Rienk Jelte Aalbers

LeeuwardenNetherlands

Responsible for assistant coordinator at Leeuwarden Collective

My name is Rienk Jelte. In 1986 I was born in a small village close to Leeuwarden, the city where we moved when I was 7 years old. Eventually I went studying in Delft and graduated bachelor in Industrial Design and a master in Science Communication. I have been working in different roles in education, but mainly as a teacher in technics and creativity. I like making music, drawings and write stories and you can always wake me up for a good conversation!

Back again in my home town I noticed time didn’t stop. Some things were new in the city and some things I found missing. Especially a noncommercial place where citizens can come together to enjoy each others company and creativity. There was a call for help to preserve a local cultural podium and oldest dance hall in Leeuwarden in 2019 when I engaged in local politics.

Fun fact: my father was in the municipality board the past decade for the social democratic labour party (PvdA) and I happily follow in his footsteps, however I sympathise more with the origins of MERA25, deliberative democracy and I see how we can change the local politics for a connected municipality.