Practical course on the Environment and Planning Act: learning by doing

To help government professionals get to grips with the amended environmental planning procedures and permit processes, Witteveen+Bos has developed the practical course on the Environment and Planning Act. Working with and applying the Environment and Planning Act in practice is an essential part of the course.

26 laws, 60 general administrative orders and 75 regulations will be reduced to one legal system. This usually means a radically different work routine for employees in the spatial domain. To provide government professionals with tools, the course leaders share their knowledge and experience, based on providing a practical explanation of the theoretical framework.

Current cases the municipality, environmental department or water authority are facing serve as a starting point to learn to apply the Environment and Planning Act. This way, all points of attention and challenges are addressed. The content and length of the course can also be customised in consultation with the course leaders.

As a project consortium, Witteveen+Bos is rapidly building up experience with the new Environment and Planning Act. “We assist our clients with drawing up environmental plans and advise on all-in-one permit procedures. With the practical course, this practical experience with the Environment and Planning Act is available to everyone active in the spatial domain and Permits, Supervision and Enforcement,” say course leaders Claartje Zomer and Justin Keizer.

Depending on the preselected programme, you will possess the following skills and knowledge after the practical course:

• Basic knowledge of the Environment and Planning Act
• Working with environmental plan, water authority regulation, environmental ordinance and the all-in-one permit
• Knowledge of the out-of-plan environmental planning activity and/or project decision and ability to streamline permits with it
• Working with activities under the all-in-one permit (technical construction activity, environmentally harmful activity, environmental plan activity)
• The wallet: separating technical and spatial construction
• Who is the competent authority?
• Determining the submission requirements and assessment framework of all-in-one permit
• Environment and Planning Act procedures and legal protection
• Working with transitional law and the Decentralisation Act

Excellent rating by participants

Participants from municipalities and other authorities from all over the Netherlands rate our practical course an average of 8.3. Some of the comments on the assessment forms can be found below:

“Finally a course where we get to work with the law in practice”

“The course leaders are enthusiastic and have valuable practical experience with the Environment and Planning Act”

“Input from cases from our own municipality helps to better understand and apply the hierarchy of the Environment and Planning Act”

“Witteveen+Bos offers a lot of room for alignment with our own department and municipality”

“The focus is on application in our own daily practice; very valuable”

We provide tailor-made practical courses for municipalities, environmental departments or water authorities.

In terms of content, each practical course is tailored in advance to the client’s requirements and is intended for all employees in the spatial domain and those in charge of Permits, Supervision and Enforcement, such as permit issuers, plan reviewers, enforcement officers, objection and appeal staff, project managers, implementation lawyers and front office staff.

Telephone number: +31 (0)570 69 79 11
Email: omgevingswet@witteveenbos.com