Published article: Youngsters in the driver's seat
A sustainable future begins with a generation that realises that a better world starts with them. On Sunday, February 7, some 200 students aged between 14 and 19 from several European countries arrived in the province of North-Brabant (NL) for the project "Youngsters in the driver's seat for local sustainable development". In groups, they worked as journalists and research consultants on 15 cases related to sustainable development in the province of North-Brabant.
Space for water
The young people from vocational and secondary education are literally 'in the driver's seat’ for the duration of the event. Their sustainability investigations included the Room for the River project and, at the start of the event, about 13 students from the Netherlands, Romania and Hungary listened with amazement to the story of the Overdiepse Polder. "Most of the Netherlands lies below sea level," says Maartje Thijssen of the Brabant Delta waterboard ,"Dikes, dunes and polders are now quite common for the Dutch, but we are only able to live and work as a result of these measures". Climatic changes call for new measures but, instead of protection against water at different places in the Netherlands, the Dutch policy is to give water more space. The Overdiepse Polder is one of the locations where this has taken place.
Young professionals
The students presented their findings at the end of the day. "I realize that we are working on security for the future," said one student. Board member Louis van der Kallen is impressed: "That is exactly what matters," he said, "we are working together for future generations." Read more (in Dutch) …
Click here for press release (in Dutch).
Picture source: Flyer Europese Jongeren Conferentie, December 2009
A sustainable future begins with a generation that realises that a better world starts with them. On Sunday, February 7, some 200 students aged between 14 and 19 from several European countries arrived in the province of North-Brabant (NL) for the project "Youngsters in the driver's seat for local sustainable development". In groups, they worked as journalists and research consultants on 15 cases related to sustainable development in the province of North-Brabant.
Space for water
The young people from vocational and secondary education are literally 'in the driver's seat’ for the duration of the event. Their sustainability investigations included the Room for the River project and, at the start of the event, about 13 students from the Netherlands, Romania and Hungary listened with amazement to the story of the Overdiepse Polder. "Most of the Netherlands lies below sea level," says Maartje Thijssen of the Brabant Delta waterboard ,"Dikes, dunes and polders are now quite common for the Dutch, but we are only able to live and work as a result of these measures". Climatic changes call for new measures but, instead of protection against water at different places in the Netherlands, the Dutch policy is to give water more space. The Overdiepse Polder is one of the locations where this has taken place.
Young professionals
The students presented their findings at the end of the day. "I realize that we are working on security for the future," said one student. Board member Louis van der Kallen is impressed: "That is exactly what matters," he said, "we are working together for future generations." Read more (in Dutch) …
Click here for press release (in Dutch).
Picture source: Flyer Europese Jongeren Conferentie, December 2009
