Mertzig

The municipality of Mertzig was taking part in the ‘Pakt vum Zesummeliewen’ pilot project between the 22nd April 2021 and 26th June 2024 as part of a joint approach with the other municipalities in the Canton of Redange.

A steering committee made up of 11 members from the municipal councils of the 11 participating municipalities has been set up to oversee the various stages of the ‘Pakt vum Zesummeliewen’.

While the municipalities of the canton Redange and the municipality of Mertzig are already carrying out a wide range of actions to promote intercultural living together (Mertzig4all, Weekend Vum Wëlle Westen, etc.), an inventory of the situation has highlighted other areas of additional interest. 

This inventory consists of an awareness-raising letter sent to the citizens of the canton of Redange an Mertzig and an in-depth analysis carried out by our contracted partner CEFIS. These practices serve to give an indicative picture of living together within the municipalities. 

In the Canton of Redange and Mertzig, 957 people took part in the survey. The results were presented to the steering committee on June 27, 2022 at a prioritisation meeting, at which it chose the theme of “Political and citizen participation” as the field of action in view of the June 2023 municipal elections.

Due to the particular organisation of the canton of Redange and the municipality of Mertzig, the steering committee decided not to hold a citizens' workshop, and replaced it with a meeting between the various represantatives of the 11 participating municipalities.

The meeting produced an action plan with a number of ideas for political and citizen participation at cantonal level.

• Launch of the Hoplr neighborhood application 

This application is designed to improve and encourage exchanges between neighbors in the various localities in the Canton of Redange and the municipality of Mertzig.

• "Wëlle Westen" brochure 

This brochure has been created to raise awareness among non-Luxembourgish residents of the Canton of Redange of the need to register to vote and to take an interest in local politics. It includes testimonials from politicians and new arrivals, explains how the municipality works and provides practical information for the municipal elections.

• Personalised letters to register to vote

A rough version was created and made available for each municipality. The aim was to raise awareness among non-Luxembourgish citizens of the need to register to vote in the local elections on 11 June 2023.

• "Passing on the music" concert

After completing the first process of the “Pakt vum Zesummeliewen” pilot project, the steering committee decided to organize a concert in a church in Rindschleiden on 28 July 2023. A music group combining Cuban, Dutch and Spanish culture wowed the audience with their performance.

A quantitative analysis revealed that the registration rate of non-Luxembourg residents in Mertzig (20%) is higher than the national level (19.8%) and lower than the cantonal level (21,4%).

In general, the increase in interest in local politics among non-Luxembourg residents remains difficult to measure. Those in the field reported that it was difficult to reach this target audience. Young people were also difficult to attract to events.

The municipality of Mertzig signed the « Gemengepakt fir interkulturellt Zesummeliewen » on the 26/06/2024.

A steering committee of 13 members coming from the different council of eldermen, the town councils or the commission for intercultural living together from each member town of the Kanton Réiden and the coordinator of the Gemengepakt for the Kanton Réiden has been set up to oversee the various stages of the « Gemengepakt fir interkulturellt Zesummeliewen » project.