The austerity dialogue in Zeist: How the Municipality of Zeist harnesses the ideas of ‘citizen-experts’

Outcomes

The austerity dialogue in Zeist had two key results:

• Nine months after the start of the process, the local council agreed over two hundred proposals.  Apart from a dozen, these proposals were adopted without changes. The net worth of the decided proposals was enough to restore the balance between income and expenditure in the structural reform of the budget.
• In Zeist the austerity dialogue is regarded as a good example demonstrating the value of society in solving local problems. Local politicians feel strengthened in their belief that it is right to involve citizens in solving the most important challenges. New networks originated from the process and there is a now a better relationship between local communities and the municipality.