Pioneering marriage for same-sex couples in the Netherlands

Why did the Netherlands become the first country to allow same-sex couples to marry? I argue that in addition to social and political factors that have been well-highlighted in the literature, the desire of Dutch activists and policy élites to burnish their international reputation as a social policy and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights pioneer played a critical role in motivating the government to adopt this controversial policy. In making this argument, the article addresses the often neglected topic of policy invention. I utilize the concept of regional policy community drawn from federalism studies to illustrate that such communities do not just facilitate the diffusion of new innovations across its constituent states, but they can also inspire pioneering states to experiment with new policy models in the first place

Circular Procurement: The First Step in a Series.

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment proudly hosted the first International Congress on Circular Procurement in Amsterdam on 20-22 April 2016. Attended by 120 experts from over 23 countries around the world, the Congress aims were to profile examples of Circular Procurement, to share experiences and to discuss how Procurement could be used as a powerful tool to deliver more circular economies.The Congress did not seek to define Circular Procurement but described it as the use of procurement as a mechanism to stimulate the circular economy by fulfilling the need for goods and services in a more circular, resource efficient way, by closing the loops of products, their components and the resources used as far as possible. Circular procurement therefore acts as a driver to help develop the circular economy by creating a demand for circular products. Collaboration, especially with the market, is an essential element in finding the best possible circular option available at the current time

Strategies for shifting technological systems : the case of the automobile system

Californian and Dutch efforts to produce electric vehicles are explored and compared. Three strategies are put forward that could turn electric vehicles from an elusive legend, a plaything, into a marketable product: technology forcing creating a market of early promises, experiments geared towards niche development and upscaling (strategic niche management), and the creation of new alliances (technological nexus) which bring technology, the market, regulation and many other factors together. These strategies deployed in the Californian and Dutch context are analysed in detail to explore their relative strengths and weaknesses and to argue in the end that a combined use of all three will increase the chances that the dominant technological system will change. The succesful workings of these strategies crucially depend on the coupling of the variation and selection processes, building blocks for any evolutionary theory of technical change. Evolutionary theory lacks understanding of these coupling processes. Building on recent insights from the sociology of technology, the authors propose a quasi-evolutionary model which underpins the analysis of suggested strategies

The administrative burden reduction policy boom in Europe: comparing mechanisms of policy diffusion

Much has been written on the diffusion of public management and regulatory reform tools. Available evidence suggests that cross-national policy diffusion is an increasingly significant phenomenon, especially in the European context. While internationalisation of policy discourses and expert communities are regarded as key driving forces of policy diffusion, public management reforms are also said to be particularly vulnerable to mechanisms of 'diffusion without convergence'. This paper analyses the case of policies aiming at reducing administrative burdens of regulations through the lens of the literature on policy diffusion. The diffusion of the so-called Standard Cost Model for measuring administrative burden between 2003 and 2007 is used as a case to explore the mechanisms facilitating policy diffusion in this domain. The analysis reveals patterns of rapid diffusion. This policy boom has been driven by a combination of different mechanisms of policy diffusion rather than by a single driving factor

Green knowledge exchange Turkey-The Netherlands : priority issues identified for cooperation in the field of biodiversity protection and conservation : interviews with experts from Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations based in Turkey and based in The Netherlands

As a consequence of its geographical location Turkey is very rich in biodiversity; its flora is richest, both in terms of overall plant diversity and level of endemism compared to Europe, North Africa, or countries in the Middle East. This report gives an overview of important biodiversity issues in Turkey and priorities for cooperation selected by Turkish and Dutch parties. The project aimed to facilitate the set up of a long-term cooperation between Turkey and The Netherlands in a structural ‘Green Knowledge Exchange’ between officials and experts of the two countries. Reports of interviews with (non)governmental organizations (Netherlands and Turkey) form the backbone of this publication. It also provides a SWOT analysis and comparison of the information obtained from Turkish side and the information provided by organisations based in The Netherlands