Understanding each other in a diverse Maastricht

You may remember that some time ago we submitted written questions to the municipality about what they are doing to protect the Limburg language and culture. We recently received a response to these questions. While we cannot share these answers here, we can say that the municipality shares our concerns and will actively work to preserve and promote the Limburg language. They would like to see Limburgish included in the local school curriculum, are currently working on a council proposal to boost local language and culture, and are in close contact with both the province and the national government on this issue. A step in the right direction!

The Council of Europe states that the Limburgish language and culture receive too little attention from the Dutch government. Limburgish is under pressure from Dutch, German and French and if more attention is not paid to the language it could even become extinct in the future. The language is an incredibly valuable part of our Euroregional cultural heritage and we would deeply regret its disappearance. Therefore, in a series of written questions, together with Party Safe Maastricht, we plead for more investment in teaching the Limburg language and preserving Limburg culture. We hope this will prompt the municipal executives of mayors and aldermen to take action and increase attention to the problem.

The traditional mother tongue of Maastricht people is Mestreechs, a large part of the city speaks Dutch, and a majority of university students speak mostly English. In such a multilingual city, it can be difficult for different groups to understand each other, let alone understand each other. This is why Volt sees language politics as an essential part of a successful and inclusive Mestreechter polity. In episode 7 of our podcast, Jules and Mart discuss how we in Maastricht can ensure that people can understand each other better. Listen to the podcast here: 'Understanding each other in a diverse city'.

What a surprise we experienced at our very first public English group meeting! More than 30 people joined us yesterday at Cafe Forum🍻 to discuss the future of our movement and beloved city 🤩 . We briefly discussed the issues we are working on now but more importantly, we showed why we are not a traditional party but a movement! Nice atmosphere, good conversations and even better people.