talking about the Euregio Rijn-Maas, because that’s where we live. In 1991, this Euregio got a juridical rank, because of the partnership, according to the rights of the Netherlands. The chairmanship from EMR changes every three years and is at the German speaking community. The Euregio has three official languages: Dutch, German and French. But a lot of people (mostly the older ones) also speak other languages like: dialects. The last couple of years there is a revolution: English is becoming the lingua franca (language that all the people speak), that has it’s benefits of course, but also his disadvantages. The big benefit is: we all have one language, so we can understand each other very well, but the disadvantage is: it is a little artificial when we don’t speak our mother language. So when we look at the language aspect, the Euregio teamwork is only a little successful. Although, the Dutch people speak a lot of German, but the French language is often skipped because it’s ‘too hard’ and ‘not easy’ to learn. That’s a shame and we got to do something about it, we can’t just wait ‘till our neighbors start learning Dutch because that’s not going to happen. Another aspect that has to do with language is: migration. Those migrants are mostly: Italian people, Turkish people, and people from Morocco, so the mix of all these languages is what the Euregio makes so interesting. It is a little difficult, but that’s ok, because for every difficulty we got a solution (or we got to find some). Now we are going to another aspect of the Euregion: Tourism. The Euregio is a very touristic side of Europe. This is because it is beautiful to visit and it has so much to offer. Almost everybody can speak English, so that is also a benefit for tourists, you never have a discussion or misunderstanding The mines are actually the roots from the Euregion. Because of our long history with the mines, it all started. Queen Beatrix would have had proposed, that it could be a great idea that we all work together. The closing of the mines was a serious problem around here. She thought that if we worked together, we could solve it. At least, an important aspect of the Euregion is that most people have the same religion. The majority is Christian, which is really fortunate for when important decisions have to be made. For example, if the stores can be open on a Sunday or if we can work on a Sunday. Therefore, the Germans, the Dutch and the Belgium’s have a lot of the same habits. If here were a lot of supporters from many religions, it would be difficult to make such decisions. Because we’re a lot alike, we can work together to make something great of this Euregion. The never have thought of working together in politics or in the economy. This are the most important things you need to know about the cultural aspects of the Euregio.
Made by: Amber Rademakers, Lidia Lobak and Riana Duister.
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What is a Euregio? A Euregio is a cross-border grouping of areas that lie in the European Union. Euregions are located throughout Europe. EUREGIO, Euregio also unofficially referred to as Gronau-Enschede, Euregio, the official name of the first is a European cross-border interregional cooperation. The EUREGIO was founded in 1958 and consists of 130 German and Dutch municipalities. The Euregio Meuse-Rhine is a regional cross-border partnership composed of Dutch, German and Belgian (Flemish and Walloon) part regions: the southern part of the Dutch province of Limburg (to Roermond); the Belgian province of Limburg; the region of Aachen and the Belgian province of Liège, to which the German-speaking Community (DG) as an independent partner also belongs. In 1991 got this euregio partnership a legal status as Foundation according to Dutch law. Situation now: Politics: each partner region has the right to appoint three additional political representatives so that there is a total of 20 Board members are.The Presidency of the Board and so of the Euregio Maas-Rijn Foundation be rotated every three years. The Board members are: • the served as Regierungspräsident of Cologne for the Aachen region • the Queen's Commissioner of the Dutch province Limburg • the Governor of the province of Belgian Limburg • the Governor of the province of Liège • the Prime Minister of the German-speaking community of Belgium We need neighbouring countries because there are problems where more countries are involved. If there is only one country that is trying to change the problem it won’t help, because the other countries keep on doing and don’t change so the problem will stay. Precisely in this Euregio you see that national political squabbles than failing to economically dynamic growth. The region has suffered from that nationalistic thinking, but the country eventually. After all: the income, the prosperity of Netherlands, what about the border is earned. The Netherlands earn at every euro regular exports from domestic production of Limburg and Southeast Brabant about sixty to seventy cents
Made by Kelsey de Haan & Naomi de Vree
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Interview Andy Dritty (alderman of Landgraaf) 1. You are one of the executives of the municipality Landgraaf, what is your specific task? As one of the alderman I am responsible for the “wallet”: finances, spatial developments, the economy, tourism and regional collaboration Parkstad Limburg. 2. What municipality’s do you work together with? Is there also euregional collaboration? There is a lot of collaboration on different scales. There is a jointed social service for the municipalities of Landgraaf, Brunssum and Onderbanken. On a quite bigger scale there is a regional collaboration within Parkstad Limburg (Heerlen, Kerkrade, Brunssum, Landgraaf, Onderbanken, Simpelveld, Voerendaal en Nuth). 3. Could you tell us someting about these collaborations? What are the benefits of these collaborations? With the collaborations you prevent the municipalities from competing against each other. Especially in areas where more buildings are demolished then built, it is important that you aren’t going to fight for the same citizens. In the end, all the municipalities have to deal with a decrease in citizens. 4. In
which are you involved with the aging in Parkstad? To align regional which buildings have to be demolished and which buildings have to stay. We also decide how many buildings a municipality is allowed to build within a couple of years.
5. Is it true that, for example, Landgraaf has an decreasing number of citizens? How is this possible? This is true indeed. The cause of this is twofold. On the one side, the birth number is decreasing the last couple of years. On the other hand, young people often find a job outside of the region Parkstad after their study. 6. What is the consequence of de Krimp in Parkstad? The composition of the people change. There are more elderly people and for a municipality it is important to take into account that these people need other things than younger people. We have to make sure that there is more healthcare and meeting spots than otherwise. 7. What can be done about it? It is very important that the economy in each municipality is stable and as strong as possible. If we can make this happen, than there will be more jobs for younger people and the our number of citizens will increase. 8. What is it like with “aging” within associations? Associations are working together now, in this way they have enough members.
Made by Anouk Hakens & Lotte Lemmens
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Questions for the European Parliament 1.Wat doet het Europees Parlement zoal voor Nederland? What does the European Parliament do for the Netherlands? 2.Wat gaat er veranderen in jullie bestuur in 2014? What will change in your board? 3.Wat is Uw taak? What is your job? 4.Is het altijd al Uw droom geweest om in het Europees Parlement te komen? Was it always your dream to be a part of the European Parliament? 5.Draait het bij het Europees Parlement alleen maar om de politiek en economie van Europa? Is the central to the European Parliament just to the politics and economics of Europe? Answers from Ria Oomen 1. 'The European Parliament shall ensure cooperation between all countries within Europe. It is a general agreement about politics and economics. ' 2.'I can't say a lot about that, because I'm not sure' said Ms. Oomen 'But I know that there are some countries that we want to engage more with our consultations.' 4.'No, absolutely not. I never planned to be part of the European Parliament, it just went this way.' 5. 'No, it's about the cooperation between countries, we want to make ONE Europe. We want that people can travel from country to country without any problems. We want to make it easy for them to pass borders.' What does your day look like? Ms. Oomen said: ‘ We start the day with conventions, where we talk about decisions we have to make. When we are ready I go to my office. On Fridays it’s different. Mostly I need to go to Paris, where we have conventions too. In the weekend I have my relaxing time, but sometimes there are still things I need to do, so I need to offer some private time.’ Answers from Jeroen Lenaers ( I didn't ask all the questions, just a few) 3. ' What I'm doing now is reading a lot of reviews as I said. It's a little bit boring because all I have to do is reading through hunderds of these. And I hope that it will change soon so I can start a "real Job".' 4.No, I became part of the European Parliament through many detours. And I'm not really a "part" of the European Parliament yet. I first need to be 18
selected, so I hope a lot of the dutch people wil vote for me, even though you are a little to young to vote.' said Mr. Lenaers jokingly
Made by Jasmijn & Maite
The possibilities in the future of our Euroregion
-Social-cultural -Economically -Politically
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Social-cultural: The Euroregion Maas-Rijn has the potential to develop into a Burgundy region between now and 2020 and to make the various cultural and touristic offer better known and more attractive. There will be worked together at connecting, developing and promoting of touristic and cultural possibilities. To enjoy is important with this. Through the fund of little social-cultural projects with the regional look, citizens will be able to organise associations, organizations and activities which will stimulate the social contacts between the people from the Euroregion. The goal of this is to strengthen the feeling that people are a part of the Euroregion Maas-Rijn. To also strengthen this feeling, we need a lingua franca, which will be English.
Economically: In the Euroregion there is a big problem which causes economical problems, and that problem is a declining workforce. We have to make sure that this problem isn’t going to increase, and we have to fix it. This is the only way the Euroregion is heading forward to a successful future. The declining workforce is caused by younger people moving to popular and urbane regions. This way there are less schools and households, which again causes vacant houses and buildings. This again causes the prices to drop, and the remaining debts from the mortgages will rise. Also the social and commercial facilities change, which is especially noticeable in the sport- and welfare facilities. The purchasing behavior from older people is really different compared to the purchasing behavior from young people. A lot of stores and catering industry will see their prices falling.
To fix this problem it is important to connect students to companies and organizations from the region, to strengthen the cooperation from the Eurorigion. Otherwise the workforce will continue to decline, and then the economy will deteriorate.
At the same time we see problems like depletion of natural resources, the depletion of the ozone layer, the acidification and overfertilisation of soil and 20
crops and the decline in the diversity of landscapes and species. So if we don’t try to control and improve climate change, it will cause huge economical costs. The Euroregion, economically and politically, therefore have the challenge to reduce the pressures on the environment and promote a sustainable, economical development. That’s why the Euroregion has to stimulate projects which distinguish themselves by their eco-efficient character and which are committed to guarantee welfare, freedom and quality of life for the current future generation. Politically: Since the 1980ties the Netherlands only thought about population growth, but now the population is shrinking. The population ‘krimp’ is especially around the borders of the Netherlands, this means it is also in Zuid-Limburg. This is also the only region in the Netherlands where the coming years only more population ‘krimp’ and shrinking of the working population is expected. They also expect a decrease of the households. This has consequences for the labour market, the regional economy, the regional facilities and the buying and selling of houses. It is possible that the negative image of the region reinforces the shrinking of the population. How do the decision-makers react on the permanent population shrink? At the end of the 19th century the places that worked together in the mines had to come up with a new name, because they had to get rid of the mine image. So they came up with Parkstad. They chose this name because there are a lot of woods and other kinds of nature in the area. But the stad (city) suggests more the form of a strong unit than it is now. Perhaps there should be more form of a strong unit, the common name and the common redeveloping projects will bring more association in economic and social ways. To make the cities look better, they are going to rebuilt things. For example, the train station in Heerlen, ‘het Maankwartier’ is being built to give Heerlen a better impression. The new train station is only the first thing; the local authorities plan to renovate more buildings. One of the reasons why they make all this changes is because they want to make Parkstad more attractive for people who live in other parts of the country. The perspective for the coming decennia does not look very good, because of the shrink of the population but most of the regions accepted it now. The shrink becomes now the motivation for new developing plans. In Parkstad are mostly family houses and apartments, which are often not in a good condition. If the quality of the houses was better it would perhaps keep 21
the young families in Parkstad in the future. The local authorities start with removing houses and buildings and rebuild with more quality en less in quantity. Also green environment will be created. The problems that are descripted in are also problems in the Euroregion. Wake up and smell the coffee! There are a few things which are very important for the future of our generation. Because if we carry on like this not even half of our generation will get a job. Because people from developing countries are more often finishing their school. We have to be prepared for a huge amount of young people with a good education. That is why we have to fight for our future! It is important to learn more about ecology, and discover it yourself. With this knowledge you have a better chance of good future. Sitting in your classroom listening to teachers day in day out is not a good way of learning. Learning is something you have to do by yourself, by discovering the world. It would be a lot better if classes would look like this: 2/3 lessons, do a good workout (gym), and at the end just go out in the world and explore, discover. If we want a good future we have to break borders, re-unite this region and empower the young people. Otherwise the future is not looking good. It is very important that we go global, multi-cultrate and create one world. That is the only way a big part of our generation will be able to find work.
Made by Emma Weelen & Allysha Hanneman
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Some pictures
Stef, David and Ejla
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Some of the students taking a last picture together in the Netherlands
Some Dutch students in Iru単ea- Pamplona
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Some Dutch students in Donostia-San Sebastian
b Brussels. 25
Donostia-San Sebastian
Remy having fun at the coalmine museum in Belgium.
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School Azpeitia
View on sea 27
Iru単ea-Pamplona
Some students in Donostia-San Sebastian
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View on the top of a mountain
Swimming in Donostia-San Sebastian
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