Youth departments of six Brabant parties have sent a wish list to the scout who is trying to form a new provincial coalition. They all want less nitrogen emissions, but also that more buildings are built for students. They also ask for good public transport, including a ‘home delivery bus’ that runs at night from the major cities to the smaller villages.
The young people of the VVD, Volt, PvdA, GroenLinks, D66 and Party for the Animals want young people from Brabant to be explicitly taken into account in the coalition agreement. “It is important that the voice of young people is heard.”
Ruben Bals (19) is a board member of DWARS Brabant-Zeeland, the youth department of GroenLinks. He believes that the province should provide good public transport. With a home delivery bus, the village youth should also be able to get home at night. This gives young people more freedom.
“The differences may be smaller than we think.”
The province must also insist on more night trains between Brabant, Belgium and Germany, says Bjorn Beijnon, chairman of the Brabantse Volt.
Bals states that the youth departments agree on the goals, although they do not always agree on the desired approach. Take reducing nitrogen emissions. “We can differ about how to do that, but it is clear to all of us that those emissions must be reduced.”
“We all want a healthy future.”
When asked whether such a letter is useful, Ruben Bals can be very brief: Yes. “Our letter shows that the youth parties in Brabant can agree on these points. The differences may be less than we think.”
That is why the parties also want more youth participation. “Young people deserve a permanent place at the table, especially on important topics. The province must also work on that. We all want a healthy future.”