Dutch Environmental Policy Research Articles

Sustainable Cities in the Netherlands: Urban Green Spaces Management in Rotterdam

One of the challenges of sustainable urban development is to provide a viable environment for the population following the function of space and community activities within it. Research on green space in the Netherlands is important as a response to the global environmental crisis as well as the realization of sustainable development. This research uses an interdisciplinary approach through the analysis of the phenomena of spatial management in the context of local-global sustainable urban development. An interdisciplinary approach is used because the issue of "sustainable cities" is multidimensional, so it takes more than one perspective in reviewing it, in this multidisciplinary research involved among other anthropology, urban social planning, and sociology. Based on the research problem formulated, the science perspectives are expected to answer the question of how space is interpreted, negotiated and become a vehicle for the distribution of sustainable development ideas. This dynamic also captures the context of green space management so that this study contributes to enriching theoretical studies on the construction of urban spaces. This research question is answered through qualitative methods of collecting primary data through interviews, focused discussions and observations, as well as searching related literature as secondary data. The result of this study found that the attention of the Dutch environmental policy has also regulated spatial management, primarily related to "space" as part of human activities and has environmental and social impacts. Spatial policy in the Dutch context is articulated as a place of negotiation embodied in the EU's global and regional collective consensus.

The internal and external face of Dutch environmental policy: A case of fading environmental leadership?

With regard to European Union (EU) environmental directives, member states seem to show a discrepancy between external ambitions as expressed in the European arena, and realisation of these ambitions at home. Depending on the level of their internal and external ambitions, states may ideal-typically take four positions: laggards, symbolic leaders, pioneers or pushers. Furthermore, the actions of member states can be characterised with the help of different types of leadership: structural, cognitive, entrepreneurial and exemplary. Taking the case of the Netherlands, we hypothesise that there is an external face, operationalised with reference to the Dutch role in the formation process of four major environmental directives (air quality, nature conservation, agricultural pollution by nitrate and water quality), and an internal face, observed through the practices of domestic implementation of those directives. Looking at environmental policy processes over time, the gap between external and internal faces actually widened as practical implementation evolved. We conclude that the overall development of the Netherlands as an environmental leader was influenced not only by changes in the wider political and societal environment, but also by an increasing awareness of the discrepancy between the country’s external and internal faces. In the more recent cases, especially water quality, the focus of leadership shifted from substantive to governance ambitions. Despite a waning implementation record, the Netherlands still shows forms of entrepreneurial and, particularly, cognitive leadership.

The managers' moment in Western politics: The popularization of management and its effects in the 1980s and 1990s

In the 1980s and 1990s, political leaders in Western democracies used management and managerialism to initiate change. The result was privatization, deregulation, public cost-cutting programs and a greater influence of business leaders and managerial principles in politics and public administration. This change was possible because management itself had transformed from a systems approach to a more personal approach, which made the manager the symbolic figurehead of organizational change and success. Management and rock star CEOs became a big hit in popular culture. An in-depth analysis of the Dutch case shows that political leaders explicitly and purposely presented themselves as managers and were perceived as such. These ‘managers in politics’, (prime) ministers and chairmen of political parties transformed their organizations in a managerial way. By focusing on Dutch environmental policy, we establish that this transformation effected the content of environmental policy. Around 2000, the manager steadily lost his/her attractiveness as he/she was held responsible for economic decline and governmental problems. A new political language, influenced by the experiences with management in the 1980s and 1990s, was introduced. Entrepreneurship instead of managerialism, value-driven politics instead of ‘no nonsense’ business talk and ‘emotional’ instead of ‘rational’ management models became popular. This article thus argues that more attention should be paid to the historical change of management in the 1980s and 1990s; that this change should be understood as a linguistic change first that, however, initiated a change of practices; and that concentrating on politics, public administration and popular culture provides a new understanding of the kind of management change that took place.

Drivers of and Barriers to Shifts in Governance: Analysing Noise Policy in the Netherlands

Shifts from government to governance in the environmental policy domain have been observed by many authors. However, the question arises as to whether these shifts are apparent in all environmental policy sub-domains. And which explanations are to be given for observed differences in specific sub-domains? In this article we introduce insights from policy science literature on drivers of and barriers to shifts towards governance, providing an analytical framework to illustrate and explain the changes in environmental policy in general, and in noise policy specifically. Dutch environmental policy in general has changed distinctly from previous decades: from high profile execution by public institutions and the use of coercive policy instruments into an increasing reliance on dialogue, networks and social inclusion. Dutch noise policy, however, is still state dominated and its legislative approach seems to better fit the dominant style of government. In this paper, we show that while shifts in governance and a changing role of the state are evident for environmental policy, as a whole, similar shifts are not seen in noise policy. The main barriers to such a shift are actors with a vested interest in maintaining the current policy arrangements and the institutional settings which are not considered problematic in achieving national and municipal goals. In addition, drivers for change such as severe incidents which have resulted in shifts in environmental governance, were largely absent from the noise policy domain.

The transitions storyline in Dutch environmental policy

In 2001 the Dutch government adopted a new policy in its Fourth National Environmental Policy Plan. Its transitions approach seeks radically more sustainable socio-technical systems, and represents an attempt to reinvigorate ecological modernisation. To explain the rise of this distinct policy storyline, a coalition of researchers and policy-makers forming the transition storyline is analysed. The interpretative flexibility of the storyline in relation to prevailing institutional priorities explains its success but also builds in limits by making subsequent institutionalisation susceptible to capture by incumbent interests, as illustrated by implementation in the energy sector.

Pragmatics of Policy: The Compliance of Dutch Environmental Policy Instruments to European Union Standards

Despite a general decrease in Dutch environmental emission trends, it remains difficult to comply with European Union (EU) environmental policy targets. Furthermore, environmental issues have become increasingly complex and entangled with society. Therefore, Dutch environmental policy follows a pragmatic line by adopting a flexible approach for compliance, rather than aiming at further reduction at the source of emission. This may be politically useful in order to adequately reach EU targets, but restoration of environmental conditions may be delayed. However, due to the complexity of today's environmental issues, the restoration of environmental conditions might not be the only standard for a proper policy approach. Consequently this raises the question how the Dutch pragmatic approach to compliance qualifies in a broader policy assessment. In order to answer this question, we adapt a policy assessment framework, developed by Hemerijck and Hazeu (Bestuurskunde 13(2), 2004), based on the dimensions of legitimacy and policy logic. We apply this framework for three environmental policy assessments: flexible instruments in climate policy, fine-tuning of national and local measures to meet air quality standards, and derogation for the Nitrate Directive. We conclude with general assessment notes on the appliance of flexible instruments in environmental policy, showing that a broad and comprehensive perspective can help to understand the arguments to put such policy instruments into place and to identify trade-offs between assessment criteria.

New environmental policy for system innovation: Casus alternatives for fossil motor fuels

The Fourth Dutch Environmental Policy Plan, released in 2001, was explicitly focused on long term system innovations to solve the very tenacious problems of climate change and global biodiversity [VROM (Environmental Department). Where there’s a will there’s a world, 4th National Environmental Policy Plan for the Netherlands 2001 [summary in English]]. This plan ushered in a new environmental policy. Five years later, in 2006, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP) brought out the first analysis of the progress of these system innovation processes, showing that although new initiatives had been taken, long term policy was not yet a leading element. MNP has developed a new evaluation method for this analysis, which is not based on monitoring results of environmental quality or emission reduction, but on societal activities concerning perception of the problems, vision, R&D, experiments in practice and the analysis of driving forces behind new investments. Still, a policy evaluation is difficult without clear policy goals. System innovation is a goal-seeking process, and not only in terms of greenhouse gas emissions or levels of biodiversity in the long term. Since there are many technological and/or institutional possibilities established beforehand, choices are not clear. Neither is it wise to make a choice too soon. This is why an important element of the method is the focus on system options as potential goals. The evaluation method is explained and illustrated with system options related to mobility. Examples are fuel cells and hydrogen produced with Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) in northern Africa, energy transport included. Another system option is based on CSP, as well as on the direct use of electricity in plug-in hybrid cars. A third system option is based on liquid biofuels. Although far from giving a complete picture, these options provide good indications of transition processes in practice for developing alternatives for fossil motor fuels. Here the main on-going activities for these system options are described and the role of Dutch policy in the goal-seeking process is analyzed. Potential environmental effects of these system options have been calculated as a part of a broader sustainability assessment.

Policy profile: how Dutch environmental policy contributes to meet European environmental standards; Dutch environmental balance

AbstractIn the Dutch ‘environmental balance’ the effectiveness of Dutch environmental policy in meeting European environmental standards is evaluated. Major themes in the environmental balance are eco‐efficiency, climate change, manure policy, air quality and urban environment, and the general developments in Dutch environmental policy in the past 15 years. Main conclusions are that European policy results in a considerable emission reduction, however not enough to meet EU environmental quality standards. Compared to other EU member states, The Netherlands is densely populated and built, resulting in high emissions per square kilometre. Moreover, The Netherlands has a substantial contribution of contamination from abroad, although it is itself a net exporter of pollution. Therefore, additional national measures are necessary to meet the EU quality standards. The wish to have a ‘level playing field’ for industry may conflict with the wish to protect citizens equally against a low environmental quality. Spatial solutions are frequently chosen as additional measures, by separating sources of pollution from citizens or nature. In this way, additional national emission reduction measures on top of European emission policy are avoided. However, this spatial separation is not always effective. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Conditions for the success of negotiated agreements: partnerships for environmental improvement in the Netherlands

AbstractSince the late 1980s, Dutch environmental policy has built on close collaboration with industry, meaning: between industry on one side and governments on the other side. Through negotiations between sectors of industry, and the Ministry of the Environment and regional governments, agreements have been sought concerning the contribution of specific sectors to often ambitious environmental policy goals. After concluding agreements representatives of the same organizations frequently form committees to guide and maintain the implementation. Since 1989 more than 70 agreements have been reached. During 2002/2003 we were commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of the Environment to carry out the official evaluation of the negotiated agreements. Business leaders all over the world regard the Dutch approach as a promising example of how public policy can accommodate corporate social responsibility endeavours into business itself. In the Netherlands business support for this policy strategy is still extremely strong, but what are the prerequisites for properly functioning negotiated agreements? This article reports our empirical research on the subject. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Dematerialization: Not Just a Matter of Weight

This article contains the results of a study performed to support the Dutch environmental policy of dematerialization. The aim of the study was to develop and apply a methodology to identify the materials that contribute most to the environmental problems in the Netherlands. The developed methodology combines aspects of material flow accounting (MFA) and life‐cycle assessment (LCA) and aims at adding a set of environmental weights to the flows of the materials. The methodology was applied to a number of materials. For these materials, impacts per kilogram were extracted from a standard LCA database in combination with standard LCA software. These impacts per kilogram are then multiplied with the yearly throughput of each material in the Netherlands to obtain an indication of the environmental impacts associated with each material.This article contains a discussion of dematerialization as background for the research, a description of the methodology followed by the results of its application, and a discussion of the comparison of impact‐based versus mass‐based indicators. Materials vary many orders of magnitude in their impacts per unit mass. In general, the impact per unit of mass of bulk materials is lower than that of materials used in small quantities. This implies that the variation in orders of magnitude of impact multiplied by mass is much less than either mass or impact per kilogram separately. High‐priority materials based on impact multiplied by mass are either small‐quantity materials with very high impacts per kilogram (such as heavy metals) or large‐quantity materials with not‐so‐low impacts per kilogram (such as materials from agriculture and plastics).

An LP-model to analyse economic and ecological sustainability on Dutch dairy farms: model presentation and application for experimental farm “de Marke”

Farm level modelling can be used to determine how farm management adjustments and environmental policy affect different sustainability indicators. In this paper indicators were included in a dairy farm LP (linear programming)-model to analyse the effects of environmental policy and management measures on economic and ecological sustainability on Dutch dairy farms. For analysing ecological sustainability, seven indicators were included in the model: eutrophication potential, nitrate concentration in groundwater, water use, acidification potential, global warming potential, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and aquatic ecotoxicity. Net farm income was included for measuring economic sustainability. The farm structure of “De Marke” formed the basis for three optimisations: (1) basis situation without environmental policy, (2) situation with Dutch environmental policy for 2004, and (3) situation with farm management measures applied at “De Marke”. The Dutch environmental policy was included to comply with the EC nitrate directive. It resulted in lower fertiliser use and consequently in a decrease in sales of maize. This led to a decrease in net farm income of ca. €2500. Including this policy improved most used ecological indicators (except for ecotoxicity) and showed to be an effective tool to reduce the environmental impact of dairy farming. Adapting the model with farm management measures applied at experimental farm “De Marke” resulted in even better ecological performance compared to the situation with environmental policy. Nonetheless this increase in ecological performance led to a considerably lower net farm income (€14,500).

Environmental policy and the small firm in Japan: comparisons with the Netherlands

This article explores how environmental policy arrangements influence the attitudes and behaviour of small firm owners. The findings are presented from a qualitative study exploring the influence of national governance structures on the environmental practices of restaurant and mechanical engineering firms in Japan. A comparison is made with the Dutch environmental policy context to illustrate how structural factors can crucially influence the individual responses of small firm owner-managers to environmental pressures. The political enfranchisement of Dutch small firms and their participation in ‘target group’ policy consultations appears to have been a key factor contributing to their engagement with environmental initiatives. The paper concludes by suggesting the need for a more participatory institutional structure in Japan in order to encourage the ‘greening’ of the small firm sector.

Environmental quality standards: Endpoints or triggers for a tiered ecological effect assessment approach?

The recently derived Dutch Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) for water, soil, and sediment for approximately 170 substances have been evaluated. Three methods have been used to derive the Dutch EQS. Independent of how the EQS were derived, they are given equal weight in Dutch environmental policy. Scientifically, the three methods may deserve different weights. For example, for soil and sediment, the least reliable method had to be applied to derive most of the EQS. Ecological effects in these compartments may be either overestimated or underestimated. A multitiered approach is proposed, which is relevant for all parties involved, including other countries, and which may help improve ecological effect assessment.

A review of the calculation procedure for critical acid loads for terrestrial ecosystems

Target loads for acid deposition in the Netherlands, as formulated in the Dutch environmental policy plan, are based on critical load calculations at the end of the 1980s. Since then knowledge on the effect of acid deposition on terrestrial ecosystems has substantially increased. In the early 1990s a simple mass balance model was developed to calculate critical loads. This model was evaluated and the methods were adapted to represent the current knowledge. The main changes in the model are the use of actual empirical relationships between Al and H concentrations in the soil solution, the addition of a constant base saturation as a second criterion for soil quality and the use of tree species-dependant critical Al/base cation (BC) ratios for Dutch circumstances. The changes in the model parameterisation and in the Al/BC criteria led to considerably (50%) higher critical loads for root damage. The addition of a second criterion in the critical load calculations for soil quality caused a decrease in the critical loads for soils with a median to high base saturation such as loess and clay soils. The adaptation hardly effected the median critical load for soil quality in the Netherlands, since only 15% of the Dutch forests occur on these soils. On a regional scale, however, critical loads were (much) lower in areas where those soils are located.

00/03717 The evolution of Dutch environmental policy: the changing ecological arena from 1970–2000 and beyond

00/03717 The evolution of Dutch environmental policy: the changing ecological arena from 1970–2000 and beyond

Recent environmental research in the Netherlands: towards post-normal science?

Dutch environmental sciences have a tradition of multi- and interdisciplinarity and are developed in close interaction with Dutch environmental policy. Interdisciplinarity and policy relevance, two elements that are also prominent in the climate change scientific and policy debate, form highly important issues within the theory of post-normal science. The greater part of the Dutch climate research is organised in the National Research Programme (NRP), a research programme that explicitly focuses on delivering a contribution to the policy process. This paper uses four criteria for post-normal science (namely the management of uncertainty, the management of inter- and transdisciplinarity, the management of policy relevance and the management of quality) to detect a trend towards post-normal science. These criteria are useful for indicating long-term shifts but they do not (yet) provide measurable standards to assess scientific programmes like the NRP. The paper concludes that the NRP can not be typified as a post-normal research activity, but that it undoubtedly contains post-normal aspects. Especially the growing attention that is paid to the involvement of different stakeholders and divergent perspectives refers to a post-normal scientific practice.

The evolution of Dutch environmental policy: The changing ecological arena from 1970–2000 and beyond

Dutch environmental policies over the past thirty years have expanded through three distinct phases. These policies gradually opened up to engage stakeholders in establishing legislation, formulating implementation plans, and finally jointly defining ecological objectives. Environmental policies became increasingly effective by ensuring the taking on of environmental responsibilities by a growing number of stakeholders. Four unresolved issues present a formidable agenda for environmental policy attention in the next decade: managing CO 2 emissions, controlling future infrastructure development, minimising resources use, and reducing the burden on biodiversity. These issues relate to the necessary management of stocks of energy, other non-renewable resources, space, and biodiversity, respectively. Up to now, the issue of the preservation of stocks has not received much policy attention. They are expected to become the new policy issues complementing the traditional emission reduction policies which mainly aim at safeguarding the quality of air, water and soil. It is argued that super-optimizing policies engaging jointly economic, social, and ecological interests, are needed to resolve the issues at stake.

Environmental themes on ecolabels

A desk study on current market-oriented approaches promoting more sustainable agriculture compared organic farming (EKO), agro-ecolabelling (AMK), ‘environmentally-aware cultivation’ (MBT), Albert Heijn’s controlled cultivation, Sainsbury’s integrated crop management and the TNO label developed for the retailer A&P. The contribution of these to individual Dutch environmental policy themes was analysed. The results of an inventory for arable farming are presented, with special reference to the cultivation of ware potatoes. They show that all the labels include the themes of climate change, acidification, eutrophication and ecotoxicity. The themes of hydrological changes and habitat loss and fragmentation are scarcely taken into account in the Dutch labels. This implies that these labels do not guarantee that sustainable agriculture will be developed. However, the British retailer Sainsbury’s does consider all the six topics explicitly. Although both the environment and biodiversity will benefit from a reduction of pollutant emissions, the labels do not assess the actual effect of the criteria, as there is no analytical framework for transforming the present ecolabels into manageable and effective instruments to achieve sustainable agriculture. Several criteria are proposed for use in market-oriented tools aiming to enhance biodiversity.

The Changing Environment of Banks

Due to their intermediary role in the economy, banks hold a unique position with regard to sustainable development. This intermediary role is both quantitative and qualitative. Due to their efficient credit approval systems, banks are well equipped to weigh risks and attach a price to these risks. Through such price differentiation, banks can foster sustainability. Banks can also develop more sustainable products, such as environmental or ethical investment funds. In addition, there is great scope for banks to improve their internal environmental performance. This paper examines the development of environmental concern in banks, their environmental impact, their role in the economy and the driving forces for more proactive policies toward sustainable development. A typology is presented categorising four stages of attitudes toward environmental problems: defensive, preventative, offensive and sustainable banking. The paper illustrates that governmental policy is an important factor in designing the context that shapes some, but not all, of the actions taken by the banking sector. An overview of the match between Dutch environmental policy and the role of the banking sector is presented. Finally, some conclusions are drawn with regard to the possible future role of banks towards sustainability.

Modern Environmental Agreements: A Policy Instrument Becomes a Management Strategy

The current trend in environmental policy is to combine public-private partnership and problem-solving among industries with a classic approach to governance within a legal framework. The country that has probably made the greatest strides toward a comprehensive approach to environmental management is the Netherlands. This paper briefly reviews the history of that approach before analysing the phenomenon of modern environmental agreements. As this analysis reveals, the comprehensive approach has strengthened the implementation of Dutch environmental policy. At the same time, it has fallen short in the core area of environmental management: the assessment of pros and cons of environment and economy. Because of the limited scope of governance, the fundamental issues of sustainability are not being addressed at present. The paper concludes that modern environmental agreements are appropriate to a certain phase of environmental policy. In that light, some prospects for further development are discussed.