News

The missing chapter in the 2021 Housing Action Agenda: “The green acceleration”

article_published_on_label
March 15, 2021

Within ten years not only one million houses have to be built in the Netherlands, they also need to be sustainable. This is a realistic ambition according to Marian Stuiver from Wageningen University & Research and Tim Vredeveld from het Oversticht. Building houses and neighborhoods that are nature-inclusive, circular and climate resistant. This is what they, together with 13 other organizations, endorse in the additional chapter "The Green Acceleration," a chapter of which they say it is currently missing from the Housing Action Agenda 2021.

Last month, various organizations from the fields of housing, project developers, health care and banking including Aedes, Neprom, VEH, VNG and GGZ, presented an Action Agenda 2021 for Housing in the Netherlands. Stuiver and Vredeveld have made an additional action plan “The Green Acceleration” that contains proposals to include more room for nature, circularity and climate resilience.

Additional chapter

The supplementary chapter was handed over to the directors of Aedes and Neprom, representatives of the Action Agenda for Housing 2021. The chapter describes the importance of nature inclusiveness, circularity and climate resilience in the building process.

Stuiver and Vredeveld believe that a transition is needed in which improvements in the quality of life, nature and the environment are central. They are convinced that an acceleration on the housing market and the green acceleration can go hand in hand.

Dialogue

The initiators are explicitly targeting all parties who can contribute to this process. The chapter is complementary to the Manifesto 'Building with nature’, an appeal to politicians made by many Dutch organizations on March 10.

Stuiver and Vredeveld want to start a dialogue with the sector of housing, construction and real estate, banks, health organizations and project developers, in order to translate the green acceleration into new houses and neighborhoods. They invite these organizations to join their initiative and to work together to adopt a green acceleration in the implementation agenda.

Signatories

Fifteen organizations and individuals who have a leading position in science, media and societal organizations have signed the chapter:

Wageningen University & Research, Het Oversticht, IVN Natuur Educatie, Federatie Ruimtelijke Kwaliteit, De Natuur en Milieufederaties, NL Greenlabel, Koninklijke Vereniging van Hoveniers en Groenvoorzieners, De Lynx, DS Ontwerp en Onderzoek, Margot Ribberink, Ambassadeur Weer, Klimaat & Duurzaamheid, Nederlandse Vereniging voor Tuin- en Landschapsarchitectuur, GrwNxt, Stichting Steenbreek, Dutch Green Building Council, De Gezonde Stad.