The future of the ENCI cement factory, at the foot of the St. Pietersberg in Maastricht, is keeping the minds of the local community busy. It is a hot issue on the local political agenda, both at city and provincial levels, and it is sparking off passionate discussions in the streets.

ENCI’s 60-year concession is expiring at the end of 2008, and the factory wants to ask the Provincial government of Limburg for an extension until 2020. All the heated debates are centred around one crucial question: Should the extension be granted or not?

An analysis of the issues at stake by Nynke Salverda. [continued…]

Reinder van Tijen is 76 years old and lives in a squat. A mechanical engineer by profession, he can look back on an unconventional life devoted to finding simple and sustainable technological solutions to today’s pressing questions. An unusual candidate for public recognition, he has now been awarded the Dutch royal Order of Oranje-Nassau. A portrait by Henrik Hartmann. [continued…]

Crossroads’ contributor Eliot Rolen discovers first hand the secret recipe behind the creation of what he calls “the delicious and universally welcoming weekly event that is dinner at the Landbouwbelang.” [continued…]

US student Amrit Dhir continues his exploration of those sports traditions that are foreign to his home culture, yet thrive in Maastricht. This time Amrit introduces us to the world of Korfball. [continued…]

Maastricht’s city website reports that a total of 18.6 million tourists visited our city in 2006. Crossroads writer Hania Piotrowska speaks with Stephanie Hameleers at the tourist information office about Maastricht’s image and assets. [continued…]

For many Maastrichters, the Tempeleers go hand in hand with the Maastricht carnival. But how many of us know who are the Tempeleers exactly, and what does it mean to be a Tempeleer in Maastricht? Marleen Vara takes a closer look into the inner workings of the city’s most important carnival association. [continued…]

Crossroads writer Amrit Dhir sat down with Jan Sluijsmans, Director of Production & Programming for Muziekgieterij, a new resource for Maastricht’s underground rock and pop music community, on a Friday evening while local bands performed on the venue’s main stage.

They discussed the founding and development of the Muziekgieterij concept; the recent success of the inaugural festival on the Market square; why the Netherlands’ music scene has much to learn from Belgium; and the astonishingly low cost of renting a rehearsal space. [continued]

Handball? For Americans, the sport is virtually unknown or plainly misunderstood. For Europeans and the residents of Maastricht, it is quite a different story, Crossroads writer Amrit Dhir has found out. [continued…]

Is the gay community well catered for in Maastricht? With two important Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) organisations and regular big parties, the situation doesn’t look too bad. Crossroads writer Hania Piotrowska takes a closer look at the available options. [continued…]

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness”*… in short, it was the 1980s. A group of Maastrichters was touring Central America, enjoying the lush beauty of the continent. When they arrived in Nicaragua, the land of lakes and volcanoes, little did they suspect that their trip had reached a turning point. [continued…]

Maastricht Debates is a new project in Maastricht aiming at organising debates once a month on issues of international cooperation and globalisation. With two events under the belt, project coordinator Huub Mudde offers insight on the progress so far. [continued…]

Wednesday, October 4th, 5.15 pm: The last students are leaving the building. The three actors of Setheater are changing clothes. The rest of the crew is taking down the scenery.

Setheater has performed the last show of ‘Moet kunnen! Toch?’. Freely translated the title means ‘No Problem! Right?’. The play has been developed on request for Hogeschool Zuyd and is about bullying, discrimination, (sexual) intimidation; it deals with all sorts of behaviour that cross a border, for the offender or for the victim. It explores the difficult area in the middle where it is not crystal clear what is going on. What was that? Am I being intimidated? Did he/she cross a border? Did he/she mean to cross a border? Should I say something about it? Or not? [continued…]

Het Parcours is a yearly cultural festival where all different performing arts and cultural organisations of Maastricht are introduced to the public. [continued…]

“United Colors of Maastricht”

Together with a group of 18 enthusiastic international volunteers and trainees, Denise Maas, coordinator of Mondiaal Centrum Maastricht, works on various projects to integrate foreigners of every origin (or “allochtonen” as the Dutch say) into Dutch society and to bring them into contact with local people (or “autochtonen”). [continued…]

Bad year for DSM”, “Océ axes 175 jobs and moves assembly line to Far East”, “Unemployment figures in Limburg to rise by 15% this year”.
For the Centre for Work and Income (CWI) in Maastricht, where Joost Herben coordinates a team of 35 advisors, such newspaper headlines only mean more work. […]