{"id":137577,"date":"2022-03-12T08:41:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-12T07:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=137577"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:11","slug":"josephine-wants-to-make-berg-en-dal-in-gelderland-more-appealing-to-young-people-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/03\/12\/josephine-wants-to-make-berg-en-dal-in-gelderland-more-appealing-to-young-people-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Josephine wants to make Berg en Dal in Gelderland more appealing to young people again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlike Delft and Utrecht, Rotterdam does not have a political party catering specifically to students, but quite a few EUR students are standing for municipal councils representing other political parties all over the Netherlands. EM<\/em> will speak to five such students in the run-up to the 16 March municipal elections. In this episode,\u00a0Josephine Hartmann, at the age of nineteen already a local board member of the CDA.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMigle Alonderyte<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cWe\u2019re now distributing flyers and campaigning.\u201d As a board member of the local CDA party and number 6 on the list, that\u2019s really all you do in the week before the municipal council elections But if you\u2019re also a Sociology and Philosophy student and have an exam to do, there are times when you have to say no to your fellow board members. \u201cSometimes, you just can\u2019t do everything,\u201d says Josephine Hartmann (19) on the phone, as she leaves her study place in the library. \u201cAt the moment I\u2019m a flying board member, because I obviously go back quite a lot, if my studies allow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018At the moment I\u2019m a flying board member\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

New life<\/h2>

For Hartmann, back means Berg en Dal, near Nijmegen. Which makes the logistics even more complicated. To be able to take part in all the election debates, distribute flyers and do market presentations in between her lectures, seminars and exams, she has to travel several times a week between Rotterdam and the municipality on the German border. \u201cI went there and back on Monday, there and back on Tuesday, Thursday I went to Berg en Dal again, and I\u2019ll spend the whole weekend campaigning.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her older board colleagues, it\u2019s sometimes difficult to understand that she also has other priorities. But after a year on the CDA board, Hartmann notices that her age also has advantages. She\u2019s not just responsible for the social media of the local party; she also knows exactly what local young people need.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the young people leave Berg en Dal after secondary school. If I\u2019m elected to the council, I want to lobby the municipality to make it more appealing for young people to return. Most importantly, the associations need to be managed better. The municipality can help there. If the associations do well, life will return and people will get to know each other better.\u201d<\/p>\n

No windmills<\/h2>

Windmills are another important theme for Hartmann and the CDA in Berg en Dal. Not that the party is against clean and sustainable energy, but is should be achieved differently. \u201cWindmills really don\u2019t suit this municipality and the landscape. I want to focus on solar panels and solar fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Hartmann will be able to fight for her plans in the council over the next four years is not yet certain. In the local opinion poll, the party has six seats, which would be just enough. However, she isn\u2019t sure whether she will accept the seat herself. \u201cI can combine being a board member with my studies, but as a council member that\u2019s much harder. And I\u2019d need to move back to Berg en Dal if I\u2019m elected. So I\u2019ll probably give back the seat if it comes to it, but I hope that we get six seats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Lees meer<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t