Texel will organize a Citizens’ Council for the first time. A new form of democracy in which a drawn group of residents helps politicians make decisions on an important issue. Eva Rovers is director of Bureau Burgerberaad, journalist and writer and gave an inspiration session about this new form of democracy.
“The council has had the courage to organize a Citizens’ Council,” said interim mayor Rob van der Zwaag during the introduction of the informative evening in the small theater of Klif 12 in Den Hoorn. “The goal is to get residents more involved in political issues.” The first topic to be examined is about climate and energy. “We will start working on the subject in August next year.”
Following the Irish example
Rovers believes that residents are crucial for solving the major challenges of our time. A Citizens’ Council can play an important role in this. She herself came into contact with the Citizens’ Council in Ireland. At the time, this was about abortion legislation, which had been debated for more than thirty years, without solutions.
One hundred Irish people were invited to discuss the problem with each other. “And in five weekends, those residents managed to come up with new abortion legislation. I found that so intriguing, that people without specific training or political experience entered into dialogue with each other and experts and came up with solutions that politicians had not been able to find for thirty years.” came.”
“That could also be something for the Netherlands, I thought. Because I can think of a few topics that Dutch politics cannot resolve, such as nitrogen, climate and housing shortage.”
“Politicians can call on the help of residents to solve a major social problem”
According to Rovers, the big difference with participation is that a Citizens’ Council is an equal collaboration between politics and society. “It is a way in which politicians can say: ‘We need help’. They can call on the help of residents to solve a major social problem. It may also be that residents want to help politicians to find a solution. “
France
She also mentioned an example where things had gone completely wrong. And that was in France. President Macron had signed the Paris agreement to adjust climate goals. He proposed a significant increase in the price of gasoline, which would make residents more likely to abandon their cars. This worked for the big cities, but not in the countryside, where most French people depend on their own transport because there are no alternatives.
“An example of a well-intentioned measure that could turn out disastrous. There were protests. The perception of politicians is very different from that of the ordinary French person.”
A Citizens’ Council was also organized here in the autumn of 2019, because politicians could use help for the climate. “A selected group of 150 French people were asked: what socially just measures can France take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030? A big ambitious question, which French politicians have been working on for decades.”
“What you see at consultation evenings is that there is a group of people who only represent a small part of society”
People for that Citizens’ Council could not register themselves, but were drawn. “To ensure that a good cross-section of French society participates in the Citizens’ Council. We often see that the same type of people attend when participating. These are generally men who are older and have a HBO or university education. “That is not a good reflection of society.”
“Because we have as many men as women, many young people and 65 percent of the people have an MBO education. What you often see at these consultation evenings is that there is a group of people who only represent a small part of society.”
Draw
In France, 255,000 were initially drawn at random from the telephone book. The participants received a daily allowance and travel expenses were reimbursed. A second draw looked at gender, age and professions. The participants could also request expertise themselves. “There were also people who did not believe in climate change at all. They wanted information from experts who also felt the same way.”
Then people start talking to each other. “That’s where the magic happens,” says Rovers. “These conversations take place at tables of about eight people with a discussion leader present. All kinds of questions are answered there.”
“It’s not like it’s one big Hallelujah celebration, where everyone agrees”
According to Rovers, a Citizens’ Council is about dialogue. “You can also completely disagree with each other, but you don’t have to convince each other. You try to understand a different point of view. It’s not like it’s a big Hallelujah festival, where everyone agrees with each other. Because you don’t have to agree with each other. But you do have to understand where someone comes from.”
“And by talking about a subject in this way, it shows that everyone is capable of thinking about solutions in a good way. In a Citizens’ Council, we look for similarities and where people can find and understand each other.” Ultimately, the group arrives at a set of recommendations that are formulated jointly.
French failure
In France, we managed to arrive at a package of climate measures in six months. The recommendations were submitted to Macron. Of the 149 recommendations, 14 were adopted. These recommendations then went to the Senate, which had to form them into a climate law. “And that’s where things really went wrong, because the Senate had not given an order for this.” The entire proposal was therefore swept off the table.
“It was a very bitter but very educational lesson, which fortunately other Citizens’ Councils have learned from. It is very important that a municipal council that asks the question in advance can also indicate what happens to those recommendations. This does not mean that a Citizens’ Council is binding .”
“It is never a question of whether we want wind turbines or not.”
Citizens’ councils are already being held in various cities, such as in Utrecht about fireworks during New Year’s Eve. In Leiden there is a central question about energy transition. “The question is never whether we want wind turbines or not. It is really a more complex question than this. We see that we have to switch to a different energy system between now and 2050. As a municipality, you have to think about how you are going to do that together. Because it is not just a technical problem. It is also a psychological, economic and social issue. And perhaps also a moral issue,” says Rovers.