This week, 9 organizations working on internationalisation and integration wrote and/or supported a letter to the municipality of Wageningen, requesting to translate the Kieskompas to English. The Kieskompas is a (opinion) poll that enables citizens to make an informed decision which political party to vote for during elections. Municipal elections will be held in March 2018. For this event, it is of utter importance that the Kieskompas is also made available in English for the following reasons:
In the academic year 2015/2016, there were 2,364 international students at the WUR of which 1,259 were European. The WUR also has about 1000 international promovendi. Additionally, there is a large group of expats that live and work in Wageningen. Did you know that as a European citizen, registered at the municipality in Wageningen, you are able to vote? And did you know that you are eligible to vote as a non-European citizen, if you have lived in the Netherlands for a minimum of 5 years? Therefore, we speak about a significant amount of internationals living in Wageningen.
Today, the letter has been accepted by the municipality which means that the Kieskompoas will be available in English for the elections in March 2018.
Rani Temmink, spokeswoman for internationalisation and integration at Connect Wageningen, “With many thanks to all the involved organizations, I am proud of this achievement. For an international city like Wageningen, this is a big step towards a more inclusive society. It is important that all citizens who are eligible to vote, including those who cannot read Dutch, are able to make a well-informed choice. That is possible now. I hope that this stimulates the international community in Wageningen to vote upcoming elections.
The letter can be downloaded here.
Rani Temmink, spokeswoman for internationalisation and integration at Connect Wageningen, “With many thanks to all the involved organizations, I am proud of this achievement. For an international city like Wageningen, this is a big step towards a more inclusive society. It is important that all citizens who are eligible to vote, including those who cannot read Dutch, are able to make a well-informed choice. That is possible now. I hope that this stimulates the international community in Wageningen to vote upcoming elections.
The letter can be downloaded here.