When I tell people in the city of Groningen that I come from Stadskanaal, I sometimes get a somewhat surprised reaction. Although my birthplace is only about forty kilometers away, the distance to the city sometimes feels much greater. When you move from East Groningen to the city to study, you have to familiarize yourself with a new world. You sometimes sense an invisible border, a cultural difference in which you feel like you have to prove yourself just a little bit more. You are in your own province, yet you sometimes feel like an outsider. It was precisely that feeling that got me thinking lately. Because if I, as an East Groninger, already sometimes feel that distance to the city while sharing the language and culture, what must it be like for the thousands of international students who come here every year and start their studies? They do not come from a village less than an hour away from our city, but from Bucharest, Madrid, Cape Town, or somewhere else. And the distance they experience is not only geographical, but above all social. Where I at most get a surprised reaction about where I went to high school, they all too often run into closed doors. Think of complicated bureaucracy at the municipality or the uncomfortable feeling that you don't quite fit in in the lecture halls or the supermarket.

As a council member for Student & Stad, I believe something needs to be done about this. Groningen is only too eager to present itself as an open, international student city. We reap the economic and cultural benefits of these students, but we often forget the human side. We give international students a seat in the lecture halls, but they are not given a place in our community. A divide has emerged between the Stadjer (local resident), the Dutch student, and the international student, leaving everyone living in their own bubble. That presents a significant task for the municipality. Because a city is more than a collection of bricks, bicycle paths, and some greenery. It is a community. We are not there yet with just a webpage translated into English. The municipality, together with the educational institutions, must try much more actively to bring these worlds together. By investing in places and initiatives where Stadjers, Dutch students, and international students actually meet each other, instead of us living past one another. We need to help newcomers find their way around our city better and actively involve them in the neighborhood, for example through accessible volunteer work, neighborhood initiatives, or joint activities where the Stadjer, the Dutch student, and the international student meet.

Groningen wants to embrace everyone with open arms. But then we must be willing to build the bridge. Whether you arrive by bus from Stadskanaal or by plane from Southern Europe, the distance to a place where you feel at home and accepted must and can be much smaller.

Ivar Kuper