Citizen's Council on Traffic

On Friday, February 7, the fourth and final meeting of the Citizens' Consultation on Traffic was held in Council House De Paauw. This closing was all about wrapping up and then voting on the opinions. 

The day began plenary with all participants, after which a poster market discussed the opinions written by participants in the previous meeting. Participants provided feedback on each other's ideas with post-its, after which the opinions were finalized. In the afternoon, participants voted on which opinions they felt were most important for the future of traffic in Wassenaar.

In conclusion, participants presented the advisory report to the municipality and aldermen Wim Koetsier, mobility, and Ronald Zoutendijk, participation. This concluded an intensive and valuable collaboration in which residents had their voices heard. The meeting was festively concluded with drinks. A beautiful conclusion to an inspiring process! 🍀👏

The municipality will now work carefully on the opinions and submit the final decision to the City Council before the summer.

Third meeting Citizens' Council on Traffic: working together for a better Wassenaar!

Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, the third meeting of the Citizens' Council on Traffic was held at theater de Warenar. It was a day of collaboration, reflection and progress.

The citizen council participants started by looking back at the previous meeting and determined what role they wanted to play during the third meeting:

• Scouts brought the thread of advice into Map.
• The voting committee worked on a plan for voting at the last meeting.
• Writers put first opinions on paper.

After an inspiring mini-lecture by Thomas te Lintel Hekkert of Royal HaskoningDHV about the roads in Wassenaar and the importance of the Citizens' Consultation on Traffic, the participants got to work in groups. In the morning and afternoon they worked on the final advice. During these sessions, feedback was also collected from the other groups, in order to arrive at a strong and widely supported advice.

At the end of the day, the scouts gave feedback on what they had seen, after which we concluded with a moment of reflection and the anecdote of the day. Now on to the fourth and final meeting in February! 

Friday, December 13, the participants of the Citizens' Consultation on Traffic met for the second time, this time in Raadhuis de Paauw. This day was entirely devoted to gaining knowledge and deepening understanding of traffic topics, an important step for writing well-considered opinions.

In the morning, participants started with a plenary session and a short lecture, after which they split up for the various knowledge sessions. The experts present shared their knowledge on a variety of topics, such as traffic psychology and the effect of speed changes, road safety for road users, bicycle safety, sustainable mobility and traffic accessibility for people with disabilities. Participants had the opportunity to interact with the experts and ask questions about challenges and solutions related to these topics. In the afternoon, theory and practice were linked by excursions to specific traffic situations in Wassenaar. Participants could experience on the spot how certain traffic solutions work and thus got a clear picture of what is possible. 

This valuable day laid a solid foundation for the third meeting to be held in the new year. At the next meeting, the first steps will be taken toward writing the opinions.

November 13 marked the first meeting of the Wassenaar Traffic Citizens' Council. The participants came together to discuss what they think is important for traffic safety, livability, accessibility and traffic flow in our municipality. Aldermen Ronald Zoutendijk and Wim Koetsier officially opened the evening and handed over the "key to success" to the group on behalf of the college. 

The chairman of the evening, Jan Bart Wilschut, then asked the aldermen a few questions, explaining, among other things, what will happen with the advice of the citizens' council. The opening part was concluded by a mini-lecture by Traffic Psychologist Gerard Tertoolen. After the plenary opening, the participants got to know each other. After this, they enthusiastically set to work on the central issue: "What do you think is important for the future of traffic in Wassenaar?"  

The second meeting is dedicated to deepening the themes chosen by the participants at the first meeting. Last night the participants nominated experts and local interest groups, who have been invited to the second meeting to share their knowledge with the participants of the Citizens' Consultation. Therefore, the second meeting is dedicated to knowledge sharing on the traffic themes of the citizens' council.  

Yes, you can view the advisory report at .

At the council meeting on December 19, 2023, Mr. Krabbendam submitted Motion 250, requesting that the municipal executive organize a public consultation on the draft road categorization plan, as well as on quality of life, safety, traffic safety, and traffic flow. The municipality has responded to the motion by organizing a public consultation. More information about the draft road categorization plan can be found at www.wassenaar.nl/wegencategoriseringsplan.

Participants in a citizens’ assembly are not chosen, but selected by lottery—in other words, entirely at random. Anyone from Wassenaar aged 16 or older was eligible to be selected. Through a random sample, approximately 10,000 residents received a letter asking if they would like to participate. Residents were also allowed to volunteer. From all the applications, 100 people were then selected by lottery, who together represent the population of Wassenaar. Selection criteria used to ensure a good representation of the population include age, gender, and ZIP code. The process of the lottery is explained graphically below.

Wassenaar is home to a diverse group of people with a wide range of opinions. By bringing all these ideas and experiences together, we can develop better policies. The public consultation included about 100 residents of Wassenaar, who together represented the village as accurately as possible. Wassenaar wants to be a safe and livable village, both now and for future generations. That is why we involved our own residents in the discussion about the roads in Wassenaar.

It doesn’t matter whether someone knows a lot or a little about traffic beforehand. What’s important is that everyone can contribute based on their everyday knowledge and experience. Over the course of four meetings, the citizens’ consultation developed recommendations in working groups. This was done under the expert and independent guidance of Moventem, the organization that assisted the municipality with the citizens’ consultation.

The working groups were able to draw on the expertise of specialists, people with practical experience, thought leaders, and government officials familiar with the subject. In addition, participants were able to go out on their own to gather materials, and field visits were conducted. 

Following the final meeting in February 2025, the proposals from the citizens’ consultation were submitted to the municipal executive.

Recommendations that were directly applicable to the road classification plan are considered by the municipal executive to carry significant weight. This means that these recommendations were adopted and translated into policy. The municipal executive does not make a decision on these proposals, but advises the council on their feasibility, practicality, and alignment with municipal plans. The council ultimately decides on the proposals put forward by the citizens’ consultation.  This took place on December 17, 2025.

The Citizens' Council should be the best possible reflection of Wassenaar residents. Both in terms of age, gender, neighborhood and level of education. 10,000 residents were randomly drawn, reference date September 18, 2023. We checked for the right proportions within age, gender and neighborhood. 

As a municipality, we deliberately chose to make a selection. Moventem's experience is that if we had sent an invitation to all households, usually the same people from a family respond to the invitation. For example, more men or the oldest person in the house respond to the invitation. As a result, there would be a chance that far too few young people and women would sign up. We want a good reflection of the entire Wassenaar society.
By really specifically inviting one person in the household, we avoid this. It may well happen that two people in one household received an invitation.
 

To ensure that the different groups of residents were involved in a balanced way in the citizens' deliberations, a so-called weighted draw was applied. In this way, the municipality wanted groups that are usually less likely to apply for this type of participation process to still be adequately represented. Thus, residents with an immigrant background and young people are also involved. In the composition of the group, particular attention is paid to the subject of traffic and what is important in this regard. Consider age and the neighborhood where people live. The term representative is sometimes used, but actually this is not correct. Representative in research means something other than that a good reflection of the residents participate. Therefore, to avoid confusion, we prefer not to use this term. 

The independent agency Moventem organized the citizens’ assembly. They have experience with more than fifteen citizens’ assemblies on various topics throughout the country. This makes them one of the leaders in the Netherlands in this field. For more information, visit www.moventem.nl.

The proposals from the citizens’ consultation have been submitted to the municipal executive. The municipal executive does not make a decision on these proposals itself, but has advised the council on their feasibility, practicality, and alignment with municipal plans. The council will ultimately decide on the proposals from the citizens’ consultation. 

These opinions are adopted and, in principle, converted into policy. This means that the municipality adopts the advice of the citizens' council unless there are important reasons not to do so.  

In the council meeting of June 4, 2024, the council adopted Mr. Krabbendam's motion 302, this time with a different duration and with a higher budget, with the mandate to implement the previously adopted motion dated December 19, 2023. The council has currently provided a budget of €172,790 for the organization of the citizens' council. 

Preferably so. A citizens' meeting produces the best results when the same participants come together all the time. It takes time to understand the topic, get to know each other and make proposals together. In case of unforeseen circumstances, it is possible to miss 1 of the 4 meetings.

The Traffic Citizens’ Deliberation met these Requirements. The question posed is open-ended and clear. At the same time, it is not a leading question. As mentioned earlier, the political follow-up is also clear from the outset. We use a weighted random selection process, ensuring that the deliberation accurately reflects Wassenaar’s community. By offering compensation, we make participation accessible to everyone. Experts are engaged to provide the assembly with neutral and accurate information. The broader public is also actively involved through regular updates. 

The citizens' council will receive the results of the questionnaires. The results may contribute to the development of the final advisory report to be presented to the City Council.

Meeting 1 on Nov. 13, 2024

On November 13, 2024, the participants of the Citizens' Council on Traffic will meet for the first time. Participants will get to know each other, the subject matter and how a Citizens' Council works. 

The evening will be opened by Wassenaar aldermen, after which participants will interact with each other.

Meeting 2 on Dec. 13, 2024

The second meeting is dedicated to deepening the themes chosen by the participants on Nov. 13. During the first meeting, participants named experts and/or local interest groups, who have been invited to this meeting to share their knowledge with the citizens' council. Accordingly, the second meeting will be devoted to knowledge sharing on the topics of traffic.

Meeting 3 on Jan. 17, 2025

During the third meeting, the deepening of knowledge will continue and participants will begin to write the opinions. Thus, in this meeting the participants will mainly work on their own.

Meeting 4 on Feb. 7, 2025

The fourth meeting is devoted to finalizing the opinions. At the end of the meeting, participants vote on the drafted opinions. Which is most important and which is slightly less important? The report will be presented to the college at another later time.