Each of the isles in the shallow Wadden sea off the Dutch coast is attractive in its own way and for those who do not wish to limit themselves to just one or the other, there are plenty of island- hopping arrangements available.
Read full article: Earthtimes.org, 21 August 2007

The Dutch often complain about their country’s bureaucracy, but when it comes to marriage and divorce, the reality proves to be relatively simple compared to other countries. The Dutch like legal affairs to be speedy, without hurdles and hassles.
Read full article: Earthtimes.org, 21 August 2007

The Dutch Salvation Army states in its annual report that the number of homeless in the Netherlands is falling. Last year, more than 16,000 people turned to the organisation for accommodation.
Four years ago that figure was 21,000. According to the director of the organisation, government, local authorities and care homes have more funds and facilities […]

From the Preuvenemint website:
Preuvenemint is a four-day culinary event on the Vrijthof square in the city of Maastricht. It is held yearly in the last full weekend of August, so on the last Sunday of August and the three days preceding it. Consequently, Preuvenemint 2007 is held from Thursday August 23 until, and included, Sunday […]

The Dutch have a way with water. That’s not just nice alliteration, but unsalted truth. Their dyke building is taking an unexpected twist; in a drive to save the environment, the Dutch have manufactured toilets that come with a little dyke to separate urine from excrement. The change is as simple as it is subtle. […]

According to a survey by the independent Dutch advertising council SIRE, a large majority of Dutch people contribute to civil society in one way or another. Almost three quarters of the people surveyed said they donated money to charity. Around thirty percent do voluntary care work and half do volunteering of some kind. But protest […]

Heerlen’s annual cultural event, Cultura Nova, will be held from August 24 through September 2 for the 17th year in succession. It’s a ten-day cultural event with a whole range of the arts, from theatre, dance, music, film and the arts in all their varied forms.
Source: The Meuse Rhine Journal
More information: Cultura Nova

The free of charge Booch? festival will take place for the ninth time this year on saturday the 19th and sunday the 20th of august. Last year, with the well-known Dutch acts Krezip and Racoon and the German performers of the Apokalyptischen Reiter, 25.000 people visited the festival over two days. Check ‘history’ if you […]

A 63-year-old German economist has for decades falsely claimed an affiliation with the University of Maastricht, in the Netherlands, according to an article in Nature. The economist, Hans-Werner Gottinger, also appears to be a serial plagiarist, according to Nature’s report.
Read full article: The chronicle of higher education, 8 August 2007

The Belgian authorities report that a girl spotted in the Belgian town of Tongeren is not the British toddler Madeleine McCann, who went missing three months ago in southern Portugal. Police investigators examining DNA traces were not able to find a match. Dutch police today received eight tip-offs, which have been passed on to police […]

David Nordfors on Innovation Journalism

More than 20 media experts from around Europe and the United States convened in Maastricht to discuss innovation journalism and the innovation ecosystem. The EJC partnered with the Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University, Stanford University and Deutche Welle to host the conference “Innovation Journalism: Detecting Weak Signals” on July 25-27, 2007. A report by Kathlyn Clore. [continued…]

In the period 2000–2005, the share of economically independent persons remained the same, but the gender gap was narrowed down. The number of economically independent men decreased, while the number of economically independent women increased.
No change in number of economically independent individuals
In 2005, nearly 11 million persons in the Netherlands were aged between 15 […]

In May 2007, seasonally adjusted unemployment in the European Union stood at 7.0 percent. With 3.2 percent, the Netherlands had the lowest unemployment rate of the EU-27, followed by Denmark with 3.3 percent. The highest unemployment rates were recorded in Slovakia and Poland, where more than 10 percent of the labour force were unemployed.
Youth […]

Unemployment among people with a foreign background shows a slightly downward trend. In the first quarter of 2007, unemployment among people with a non-western foreign background was 13 percent, distinctly higher than among native Dutch (4 percent). Unemployment in both ethnic groups was below the level of the same period last year, but the unemployment […]

The Dutch population spent more than 26 billion euro on tourism in the Netherlands in 2006. This is 4.2 percent more than in 2005. After correction for price changes, this put tourist expenditure almost back at the level of 2001.
Economy has a strong effect
Spending on tourist goods and services is very sensitive to the […]

In 2005 central, provincial and municipal government spent 5 billion euro on the media, arts, libraries and sports. This is 1.5 percent more than in 2004 and 2.2 percent more than in 2003. In the period 1999–2003 spending on these categories still rose by as much as 6.7 percent per year on average.
Spending on […]

For manufacturers of bicycles 2006 was a bumper year. Sales of bicycles, mopeds and accessories soared to record levels; production, imports and exports of bicycles increased.
Higher turnover for bicycle shops
In 2006, turnover of bicycle and moped shops grew by 15 percent relative to the preceding year. Sales of mopeds, bicycles and accessories rose by no […]

65 non-European master’s students
This academic year, Maastricht University will be welcoming a staggering 65 international master’s students whose studies will be fully or partly subsidised by grants. This represents a record amount of more than a million Euros. It is the first time that UM has allocated such a substantial amount in student grants. In […]

In the Netherlands, the academic year traditionally starts in the first week of September.
It is then that teaching resumes at universities and other higher education institutions. At the research universities, there is usually a formal ceremony to mark the occasion. Usually, the rector magnificus will hold an opening speech and all professors will attend […]

Fishermen on the River Maas between Seraing (Liège province) and the Dutch border will have to leave their rods and tackle at home this weekend, after the river was polluted by an accidental discharge of pesticides earlier this week. A fishing ban is also in force just over the border in Dutch Limburg around the […]

Police in Belgium are investigating a possible sighting of the missing British child Madeleine McCann.
A woman has told police that she saw an English-speaking woman with a Dutch man and young girl at a cafe in the Belgian town of Tongeren, near Maastricht.
It is three months today since Madeleine, four, disappeared.
The witness, a […]

Members of the Maastricht city council and aldermen are extremely concerned about the problem of drug dealers in the city. Some 270 drug runners are causing more and more trouble in the city, partly because they are becoming more aggressive in their activities.
They also drive at high speeds through the city’s streets, posing danger […]

“Why do you bike indoors when the South Limburg countryside is so beautiful?” a Dutch friend once asked me when I told him about my spinning addiction at the local gym. “Don’t you feel claustrophobic in a room packed with sweaty strangers and all that loud music?” [continued…]