First theme debate: Russian Gas, Coffeeshop supply chains and using technology for more efficiency in the social domain

My first real debate on behalf of GroenLinks in the city council of Zwolle was a theme debate on municipal services and resident engagement. Together with my colleague Marloes we divided the subjects. I was responsible for the following subjects (in Dutch):

  • Toezichtbeeld 2021 – Interbestuurlijk toezicht
  • Lopend contract en nieuw contract gaslevering aan gemeente Zwolle
  • Mogelijkheid tonen interesse aan deelname experiment gesloten coffeeshopketen.
  • Deelname City deal ‘Slim Maatwerk’
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Insulating the roof

After insulating and levelling out the attic floor the next big job was insulating the roof. At first we thought we needed to replace the roof and dormers because of the age of the roof (90+ years) and the cracks between the boards. Which would be very costly. We received quotes ranging from €50.000 to €80.000 euros to replace the roof and dormers. But thanks to free advice from an expert we got thanks to our municipality, we decided that it was of good enough quality to insulate.

The expert recommended using a special flexible polyurethane foam to fill up the cracks between the boards and after that using PIR Insulation boards to actually insulate the roof. After doing some research we decided this sounded like a good plan. My uncle wanted to help out yet again!

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Municipal elections 2022

Working in a very operational role for an NGO serving the Dutch research and education field is still one of the best jobs in the world for me. But I missed being involved in my local community ever since moving back to Zwolle just before the pandemic hit. I looked for something to get more involved and decided to apply for a position on the candidates list for the local chapter of GroenLinks (a member party of the European Greens) here in Zwolle for the Municipal elections of 2022.

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