Visions for Maastricht: “Speaking with Students, not Just About Them” with Aurele Boesten

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Are you a European citizen, and are you registered in the municipality of Maastricht? Then, good news! You can vote in the upcoming local elections on March 18th! 

Our local coverage team invited candidates for interviews, and it aims to give keys to students to make their choice, without any editorial endorsement. 

In this last episode, meet Aurele Boesten, 23-year-old co-lead candidate in the 2nd position on the list of the Party for M:OED (‘Maastricht: Open Eerlijk Democratisch’) [EN: Open, Honest, and Democratic Maastricht]. 

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M:OED presents itself in this election as a party with “a new energy” and “a new wind”. For Aurele, that direction is closely tied to students. This is her first election campaign, and she enters it with a pretty straightforward mission: students are underrepresented in politics, and that needs to change. From increasing bike depots to improving nightlife, Aurele’s vision keeps circling back to the fact that Maastricht should stop treating students like temporary guests and start making them feel they actually belong.

“If you treat students like they are temporary, then they act like they are temporary.”

Maastricht Diplomat (MD): How did you choose to enter politics?

Aurele Boesten (AB): This is actually my first election. I realised that we should do something for students, because they are underrepresented in the Maastricht City Council. I thought it was a nice thing to represent students in the council. I was also interested in politics already, so it felt like a good opportunity to do something and learn a lot.

MD: Why M:OED specifically?

AB: M:OED is participating for the third time already, so it is not a new party. Before, it was meant for students, but not run by students themself. This is the first time we actually have a candidate list with almost 80% students. So it is an existing party, but with new energy, with a new wind.

Bram van den Berkmortel (left) and Aurele Boesten (right) are co-leaders of the M:OED list for the local elections.

MD: What are you most proud of from M:OED’s realisations in the Council?

AB: I think our inclusive agenda has always been very strong. Also, we brought a lot of attention to menstrual products, and I think that was one of the most important things for me. 

“If you understand the problem better, you can also solve it better.”

MD: M:OED proposes mini-public debates and a more direct democracy. What would that look like in practice? 

AB: For us, it is really important to talk with people. Some people suggest referendums, but we think it is more effective to actually talk with people and hear about the problems and the stories behind them. That makes it more personal, and then you actually get to the root of the problem. And if you understand the problem better, you can also solve it better.

MD: How could international students also be truly heard in that process?

AB: By talking with them more directly and bringing international and Dutch students into decision-making. It is really important that they are heard, so you need to talk with all these different groups. Therefore, youth councils would be a good idea; if you start there, then students also feel more engaged in local politics. A big problem now is that local politics feels untouchable. We need to overcome that bridge and make it feel easier to get in touch with.

MD: Your party also talks about “radical hospitality” in politics. What does that mean for Maastricht? 

AB: It starts with being more open and easier to approach as a council. Integration is therefore a very big issue for us. Neighbourhood networks are an important tool here, but students are often not involved in them. We think students should be part of those networks too, for integration and also to be part of the conversation. But first, students need to know that those networks exist and how they can connect with them.

“When you get students into your city, you also have to take care of them.”

MD: M:OED proposes Dutch classes for international students. Who should organise those?

AB: I think the municipality should. There are a lot of international students in Maastricht, and when you get people into your city, you also have to take care of them in a way. Offering Dutch classes is a great way to do that; it does not have to be advanced Dutch, but just basic social Dutch. Even simple things like ordering a coffee can already help students to feel more integrated.

MD: Would local councils also need to become more multilingual?

AB: Yes, I think doing things in both languages would be a really good starting point. However, it can be hard to implement, because people from Maastricht may say, “This is our city, we speak our dialect here, we are not going to speak English”. But still, doing it in both languages would already be a good beginning. 

MD: Many parties say “students come, study, and then leave.” Do you see that as a problem?

AB: Yes, I think it is very important to keep students in Maastricht, not only international students, but also Dutch students from elsewhere. By the time students are in their 30s, almost everyone who studied here, but is not from here, is gone. We need to keep that knowledge in the city and invest in making Maastricht attractive enough for students to stay. This starts during student life. If you treat students like they are temporary or like guests, then they are going to act like guests. But if they feel more welcome, more at home, and better integrated, then they are more likely to want to stay.

MD: What is needed to make students stay?

AB: More professional opportunities. People need good places to work. Brightlands is a good example, and we should invest in that. But if the students you want to attract do not feel at home in Maastricht, that becomes a problem. We also need to attract more organisations and opportunities for this, so people do not have to move to the north just to get the job they want. We should use the unique position of Maastricht; it is close to Hasselt, Aachen, Cologne, and Düsseldorf. If the train connections become better, it will become easier to live here and work elsewhere too. Maastricht should think beyond and make better use of its position in the Euregio.

“We need student houses with shared kitchens, where people can connect with each other.”

MD: M:OED proposes a “specialised (EU)regional student housing association”. What is the goal?

AB: The idea is to create an association that mainly focuses on building student housing, and also housing for starters. If you focus on one subject, you can achieve much more than we are achieving now in the housing sector. Through an association, you can also have much more influence on prices. 

We also need more traditional student houses, not only those containers. If you are alone in a container, it is not attractive for students to live there. Therefore, we need houses with shared kitchens, where people can connect with each other.

MD: Who should be involved, and how would this benefit students?

AB: The municipality should take that role, and maybe the university, too. The university has a lot of information about student sizes, so you could coordinate based on that. But the exact form of cooperation is something that should be looked into further.

Students would benefit from this because there is more housing. Right now, housing is a huge problem in Maastricht. Some regulations limit how many student units can be added each year, and also rules about how many houses on a street can be student housing, which is now only around 40%. That makes it impossible to reach a situation where there is actually enough student housing. Maastricht does not really have a student-friendly climate when it comes to housing, and we need to improve that.

MD: How do housing and sustainability connect in your view?

AB: Existing houses need better energy labels, at least label C, and they need to be insulated better. For new houses, the aim should be to make them as sustainable as possible. Also, if you make houses more sustainable and isolate them properly, the energy costs go down. So, sustainability and affordability do not have to be opposites. They should be seen next to each other. Furthermore, we need to look into more regional energy sources to make sure new housing can actually be built because the energy grid is full, meaning that if you want to build new houses, they cannot always be connected.

“There is no other place like LBB: people go there, express themselves there, and that matters.”

MD: Why are places like Landbouwbelang (LBB) so important for Maastricht?

AB: Maastricht needs a very diverse cultural offer. There is no other place like LBB: people go there, express themselves there, and that matters. It is a unique place. In a city like Maastricht, with many different cultures and people, there should also be a place for all those different cultures to flourish.

MD: If the building gets demolished, what then?

AB: Then you have to give that community a new destination. We have to relocate them. That is hard, because a place builds up a certain feeling and identity, and you cannot simply recreate that. But at the very least, you have to try, and you have to talk with the people involved instead of just breaking it down.

MD: M:OED also talks about Randwyck as part of the city’s cultural future. Why?

AB:  Because if you want a vibrant city, you cannot concentrate everything in the centre. If Randwyck is only for living, it will not become vibrant. You also need cafes, shops, places to go, so yes, I think it is a really good idea to also create places like that there.

MD: Your program wants Maastricht to “bruise” again, with a Night Mayor and 24-hour venues. What does your ideal night culture look like?

AB: First of all, safe for everyone, and there should be a variety of places and possibilities for everyone to go. It is really important to talk with young people about what they actually want. You can offer something, but if it is not what people want, then it will not work.

Therefore, the Night Mayor idea matters because then one person can really focus on that topic. You see that in Eindhoven too: giving one person that focus helped improve the cultural life a lot. We also need to make it more attractive for entrepreneurs to open venues and not make it impossible for them through regulations.

MD: And what about André Rieu on the Vrijtof?

AB: That is a really clear example of imbalance. On one side, it brings money to restaurants, hotels, and the whole city. But on the other side, citizens lose their city centre for three weeks in the summer. We are not saying it should disappear completely, but we want more balance. When do we organise something like that for the people who actually live here? For young people? For students? If the city does something on that scale for tourists, it should also give something back to the citizens.

“Car-restricted, nearly car-free centre: that is what we want.”

MD: If you could make one immediate change to mobility in Maastricht, what would it be?

AB: A car-restricted, nearly car-free centre. The main focus should be on bikes and pedestrians. A lot of space that is now directed to cars could be used for greener public space or more bike parking.

MD: M:OED also wants to lower the bicycle depot fine. Why?

AB: Because right now it is €50, and that is ridiculous. We want it lowered to €15. Sometimes it is almost cheaper to buy a new bike than to get your own back, and that is not sustainable at all. The depots should also be open more often. And to prevent bikes from being removed in the first place, the municipality should provide more and better bike parking.

MD: What is your vision for Maastricht in ten years?

AB: A vibrant city for everyone. A city that keeps knowledge in Maastricht, and an environment where students feel like they can stay and belong, instead of only being here temporarily.

MD: In one sentence, why should a (international) student vote for M:OED?

AB: M:OED is a party that talks from the perspective of students, not just about them. 

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This was the last article of our Local Elections Interview series! We hope that it helped you make up your mind, and offered some keys to vote on Wednesday, March 18th. You can read all the previous articles on our website! And make your voice heard on Wednesday!