LIMBURG - Education, health and culture
Education
Founded in 1976, Maastricht University (UM) is still a young institution. Its teaching methods are highly student-oriented and it is international in outlook. In 2001 the UM had more than eleven thousand students and over three thousand employees. Its faculties include Health Care and Health Sciences, Law and Economics.
The Maastricht University Centre for Health (MUCH) encompasses the faculties of Health Care and Health Sciences and University Hospital Maastricht (azM). Academic research in the field of health care is concentrated in a number of top university institutes, like the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM) and the Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute Maastricht (NUTRIM).
In 2001, collaboration between Maastricht University and the Limburg University Centre (LUC) in Hasselt-Diepenbeek (Belgium) resulted in the transnational University of Limburg (tUL). This unique cross-border project unites the strengths and qualities of both universities in order to provide teaching and conduct top research in a number of fields, in particular the Life Sciences and ICT. At the end of 2001 the total number of students already exceeded the 500 mark. Cooperation between local businesses and the tUL gives an important impetus to the regional economy.
The Open University of the Netherlands (OU) is located in the city of Heerlen. This University, which welcomed its first students in September 1984, is an institute for distance learning at university level. The OU charter identifies its aims as to create a cost-effective form of higher education and lifelong learning and to encourage innovation in higher education, in terms of both curriculum and teaching methods. In 2002 the OU numbered more than 21 000 students and 795 staff.
Limburg's main higher vocational institute is the university of professional education Hogeschool Zuyd, one of the largest UPEs in the Netherlands. It offers 52 higher vocational courses at Bachelor's and Master's level. The courses cover almost all areas of higher vocational education: Economics, Behavioural Sciences, Health Care, Technology and the Arts. Hogeschool Zuyd is located in the cities of Heerlen, Maastricht and Sittard and serves the Eurregional and national labour markets. It has 12 000 students and 1 350 employees. Venlo has Fontys Hogescholen university of professional education, which includes departments of Technology, Economics Management and Logistics (Transport Academy). Fontys also runs a number of teacher training colleges in Venlo, Sittard and Roermond.
Health
Limburg has six hospitals at nine locations providing a total of 3 848 hospital beds. One of these hospitals is the azM, University Hospital Maastricht, responsible for patient care, education, training and research. Increasingly, it is cooperating closely with the university hospitals in Liège and Aachen.
Approximately 4% of the inhabitants of Limburg visit a general practitioner or consulting physician abroad on a frequent basis. There are 4.5 GPs for every 10 000 inhabitants in Limburg, which is close to the national average. Like the Netherlands as a whole, Limburg also has a growing shortage of GPs.
This shortage is mainly due to the rise in the number of elderly people in the past 10 years, a trend set to continue in the years ahead. In Limburg this trend is above the national and European average. There will also be more and more elderly people needing medical care. One of the consequences is a rise in the number of those waiting for care and nursing. In Limburg this number stood at 64.5 per thousand inhabitants in 2002. The average number for the Netherlands was 75.
Many elderly people who need special care prefer to continue living at home. Their homes must be properly equipped and accessible, and it must be possible to provide adequate care at their homes. The province's policy is to stimulate the construction of a large number of houses suitable for elderly inhabitants or for people with a disability or a psychiatric illness.
In 2003, all the various patient groups and organisations of disabled and elderly people in Limburg united to form the "Care House", an umbrella organisation that supports its member organisations in Limburg by providing information and advice and helps to reinforce these organisations.
In the Netherlands the provincial governments are responsible for youth care. Approximately 25% of its annual budget goes on youth care facilities (EUR 74 million). The money is used to assist between 13 000 and 15 000 troubled children and teenagers in Limburg every year, with the involvement of their parents. There are approximately 3 000 youth care professionals involved in this work. The province's policy is to provide care in the home as much as possible. Children and teenagers who are unable to live at home, for whatever reason, are placed with foster families whenever possible. Between 2004 and 2007, there will be an 25% increase in the need for foster families.
Culture
In 2001 Limburg had 95 local libraries with a total of 236 419 members (108 1999 adults and 124 372 youngsters). The average local branch had 14 012 books for adults, 10 399 books for youngsters, 1 429 audio-visual media items, 833 magazines and 215 musical scores. On average, younger members borrowed 21.6 fiction and 4.1 non-fiction books whereas adults borrowed 24.4 fiction and 8.6 non-fiction books. Overall, 1.6 audio-visual media items were borrowed.
Libraries are being upgraded to meet the demands of the present-day knowledge-intensive society. This process is taking place in many towns and cities throughout the Netherlands. The aim is to upgrade libraries so that they can retain their indispensable place in society. Four functions have been spotlighted in particular: the cultural function, the educational function, the informative function and the social function. By 2005 all libraries must have shown themselves to be the permanent and obvious partners of local cultural, educational and information networks.
In the spring, Maastricht plays host to The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), the greatest art and antiques fair in the world. Only the most illustrious of the world's art and antiques dealers are invited to exhibit. Each piece is scrutinised for authenticity, quality and condition by a team of international experts covering all specialist fields. The Fair caters for a wide range of interests: paintings, drawings, prints, manuscripts, maps, sculptures, furniture, garden statuary, jewellery, woodcarvings and porcelain.
In 1999 there were 48 museums in the province of Limburg. Collectively they were visited by 659 000 people, 79 000 of whom came from abroad. Forty-two percent of the museums had up to 2 500 visitors, 21% had 2 500 to 10 000 and 37% had more than 10 000 visitors. Major museums are the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht (110 000 visitors, with a collection of historic and contemporary art), the Industrion in Kerkrade (50 000 visitors, focusing on industry and society), the Limburg Museum in Venlo (35 000 visitors, covering the history, traditions and trends in Limburg), the Natural History Museum in Maastricht (31 000 visitors, with exhibits on the origins of South Limburg's landscape and wildlife).
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