Tervuren internationals met up on Monday, January 27. Beforehand, Tervuren+ spoke to Dace Kalnina, moderator of the Facebook group ‘English-Speaking Community Tervuren’. With no fixed agenda for the meeting, one idea floating around was how to encourage the town’s dismal 17% registration rate for non-Belgian voters.
It’s time to connect in person. We’ve nurtured a vibrant online group. And it would be wonderful to meet face-to-face,” Dace Kalnina tells Tervuren+.
Thanks to Dace, the Facebook group ‘English-Speaking Community Tervuren’ hosted its first post-Covid get-together on Monday, January 27, at 7 pm. Why? “The event is simply an opportunity to come together and discuss what’s on our minds in Tervuren,” she says.
There’s no fixed agenda for the meeting. But one idea for discussion is how to encouge voter turnout. As 2024 is a bumper election year, and non-Belgians have the right to vote at here for local and Belgian elections, Dace sees an opportunity to discuss what’s important for us. “And maybe someone will listen as we are such a big part of Tervuren community,” says Dace.
Tervuren stands out as one of Flanders’ most diverse towns, with a significant 43% of its 23,101 residents hailing from another country or having parents who moved to Belgium.
Among the 110 nationalities, the Dutch obviously hold the top spot with their own association founded as far back as 1906. They’re followed far behind by 572 Brits, albeit with their own associations. Trailing are 541 Germans and 371 French. However, the exact number of Latvians is unknown for Dace.
Despite this diversity, only 17% of us actually register on time so as to be allowed to vote. And too many of us have little to do with the town, aside from sleeping here. Perhaps this is what motivated Dace to move from moderating the town’s English-Speaking Facebook group to suggesting the get-together at the Foyer — now open on Monday evenings?
