May 21, 2014 Multilevel governance & community development: The district approach in the Netherlands Els Tieman Head of the department for district approach Multilevel conference 2 December 2010

2 Overview presentation Headlines of the district approach Roles of various parties in the district approach Forms of collaboration between different government levels Case Tennet, Maastricht May 21, 2014

3 Headlines district approach Urgency o 40 districts are in the danger zone o Growing divide o Gap between these and other areas is widening o Average income is 25% lower o Accumulation of problems, general policy fails Goals O Indicators on average level: work, education, safety O Dissemination of the knowledge and results Method o Partnership between municipalities and central government o Integrated approach with a large number of players o Shared responsibility o Approach is centered around the residents of the 40 districts o Geographically focused May 21, 2014

4 Major parties involved Central Government Municipalities Housing corporations Residents of the 40 communities May 21, 2014

5 Roles of the different government levels National Government: o Roles of program management for the communities: o Inspiring the local level o Boosting the process o Creating preconditions for a successful local program o Supporting municipalities o Dissolving limitations within and between different government levels o Mediator between local parties 7 Experiments Community of practice with local project manager Outcome and output monitor May 21, 2014

6 Role mayor stakeholders Municipalities (18) Together with corporations: primarily responsible for coordination and implementation of the program for the selected districts Empowerment of residents Housing corporations (70) Important financial partner Together with municipality: primarily responsible for coordination and implementation of the program for the selected districts May 21, 2014

7 Residents o Involvement partly in control and response o Have a budget for initiatives (95 million euro's in ) May 21, 2014

8 Other parties involved o All stakeholders at local and regional levels who collaborate in implementing the district approach: police, healthcare, schools, social workers, small and medium size enterprises, employment office, large corporations, etc. o Knowledge centers(government funded), organizing conferences and workshops on the local level o A national alliance that already includes more than 60 public institutions and organizations all working in the effort to improve the districts o A group of scientists analyses the approach and advise the national goverment May 21, 2014

9 Formal multilevel-governance (1) Formal instruments: Charters: Agreements on joint efforts between 18 municipalities and central government (12-16 ministers) Community action plans: Agreement between municipality, residents, housing corporations and other local stakeholders Aedes Agreement (financial agreement between national government and housing corporations on financing communities program by housing corporations) (2.5 billion for 10 years) Accountability: municipalities justify performance and progress in the city council, National government justifies the progress in the 40 districts in the National parliament May 21, 2014

10 Formal multilevel-governance (2) Horizontal: Monitoring within national government: o Regular meeting between the General Director of the ministries involved o Linking Pins o Consultations between directors and managers of different ministries o Monitoring by the municipality Vertical: Monitoring: o Regular meeting between Minister, aldermen and directors of housing corporations o Visits of Minister to the districts o Account managers May 21, 2014

11 Fluid Multilevel-governance This includes problems in a district that transcends district/municipality level, taking a different level of government or a commercial company. o National and local level are jointly committed o Role National government: involved outsider and mediator May 21, 2014

12 Case Fluid multilevel-governance: Tennet (1) Problem district of Maastricht Nord East National government and municipality made an agreement in charter: National government will seek finance for constructing a high voltage power line and a railway tunnel Purpose: Strengthen the link between 2 small neighborhoods by gathering all facilities (school, sport facilities, shops etc) in a new area May 21, 2014

13 Case Fluid multilevel-governance: Tennet (2) Financial support is needed from a multitude of parties Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment Municipality of Maastricht Province of Limburg Housing corporation Tennet (Transmission System Operator and administrator of the national high-voltage grid ) All parties agreed to finance, except for Tennet o Reason: a different agreement between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the former Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the environment May 21, 2014

14 Case Fluid multilevel-governance: Tennet (3) National role: Mediator between Ministry of Economic Affairs, State Institute of Public Health and environment and Tennet Bottlenecks: Convincing every party involved To come to one point of view within the national government, with all its different interests Length negotiation process: one year already May 21, 2014

15 Conclusions on multilevel-governance Long term involvement Successful approach Based on shared responsibility and mutual dependency Shared goal and an integrated approach with a multitude of stakeholders Dissemination method and knowledge Results on: Decrease unemployment, early school leavers, pollution and small destruction Residents have more trust in future Questions? May 21, 2014