News item | 01-03-2024 | 16:47
Things will only go well in the Netherlands if things go well everywhere in the Netherlands. This is the reason to work on vital and liveable regions in the coming years under the motto ‘Every region counts’. So that it is good to live, work and enjoy life in every region.
In a letter to the House of Representatives, Minister De Jonge of the Interior explains how work is being done to create a solid foundation for each region. Attention is paid to policy and investment methods. In addition, a dialogue is being started in ten regions. Each region is unique and has its own opportunities and challenges. Insufficient attention has been paid to this in recent years, stated the report Every region counts! last year. In recent decades, the government has invested for too long in areas that are already strong, which led to undesirable differences between regions and the feeling that the government is not there for everyone, as the authors of the report, the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure, noted. the Council for Public Administration and the Council for Public Health and Society.
In a response to that report, the government acknowledged these findings and announced a number of actions that pay attention to regional differences. These actions are based on three lines of action, namely: looking at investment policy, developing long-term regional agendas and strengthening and strengthening the relationship between the government and the region. In this letter the minister reports on the progress.
For example, a study was carried out on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior into all regions of the Netherlands, to gain insight into which regions suffer from an accumulation of disadvantages, little broad prosperity in combination with, for example, a location on the edge of the country with greater distance to an economic core area and demographic developments in the area, which puts significant pressure on the supply of facilities.
In tackling this, cooperation between the government and regions is essential to increase the quality of life, living and working of residents and entrepreneurs. Discussions are therefore being held specifically in ten regions on the edges of the Netherlands about regional challenges and how they can be solved sustainably. These are regions where there is an accumulation of tasks.
During the discussions, the regions can highlight what is going on in their area and what they need. It can also be examined where cooperation between the government and the region needs to be strengthened. These conversations start in the five regions named in the report Every region counts!. After further analyzes and additional research by PON & Telos, five additional regions have now been added.
These are the regions where the regional dialogues will be held:
• North and East Groningen
• South and East Drenthe
• South Limburg
• Central Limburg
• North Limburg
• Dutch Flanders
• Head of North Holland
• The Achterhoek
• Southeast and North Friesland
• Twente