Sustainable region

Sustainable development increasingly requires coherent investments and measures at the regional scale. Coherent approaches must consider the economy, residents’ quality of life, conservation and the protection of natural systems. The challenges differ by region.

Cooperation in the region

A region may need complete administrative authority to ensure practical political cooperation. This weakness may take work to address. Administrative cooperation in the region can be challenging, because of a lack of coherent administrative authority. The region needs to be clearly defined. From the perspective of democratic decision-making, cooperation between several municipalities is the most obvious option. Experience with municipal reshuffling shows that regional cooperation can quickly meet with resistance. An unambiguous perspective is often lacking and needs to be reached as a matter of priority.

The story of the region

Narratives on economic progress, quality of life and biodiversity conservation should feed the socio-political discussions aiming for consensus on the prospects for action on the economy, livelihood security, climate change and protection of nature.

An increasing number of parties endorse the need to transition to a low-carbon economy. Economic core areas must remain easily accessible. However, to safeguard the business climate, this must go together with modernising the energy infrastructure.

People’s socio-economic background needs considering. People at the bottom of society often live in socially deprived neighbourhoods, often with low-quality housing. Air quality there is often below the mark. There is a growing need for a model of society that prioritises reaching social equity.

Numerous species are disappearing from the Dutch landscape. It is urgent to stop the decline in biodiversity. For the Netherlands, the action perspective is to complete the National Nature Network (NNN), maintain biodiversity in protected nature areas taking restoration measures wherever it is needed.