DWARSers for the council: Romke Jan de Vries from Rijswijk

DWARS Leiden-Haaglanden thinks it is important to get young people into the city council. That is why we want to interview all DWARSe candidate councillors so you can get to know them better!

The scoop goes to Romke Jan de Vries. Romke Jan is 27 years old and is in position 4 on the candidate list of GroenLinks Rijswijk. In daily life, he works as a trainee at the province of Zuid-Holland. He gets three eight-month jobs here and has been working on Culture and Heritage and is now studying Climate and Adaptation. Here, he deals with future-proofing the living environment. Romke Jan lives in Rijswijk, a very green municipality, and enjoys playing klaverjassen, running and having a beer with friends.

Romke Jan wants to run for city council because he thinks climate adaptation is an important issue that the council could do a lot with. He also thinks it is important that young people are well represented in the council because the municipal council should reflect society. He says he finds it cool to be a representative of the people. For instance, Romke-Jan likes to talk to his relatives about how problems could be solved.

The 27-year-old candidate has some concrete points for the council. "I would like to give the municipality a push to properly implement climate adaptation policy," he says. Cultural heritage is also an important issue for Romke Jan. "It contributes to a pleasant living environment and enriches the appearance of the city."

Romke-Jan thinks it is important for young people to be on the council because they can bring a fresh perspective to the city council. "Also, young people are more idealistic," says Romke Jan.

Romke Jan's favourite one-liner is "Man's environment is his fellow man." This quote by poet Jules Deelder, found on the Nieuwe Binnenweg in Rotterdam, Romke-Jan has often seen this hanging when he cycled past it in his student days.

Image: GroenLinks Rijswijk