Zero measurement information provision Environment and Planning Act

Based on the zero measurement the organisation can get started with the needed processes and information provision for the Environment and Planning Act. It offers insight in the operation of the municipal information provision in relation to the Digital System Environment and Planning act, among other things.

In other words: without a zero measurement it's difficult to determine what an organisation has to do in the area of information provision to be ready for the Environment and Planning Act.

The Environment and Planning Act comes into force in 2022. The Environment and Planning Act comes with a number of obligations in the area of information provision. Think about connecting to the Digital System Environment and Planning Act for publicing environmental plans and receiving permit applications. In addition, subjects such as case-oriented working and archiving are important.

This means that an organisation has until mid-2022 to adapt both processes and systems (including any tenders) to these new requirements. We strongly recommended to visualise the current situation now, and then proceed with the implementations.

The zero measurement information provision Environment and Planning Act has been drawn up by the Association of Dutch Municipalities. The zero measurement anylyses the current situation of the organisation

We offer the zero measurement in mulpitle forms:

• Brief digital zero measurement: perform a free digital zero measurement now and quickly gain insight into how your organisation is doing;
• Extensive digital zero measurement: perform a digital zero measurement for the organisation as a whole and increase insight into the current state of affairs. This zero measurement contains detailed questions. In addition, we offer the possibility to include organisation-specific questions (you get: digital zero measurement and rapport);
• Complete zero measurement: performing a complete zero measurement, where we combine the digital zero measurement with interviews and presentations (you get: digital zero measurement, interviews, presentations and final rapport).

Our approach has five phases, from preperation to delivering the final report. During the zero measurement we study the organisation's documents, we talk to employees and we organise workshops and presentations.

We use four principals:

• Knowledge: we share knowledge. In workshops, presentations and conversations we exchange knowledge about the Environment and Planning Act. This is how we increase the level of knowledge within the organisation;
• Involvement: we organise broad involvement. From the lisencing authority or planning lawyer to the spatial planning manager: we want to talk to everyone involved and involve them in the zero measurement. The Environment and Planning act is a change task for the organisation as a whole;
• Iterative: we work iteratively. We will soon deliver a first version of the final report, after which  the client will have space to give new input. This is how we work together in short iterations towards a definitive version of the final report, in which the organization recognizes itself and feels ownership;
• Action-oriented: we work action-oriented. We believe in a zero measurement that calls for action. That is why we link concrete actions to our findings, which the municipality can use immediately!

The zero measurement helps to succesfully implement the Environment and Planning Act:

• Insight in the current situation: we analyse the current situation in the area of processes and systems and will come with recommendations;
• Focus on what is important: the Environment and Planning Act is very extensive. With the zero measurement an organisation will know which subjects deserve attention and which subjects are less important;
• Approach for the coming period: we visualise the steps and place them as actions on a roadmap. In this way we give the organisation a means to apply the results of a zero measurement practically.

We have a lot of knowledge and expertise in the area of the Environment and Planning Act in general and the zero measurement information provision Environment and Planning Act in particular. The zero measurement method of the Association of Dutch Municipalities was developed by consultants of ArchiXL for the Association of Dutch Municipalities.

Download our guide to get a better picture of the content of the zero measurement.