Broad Rotterdam Student Council has first months behind it: ‘We are now really taking part at city level’

The Broad Rotterdam Student Council has completed its first steps. The students are expected to provide aldermen with advice, both solicited and unsolicited. Lourdes Wansink Manglano, Manuela Bartolovic and Dogukan Demirbuken are council members on behalf of the university. “I hope we can give something back to Rotterdam.”

The Broad Rotterdam Student Council, or BRS as the council members themselves call it, was installed in September 2025. The council consists of 21 students from vocational education (mbo), universities of applied sciences (hbo) and universities, representing eleven of the city’s thirteen educational institutions. The aim is to involve students in municipal decision-making and to level the playing field between vocational, applied sciences and university students.

“We are now really taking part at city level”, says third-year Public Administration student Dogukan Demirbuken. Over the past few months, the students have been working together with policy adviser. Demirbuken worked with a staff member on the findability and accessibility of mental health support for students. “I thought: wow, we are actually talking directly with a municipal policy adviser now.”

The council members are divided into six committees, such as ‘innovative and sustainable Rotterdam education policy’, ‘student life’ and ‘diversity and inclusion’. Over the past few months, they have been working on plans and objectives within their respective themes. These will be presented this month.

Student wellbeing

Demirbuken considers his theme, ‘student wellbeing and support’, to be important: “Your student years are supposed to be the best time of your life.” But he sees around him that students are under a lot of pressure, for example during exam periods. “The atmosphere in the university library really changes. I find it intense that students experience so much stress that they develop mental problems.” For him, wellbeing also includes physical safety. “The campus is open until late. Students need to feel safe when walking to the tram or metro in the evening.”

Lourdes Wansink Manglano, a third-year International Psychology student, has joined the same committee. “This topic is very close to my heart.” She sees a lot of loneliness around her. “At university you don’t have, as in vocational or applied sciences education, a fixed class. Making friends can then be very difficult.” She is also part of the committee on innovative and sustainable Rotterdam education policy. There, the students mainly focus on AI, ‘and how we find the balance’ between how AI can help education or, on the contrary, hinder students’ development, Wansink Manglano explains. “We are planning, for example, to place the AI regulations of all educational institutions side by side.”

Advice to the municipality

The students on the council, many of whom come from participation councils at their own institutions, will soon be advising aldermen on all kinds of issues that matter to students. An alderman can approach the council for advice, but the students are also allowed to present advice themselves, unsolicited, to a relevant alderman. The alderman must then consider it, explains Jeroen Jongejan, who supports the council on behalf of the Municipality of Rotterdam.

“I wanted to get a taste of municipal work”, says Manuela Bartolovic, who studies History and Psychology. She is vice-chair of the council and oversees two committees (student wellbeing and support, and innovative and sustainable Rotterdam education policy). She acts as the point of contact between the council members in those committees and Jeroen Jongejan from the municipality. She continues: “Soon the lines between educational institutions, policy officers and the BRS will be much shorter. I think that’s when we can really make an impact.”

Vocational, applied sciences and university together

“The municipality sees that students tend to stay within their own bubble”, says Jongejan. That was something it wanted to address. “By bringing together students from different educational levels, we hope to reduce inequality and create equal opportunities”, he explains. Wansink Manglano: “It’s very interesting to talk with students outside the university about, for example, the accessibility of mental health support within their institutions.” Demirbuken: “Working together with all educational levels actually works quite well. Hearing other perspectives also broadens my horizon. Now that I’m on the council, I also see how vocational and applied sciences students look at things.”

In its infancy

The council is still in its infancy. As a result, the start was somewhat chaotic. Not all council members began at the same time, and it was sometimes unclear to students what exactly they were working towards. “But that’s also quite logical”, says Wansink Manglano. Demirbuken: “It’s only the first edition of the BRS, so you don’t have an example to follow.” Bartolovic adds: “I think a lot of clarity will come once the committees have put their vision on paper.”

Soon, the council will get its own place on the municipality’s website, and the students also hope to launch an Instagram page. Demirbuken is very much looking forward to advising the municipality. “I hope we can really give something back to Rotterdam.” He was born and raised in Rotterdam and grew up in Pendrecht, in the south. He loves his city. “I hope the municipality listens and adopts a constructive attitude.”

The Broad Rotterdam Student Council emerged from the New Rotterdam Education Policy. Part of that policy is ‘Rotterdam Student City’, which aims to make students feel at home in the city. One of the municipality’s goals was to increase student participation, which is how the idea for the council came about. There is room on the council for 26 students.