Toespraak minister Koenders bij de European City Makers
Minister Koenders (Buitenlandse Zaken) sprak in Amsterdam European City Makers toe. Hij moedigde de aanwezigen aan en gaf steun voor de initiatieven die interessant kunnen zijn voor de Europese Unie. ‘Europa is alleen Europa door haar inwoners,’ aldus Koenders. De tekst is alleen in het Engels beschikbaar. Het gesproken woord geldt.
- Affordable housing is a problem for anyone with a low income. It has been in this very city as well.
Which is why I look with much admiration to the initiative of A Varos Mindenkie (translated The City is for All) and Habitat for Humanity Hungary. By renovating several empty buildings of the Budapest municipality, these initiatives managed to arrange sustainable housing for a group of homeless people. - In 2014, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, set a great example by allocating 426 million euros as a ‘participatory budget’ for Parisians. This constitutes 5% of the city’s total investment budget! Each year, Parisians can send in project proposals that answer the simple question posed by the Mayor: What would you do to improve your city? I read about one initiative, La Pailasse. A platform for innovative product developers, used by a wide variety of scientists, entrepreneurs, students and designers. By forming partnerships with the corporate sector, they can actually create open source services for the benefit of many.
- There are also examples of strong partnerships. IEWAN Strowijk [translated: Straw District] in the Dutch city of Nijmegen is such a unique example. Strowijk is a self-built, eco-friendly social housing project.
Lees de volledige toespraak op Government.nl