Markermeer-IJmeer Experimental Plan

(note that this is only a proposal for RGI)

Context: social demand
The Agenda for the Future of Markermeer-IJmeer (or TMIJ) encompasses thirteen cooperating organisations that are working towards an investment schedule for sustainable development of both lakes and their banks. This project was triggered directly by a decline in ecological quality together with the prospective developments of the Randstad’s Noordvleugel (or North Wing) over the coming years. In 2030, 1.5 million people will be living around the Markermeer and the IJmeer. Demand for recreational usage is set to rocket and the available ground is increasingly signifying a potential competitive edge to the Noordvleugel’s international standing. The Markermeer, the IJmeer, and the surrounding countryside provide an opportunity to create an area of development for recreation, urban expansion and infrastructure. But this must be conditional on the ecological system being future-proof and qualitatively safeguarded. This requires substantial investment in order to create a resilient and cohesive ecological system that is capable of turning the current tide of decline and of mitigating future climate change or alternative spatial use. Such an ecological impetus has the potential to release the area from its legal strictures—it is currently almost impossible to carry out development due to tight environmental regulation.

TMIJ has been set up to comply with the principles of governance: governmental control through alliances with other public, private and social bodies. The provinces of Flevoland and Noord-Holland are directing the cooperation, which also consists of several municipalities, state partners and social organisations. The project forms part of the Dutch national programme known as Randstad Urgent. In March 2008, the Investing in Markermeer and IJmeer development paper was published. This is to be elaborated further going forward in a number of thematic studies and in a variant study designed to investigate a few alternative development models. The TMIJ will be integrated with other projects concerning the same area: Schaalsprong Almere (further urban growth by 60,000 dwellings, possibly including some outside the dikes in the Markermeer), OV-SAAL (the improvement of public transport services between Schiphol, Amsterdam, Almere and Lelystad), AGU (exploration of supraregional traffic and transport to the east of Almere and ’t Gooi) and the long-term exploration of the Schiphol-Lelystad airport.

From the March 2008 Investing in Markermeer and IJmeer development paper:

The Blue Heart of the Markermeer and IJmeer:
- consists of a flexible and coherent ecological system capable of absorbing changes;
- is accessible and enjoyable;
- guarantees fresh-water provisions for the existing supply area;
- provides sufficient protection against flooding;
- ensures landscapes, cultural-historical elements and ground and soil factors are of a high standard;
- allows space for commercial usage (fishing, shipping, sand extraction);
- creates space for urban and recreational development.

What is the geo-task?
In a complex regional development process like this, it is essential that all cooperating partners have continual access to the same information. Furthermore, the planning process is closely monitored by many other parties: local residents, investors, local authorities, experts, etc. Adequate, up-to-date and accessible information contributes to the transparency of the planning process and also helps the parties involved to carry out their duties more diligently. Digital, internet-based systems can play a key role in this, helping to reduce to a minimum the differences of opinion that arise when factual circumstances are interpreted variously. And this in turn means a serious reduction in process and procedure times and an increase in public support for the end result.

The information can be divided into at least three categories.
1. There is demand for accessible information regarding the actual dynamics acting in and around the Markermeer and the IJmeer. Examples include silt flows, bird habitats, shipping movements, both professional and recreational, etc. (the ‘informative layer’).
2. There is also demand for accessible information regarding the legal and policy-related preconditions: though environmental regulations play a key role in this area (Natura 2000), policy-related preconditions also apply to numerous other fields (the ‘testing layer’).
3. The further the planning process progresses, the greater the role played by the principles and choices encompassed by the TMIJ (the ‘vision layer’).

The Markermeer-IJmeer Experimental Plan links the style of governance to the geo-information. The information must not only be available and up-to-date, but must also be directly applicable to the open planning process. It will be possible to establish the parameters within which the parties can engage each other in order to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. This enables related mapping to facilitate the complex, multi-party assessment processes. This is not only a technical task, but is definitely also a communicative task: the knowledge generated must be communicated in an accessible and understandable manner.

The requirements demanded of the geo-information will change over the course of the planning process. TMIJ is currently in the strategic, conceptual phase, which includes a concrete conservation development project (the ‘Nature Factory’) that is acting as a pilot to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of the possible measures. After integration with other projects in and around the Markermeer and the IJmeer, assessments will become more and more precise and information requirements will change. This applies to both the kind of information and the form it will take, as well as to the method of its publication. The Experimental Plan will mature parallel to this process.

Towards diffusion—social and economic value
The Experimental Plan is extensive in scope. The task for the Markermeer and the IJmeer is illustrative of every complex regional development process in the Netherlands. The knowledge acquired by facilitating participation and design should therefore also be made available to other similar projects in different regions and concerning other policy areas. The use of open standards and new semantic elements, where possible together with the information-infrastructure supplied by the participating parties, ensures this know-how becomes transferrable and relevant to any governmental authority or social actor. Instruments that promote ease of use and access for a wider audience are given particular emphasis.

The Experimental Plan is an appropriate response to developments affecting all organisations, such as the introduction in 2013 of INSPIRE Annex III, the introduction of the new Dutch Spatial Planning Act, the basic registrations and more efficient permit procedures, and the need for reducing the administrative load—for local municipalities’ business units, for example. The Plan is also designed to anticipate phases in the policy cycle that the TMIJ is not yet ready for, such as enforcement and consolidation. Interfacing information between the various phases in the policy cycle enhances the value of the Experimental Plan for the practical application of governance principles.

But it also illustrates technical aspects for target groups outside the TMIJ process. It consists of definitions and models already used for structural scoping, environmental plans, water plans and traffic plans, complemented by specific terms that are key to the Markermeer-IJmeer project, as well as encompassing the models that integrate these factors into one sustainable system of geo-information. A set of instruments is being developed as part of the Experimental Plan to facilitate the transfer of information, such as handbooks, standardization schedules and workshop strategies. Furthermore, a number of specific instruments are being detailed that have already proven their worth, such as the ‘chain simulation’ process for the implementation of ‘basic registration’ systems, and methodologies for the redesign of processes used in change management. These proven instruments are being applied in the Experimental Plan for entry into a Geo-information chain and are being tested for their effectiveness. This means they will also be applicable in regional collaboration and in education .

How? Method
In terms of the Space for Geo-Information framework and other initiatives, the Province of Flevoland has developed a layered system of information. This system supports the legal process of structural scoping and zoning plans on the basis of scientifically grounded design principles for maps and texts. It can be maintained permanently, ensuring availability of the most up-to-date information. The internationally recognized study has resulted in a positive approach to making legislation more accessible using geographical systems. The design principles were previously used to validate the IMRO 2008 models and the national environmental permit facility. This system of layered information is integrated into the platform for the Markermeer and IJmeer project.

The geographical display of geo-related sources of knowledge (research, files, regulation, sustainability standards, news, counts, schedules) facilitates the continual translation of this complex field to the user. It goes way beyond a one-off (digital) spot chart for urban development issues. This will enable different variant studies, ideas and policy proposals to be passed on directly to their respective public, private or social organisations. Moreover, using existing visualization techniques, it is relatively easy to convert this information directly into a 3D simulation.

The system being developed for the Experimental Plan will be interfaced where possible to the existing information infrastructure of the parties supplying the information so that the entire system can be maintained permanently. In the event of changing policy standards and new approaches to water-management and ecological or other processes in the Markermeer and the IJmeer, the result of the above is that the effects on spatial potential can be expressed directly through modified mapping. The Experimental Plan replicates GeoGov’s RGI project, in which such mapping is being converted to the Google Maps format for publication on the internet.

The Markermeer-IJmeer Experimental Plan gives form and substance to planning maps at a highly strategic level, ensuring that they metamorphose along with the planning process and gradually reflect an increasingly detailed and precise scale. These maps translate the relevant information into images that display the (im)possibilities in an accessible way to the user. A citizen or company can submit questions in their own way. The system then links these questions to the relevant policy objectives and legal preconditions. The benefit of this principle has been demonstrated earlier at a detailed scale: the Province of Zuid-Holland used it for issues relating to BOVAG (relocation of LPG stations), and it has also been applied by Notaries (for determining permanent construction). In terms of the Netherlands, the mapping setup is coordinated with IMRO, and at a European level with GEMET/EcoGRID. This safeguards the embedding of policy objectives and legislation in the result that the user sees on his or her screen, and of data exchange options with the corresponding information systems.