3. What are our guiding principles? Four guiding themes

A. What does this theme entail?

Identity and heritage in the same breath

Identity and heritage are about what makes Opsterland so special. About what connects people to the landscape and what makes them feel Opsterlander and how we give shape to that.

Elaboration 

The social and physical landscape in Opsterland is special and has been co-designed by people over the centuries. It helps determine the identity of Opsterland and its inhabitants. This identity is expressed in the landscape and cultural-historical elements and structures as well as in the inhabitants, history and character of the villages. Our heritage consists not only of parceling, the estates, infrastructure and archaeological values, but also of traditions and culture. Because man has shaped the landscape, and the landscape has shaped man. 

Opsterland's landscape and how it was created is embedded in the DNA of its residents. We want to know and use this DNA, this identity; after all, it is what connects our residents and community.

Heritage and identity arise through both natural processes and human actions. In this way, they are helpful in making choices and in the way we cooperate with residents. The landscape in Opsterland forms a guiding yardstick, a compass, along which we want to shape our work. 

B. How do we apply this theme?

1. Together with the Province of Fryslân, the municipality has made a deepening of the Frisian Archaeological Monuments Map Extra (FAMKE). Once this new Map for Opsterland is adopted, it will also apply as a building block for the Opsterland environmental plan (the instrumental translation). In addition to the Map , in the coming years we will also be working on a municipal cultural-historical values map. This will help guide spatial developments and will also be translated into the environmental plan. We will enter into discussions with initiators and ask them to work with the values and quality described, so that they incorporate these in their plans. We will assess initiatives on that basis.


2. Our municipality has always been developing. Opsterland does not go on lockstep; we assume preservation and development based on careful considerations. Developments will also be necessary and desirable in the future. However, we carefully weigh whether an initiative/intervention fits our identity and landscape.
   
   We use our heritage and our identity as a source of inspiration for new plans and we look carefully at how initiatives fit in. Developments such as the size of agricultural businesses, the spatial impact of energy transition, the effects and measures in the field of climate adaptation and maintaining livability all have a far-reaching influence on the landscape. We see good opportunities for innovative solutions, multiple use of space and mutual reinforcement. The identity of Opsterland can be the helpful and connecting factor.

This theme contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A. What does this theme entail?

Broad prosperity in the same breath

Broad prosperity includes the following four ambitions that we as a municipality have articulated in the Inclusive Society Development Agenda and the Prevention Agenda: 

1. everyone participates
2. everyone can develop optimally
3. Everyone can be independent for as long as possible;
4. and that is why we provide a healthy and safe living environment. 

Elaboration

The Frisian Paradox: what is that? Well, that's Sun. Although income and education levels are the lowest in the Netherlands, the Frisians score very high on the happiness thermometer. 

This paradox makes it clear that economic indicators are not comprehensive when it comes to measuring prosperity and well-being. Increasingly, 'broad welfare' is therefore seen as a complementary measure. The aim is to work on increasing the 'quality of life', people's prosperity and well-being and improving the living environment. Economic growth is not the ultimate goal, but one of the indicators for increasing prosperity. 

Daily life takes place largely at the local and regional level. In Opsterland, that is, in and around the 16 villages. Where people live, and what the surrounding area (region) has to offer in terms of, for example, work and social and various community facilities, is therefore of great importance. The scale level of the municipality and its immediate surroundings is therefore essential for a policy aimed at improving broad welfare. In its (social) policy, the municipality therefore focuses first and foremost on the 'mienskip'. In the Development Agenda Inclusive Society and in the Prevention Agenda, we have formulated four ambitions for this purpose. These focus on all kinds of issues that should promote both prosperity and well-being of people. Think of housing, health, livability, education, social cohesion, personal development and (in)safety. 

So for us, prosperity is more than having "income and a roof over one's head. If we translate the concept of broad prosperity to our municipality, it also involves issues such as health, livability, education, social cohesion, personal development and safety.

By CBS, broad welfare is surveyed and measured along eight indicators. For the application of this theme we use the same indicators. However, not all eight directly affect the physical environment. (This applies to GDP per capita and Material prosperity and well-being) Some of the indicators are also described in the form of a task elsewhere in this Environmental Vision. Specifically, these are the indicators of living and working & learning. We limit ourselves here to the indicators 'health', 'society' and 'safety'. The first two are approached integrally in our Prevention Agenda from a vision of positive health.

Positive health

In the Prevention Agenda, we approach health primarily as the ability of our residents to take control of their own independence, development and participation in society. We take the vital village as a starting point. A vital village offers various starting points for inhabitants to stay physically, mentally and socially-emotionally healthy. The design of the living environment also plays a role in this. 

There is a strong relationship between environment, lifestyles and health. That is why attention to health has an emphatic role in our Environmental Vision. After all, good health delivers a lot, according to the Frisian Social Planning Bureau. People generally have a better quality of life and rely less on Health when they are healthy.

A healthy living environment is one that is experienced as pleasant, invites healthy behavior and where the pressure on health is as low as possible. Think of clean water, clean soil, clean air, safe, green, opportunities to exercise/recreate/relax, healthy food and a healthy climate in buildings . We therefore also aim to design the living environment in such a way that an active lifestyle is encouraged and active transportation is the easy choice.

Safety

Safety (like, for example, health and sustainability) is a broad concept, covering several areas of concern. Safety is about how we can minimize the risks people face in their physical environment. 

We want to provide a safe physical environment for our residents and visitors. For the design of the environment, many parties are involved including safety region and environmental service. In the environmental plan the link is made with the regional risk profile and the risks in our municipality. In the environmental plan, safe physical environment is further elaborated.
These include: storage, production, use and transport of hazardous substances (external safety);

• event safety;
• effects of climate change: high water, (natural) fires;
• risks in new forms of energy;
• road safety;
• social safety.

B. How do we apply this theme?

1. In the interest of our residents, we want the municipality of Opsterland to have a healthy living environment. We therefore want the perceived health of our residents to remain the same or improve. 
2. We promote the health of our residents. We do this by encouraging sports and exercise and also by actively promoting the smoke-free generation.
3. We want every child to have access to a safe playground;
4. We integrate exercise and nutrition into the physical living environment. Specifically, this means that when working in public spaces, we take opportunities to work on a living environment that invites a healthy lifestyle. 

Regarding security, we fill in the guiding theme "we are building broad prosperity" as follows:

1. We want to provide a safe physical living environment for residents and visitors. In cooperation with the safety region, environmental service and other partners, we therefore carry Health a spatial planning process in which safety aspects are considered at an early stage, from the first initiatives. 
2. The choices made for the layout and use of our area affect the degree to which people are exposed to the effects of accidents and disasters and the risk they run in doing so. Although absolute safety is never achievable, we believe it is important that safety and other societal interests are weighed transparently. As far as possible, therefore, sources and receivers of risk are separated as much as possible. 
3. In the process from the choices for the layout of an area to the realization of buildings and their use, safety aspects are continuously a theme. Here, explicit attention is paid to both the prevention and mitigation of safety risks and to fighting fires, disasters and the self-reliance of people exposed to these safety risks. We consider physical safety themes such as natural fires, flooding, external safety (or the use, storage and transport of hazardous substances), failure of vital infrastructure (electricity, telecommunications and ICT), events, water supply for fire extinguishing and accessibility for emergency services. 
4. The risks resulting from wildfires, high water (partly because of the relationship with climate change) and traffic safety are identified by us as priority risks. In cooperation with the safety region and other partners, we want to reduce these risks as much as possible.

This theme contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A. What does this theme entail?

Environmental quality in one breath

Environmental quality is the sum of spatial quality, ecological and environmental quality and environmental appreciation.

Elaboration 

When the Omgevingswet comes into effect, we move from "spatial quality" to "environmental quality. Environmental quality is the appreciation of the environment at a specific place and time. You can also refer to it as area quality.

We interpret the concept of environmental quality below in terms of spatial quality, ecological and environmental quality and environmental valuation. 

Spatial quality

Three basic principles make up the concept of Spatial Quality. These are the use value, experience value and future value of the space in which we live, work and recreate.

Spatial quality says something about whether (public) space is good to use, whether it is pleasant to stay there and whether it remains that way. An appropriate spatial quality prevents a negative spiral of degeneration, vacancy and crime and thus (in time) has a great influence on the livability of neighborhoods and villages. In addition, livability is influenced by social safety and the presence of facilities and thus affects the perceived health of our residents.

Ecological and Environmental Quality

This term covers aspects such as noise, odor, light, darkness, dust and the quality of soil, ground and surface water and air. For now, we take the legal environmental standards as a basis. Although the Omgevingswet offers room to apply area- and theme-specific standards of our own, there is currently no reason to do so. 

We also take into account the environmental principles in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

1. The precautionary principle. This means that we avoid activities that we expect to have a negative impact on the environment. 
2. The principle of preventive action. We try to prevent environmental pollution as much as possible. This means that we take measures in advance to prevent a negative consequence of an activity. Consider the use of the best techniques so that no air pollution occurs. 
3. The principle of control at the source. This means that when a negative effect occurs, the first thing we look at is whether something can be changed at or in the immediate vicinity of the activity itself. For example, by capturing dirty air or by applying noise reduction measures at the company itself. 
4. The polluter pays principle. This means that whoever carries out the activity must also pay for preventing or cleaning up the negative consequences. That is, for example, cleaning up pollution or constructing an embankment that reverses noise near a residential area

Ambient valuation

Environmental valuation is about how people experience their environment and what value they attach to it. The valuation of a place is determined by many different aspects. The economic, social and ecological characteristics of a place are examples of aspects that contribute to the valuation of a place. These can vary from situation to situation and change over time. 

B. How do we apply this theme?

The Environmental Vision is the document to interpret ambitions in terms of environmental quality. The elaboration of those ambitions can then take place in the Environmental Plan and/or program to be developed. Initiators must be challenged to contribute to environmental quality. 

On that basis, we develop this guiding theme as follows:

1. We are going to change the concept of organizing, planning, designing, programming on final goals and testing for them afterwards. Instead, we will focus on a process of inspiration prior to the realization of an initiative in order to improve the quality of the environment. This means that from the start of a planning process, attention must be paid to architecture, cultural history, landscape, public space and natural values. We ask initiators to analyze in advance what the existing spatial qualities of the area or location (to be developed) are. We do this on the basis of the following two questions: which values can be preserved in the development and which values will disappear?
2. What (new) values can be developed? Our role here will shift from directing to directing and/or advising/supporting (in an active dialogue with community/environment). The initiator of a spatial intervention or development must actively and meaningfully involve the environment in the shaping process of an initiative. This with a view to linking interests lying outside that intervention or development to the initiative as much as possible. 
3. With every development we strive to preserve or improve spatial quality. This means that: a. the spatial intervention must be aimed at a sustainable development of that environment [Future Value] b. attention must be paid to matters such as a smart choice of location and good accessibility [Use Value] c. we judge spatial interventions on their visual quality. This involves aesthetics, appearance, experiential value and image quality [Perception Value].
4. Through our zoning plans, we regulated spatial separation between homes and environmentally harmful activities, for example, based on the Spatial Planning Act. To protect our residents from nuisance and nuisance. Such protective rules are included in the environmental plan.
5. Achieving environmental quality is customization, both physical and social. Good environmental quality arises when private and public ambitions meet somewhere. As a municipality, we will strive to achieve a good cooperation process. 

This theme contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A. What does this theme entail?

Sustainable use of space in the same breath

Sustainable land use is a form of land use that strives to create a socially, economically and ecologically acceptable living environment and to use it by the present generation in a way that does not limit the possibilities of future generations.

Elaboration 

The combination of a good residential climate, good and sufficient employment and good facilities, makes Opsterland an attractive municipality. To keep the municipality attractive for future generations, physical space is needed for housing, greenery, nature, water, activity, services, and recreation. At the same time, the municipality faces many challenges. Issues such as climate and energy expressly require physical space, also in our municipality. These developments will (eventually) limit the free space within the municipal boundaries. A change in our approach to the physical living environment is therefore desirable.

B. How do we apply this theme?

1. We strive for sustainable, responsible and multiple use of space. This begins already in the process of site selection, design and substantiation. We look at the following aspects:

a. Demographic trends. National trends, such as aging and an increase in households, are also valid in Opsterland. We take demographic trends into account when substantiating and assessing projects;

b. Social need is an important criterion;

c. Opportunities for temporary use of space.

d. We are committed to reuse, making use of what already exists. Characteristic buildings such as farmhouses in the outlying area can be used for another function when farming ceases. Change of function can also ensure that characteristic buildings within the villages are preserved. This prevents vacancy and preserves buildings.

e. Opportunities to combine multiple functions on a site. Instead of optimizing the amount of building (quantity), we opt for multiple use of space and the quality of the available space. In a thoughtful way, we want to achieve the mixing of functions. A few examples can illustrate this: 

• i. When redesigning a road, we do not "automatically assign space to road users. When constructing and filling in roadsides, we also look for opportunities to combat heat stress and flooding and increase biodiversity. And we make use of low-maintenance materials 
• ii. Climate change calls for more space for greenery and (open) water to absorb the effects of heavy rain and drought and to bring coolness. However, a varied supply of greenery and water also contributes to an attractive living and working environment, is pleasant to be in and inviting for a healthy lifestyle, both for residents and visitors.
• iii. When (re)designing public space, we not only look at climate adaptation measures, but also at opportunities to promote health and meeting. 
• iv. In projects in the built environment, we are committed to combining functions. 

2. Sustainable use of space is also about a living environment that is ecologically balanced. We want future generations to enjoy at least the same ecological values as the current generation. We therefore aim for more and more diverse greenery. This means more planting, more parks and more trees. This contributes to increasing biodiversity.

This theme contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)