Inventory of values and policy for the Netherlands coast as a basis for the Coast Pact

The coast of the Netherlands is beautiful and unique, from an international point of view, as a result of its origins, erosion, sedimentation, waves and wind, as well as the way in which the Dutch have dealt with it through the centuries. The coast is also one of the most characteristic, biggest and impressive spatial structures in the Netherlands. The coast and dunes of the Netherlands cover together some 40,000 hectares, roughly 1% of the total territory of the country. A large part borders the densely built-up Randstad.

People expressed their concern after the decision made by the Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment in December 2015 on the changed competencies for the spatial development of the coastal foundation. A Coast Pact was made in the summer of 2016 as a reaction to this. The Coast Pact is a covenant on the spatial quality of the coastal zone. The Coast Pact contains agreements for arriving at a clear distribution of public (administrative) and social responsibilities on the basis of an analysis and confirmation of the shared values that are assigned to the coastal zone. The Coast Pact is not the final destination but the starting point of a trajectory in which parties engage with one another to follow a common course in the active protection and careful management of the coast in the wide sense and in the circumspect development of the coastal ecology and economy. The successful completion of this trajectory depends on the basis of support and on the exercise of due caution.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and in close collaboration with the relevant government bodies and representatives of social organisations, Strootman Landschapsarchitecten has elaborated three substantive building blocks to help to make the right agreements in the pact. These are: 1. A cartographic and descriptive analysis of the core qualities and collective values of the coastal zone; the parties refer in particular to nature, heritage, water collection, security, recreation and tourism, but also such landscape values as serenity and peacefulness, low light pollution and the absence of clutter; 2. A cartographic and descriptive analysis of the core qualities and collective values of the coastal zone; the parties refer in particular to nature, heritage, water collection, security, recreation and tourism, but also such landscape values as serenity and peacefulness, low light pollution and the absence of clutter; A cartographic montage of the current environmental policy for the coast and an analysis of the resulting spatial qualities; 3. A motivated scope of the area that can be categorised as coast, taking into account the fact that there are three different coastal systems in the Netherlands and partly based on the circumstances leading to the conclusion of the Coast Pact.