De Laak from Wamel Wins West Maas en Waal Children's Municipal Council 2023
On November 16, the sixth Children's municipal council of the Municipality of West Maas en Waal took place. This year's theme was 'A green West Maas en Waal, that's truly excellent!' Students from five schools presented their plans and then voted for the winning idea.
Great interest
More than 100 fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, brothers, sisters, council members, and other interested parties were present in the Council Chamber. From the public gallery, they witnessed an exciting meeting. Along with some 600 viewers at home, they saw De Laak from Wamel with “Trash disposal can be fun.”
Throwing away trash becomes fun
The students at De Laak want to do something about the litter in areas where many young people gather. By sprucing up trash cans in those areas with fun graffiti designs, they’re hoping for the “Holle Bolle Gijs” effect. Young people are more likely to throw their trash in a trash can that looks fun.
They do not come up with the graffiti drawings themselves. Every primary school in West Maas en Waal is asked to hold a design competition at school and then submit two designs. Graffiti artist Morris will decorate the litter bins. The litter bins are provided by the Municipality of West Maas en Waal.
Exciting meeting with a €5,000 reward
This year, five elementary schools signed up for the Children’s City Council: De Leeuwenkuil (Beneden-Leeuwen), De Wijzer (Beneden-Leeuwen), De Mariaschool (Boven-Leeuwen), De Oversteek (Dreumel), and De Laak (Wamel).
168 children from group 8 devised a project around this year's theme, 'A green West Maas en Waal, that's truly excellent!'. Over the past weeks, they further developed this project. During the Children's municipal council, a delegation from the classes presented their projects. The youth council members needed three voting rounds to reach a result.
The chair of the municipal council, Mayor Vincent van Neerbos, presented the winning school with a check for €5,000. The project will be carried out this school year.