Public Participation - Lessons from the Netherlands

Why and how does public participation lead to the creation of public value? Finding the answers to these questions was our mission in ‘Leren in Participatieland’ [Learning in the land of Participation]. This mission led to inspiring stories, useful information, but mostly to so many questions and needs by local governments and citizens.

In 2019/2020 we researched roughly 24 cases of public participation in the Netherlands. Eight different local governments (municipal, provincial and water authorities) participated in the research. Based on almost 100 interviews, 10 learning-assemblies and extensive desk research we created this book that was published in June 2021.