Can we use energy transition as a lever to enhance the quality of life in vulnerable neighborhoods? This is what Platform31, Nyenrode Business Universiteit, and 18 municipalities have been studying for the past three years for the experimental program called Making Vulnerable Neighborhoods More Sustainable. Minister De Jonge emphasized last Thursday during the concluding congress of the government's program Aardgasvrije Wijken (Natural Gas-Free Neighborhoods) that he is in a hurry to support the residents of vulnerable neighborhoods in the transition of energy.
The presentation of the concluding analysis of the experimental program at the same conference could not have come at a better time, according to Van Hal: "This initiative by Platform31 and Nyenrode focused explicitly on combining social tasks in vulnerable neighborhoods within the context of the energy transition."
Energy transition difficult and time consuming?
The program will be concluded in December 2021 after three years of experimentation. The report takes stock of progress made. Knowledge they have acquired must now find its way into the practice of other municipalities that are working in a neighborhood-oriented manner on energy transition. Van Hal looks back on the three years and says about the experimental program: "What a difference in people’s interest in this task in 2017 was when Matthijs Uyterlinde and I came up with the idea for this program. Many who were working on the neighborhood-oriented energy transition thought the envisaged link between energy transition to social issues was tricky and time consuming. Which is why it is appreciated even more that 18 municipalities nevertheless decided to participate in the program in 2018, each with a vulnerable neighborhood."
Valuable steps
The report shows that it is possible to connect the transition in energy in vulnerable neighborhoods to dealing with social issues, but it isn’t easy: "During the course of the program, it was clear that it is a time-consuming task; however, it was also clear how important, valuable, and indispensable this endeavor is. We have learned a lot and a great deal has been achieved."
Successes, however, do still often remain under the radar, says Van Hal. "In general, the natural gas-free ambition proved to be more complicated than previously thought. The intended change is totally out of the picture for a long period of time, until there’s a critical tipping point, at which point changes are made very quickly. Participants often found this frustrating, but it is part of a transition."
The analysis of the experiences gained in the experimental program is set out in the publication ‘Samen naar een duurzame en leefbare wijk: Lessen van drie jaar experimenteren in kwetsbare wijken’ (Together to a sustainable and livable neighborhood: Lessons from three years of experimentation in vulnerable neighborhoods). The many concrete recommendations thanks to the analysis, will help other municipalities to a promising starting position, thus bringing this tipping point closer.
In the Experimentenprogramma Verduurzaming van Kwetsbare Wijken (Experimental Program on Making Vulnerable Neighborhoods More Sustainable), Platform31, and Nyenrode Business Universiteit, together with 18 participating municipalities (and their partners), and the Programma Aardgasvrije Wijken (Natural Gas-Free Neighborhoods Program), have since the end of 2018 been studying how the energy transition could be used to improve the livability in vulnerable neighborhoods. The goal of the program was to develop strategies and solutions that contribute to integral neighborhood improvement, so that this ultimately results in sustainable, livable, and with that, future-proof neighborhoods. The program ran until the end of 2021.
Click here to read a summary or the full final publication.