Evaluation of the Sustainability Policy of Lingewaard

Research Question
Commissioned by the Audit Office of Lingewaard, CE Delft conducted an evaluation of the municipality’s sustainability policy. The central research question was:

How is the implementation of the sustainability policy in the municipality of Lingewaard organised in terms of content and process, and is this implementation effective and efficient?

Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study are as follows:

Overall findings:

• The Climate, Energy and Circularity (KEC) programme, which the municipality has been working on since 2025, contributes to a more structured and coordinated approach across the various sustainability themes.
• Staffing for sustainability has increased in recent years. Nevertheless, in several domains (climate adaptation, circularity and mobility), staffing remains a challenge for achieving ambitions, implementing policy, and actively participating in regional consultation structures.

Climate adaptation and biodiversity:

• The climate adaptation policy of Lingewaard does not address flood risk. The themes of heat stress, water nuisance and drought are included. The biodiversity policy is still under development.

Energy transition:

• Within the energy transition, measures are primarily focused on energy efficiency. Additional efforts are required to achieve the targets for renewable energy generation and the heat transition.

Circular economy:

• The circularity policy of the municipality of Lingewaard mainly focuses on the lower steps of the R-ladder, specifically waste (separation). Significant environmental gains can be achieved through circular construction and civil engineering, but these themes are still in the research phase.

Sustainable mobility:

• Hardly any action has yet been taken on the sustainable ambitions set out in the Mobility Vision. Attempts by the municipality to establish shared mobility schemes in Lingewaard have so far been unsuccessful.

Recommendations
Based on the study, the Audit Office has formulated several recommendations. These include, among other things, adjusting targets (rather than allowing them to lapse), formalising cooperation agreements with external parties, and introducing a set of key indicators to quantitatively monitor progress. Specific recommendations have also been made for each of the four individual sustainability themes.

The full dossier of this Audit Office study, including the administrative response, can be found here (only available in Dutch).