Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of The Netherlands

The Ministry of VROM (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment), with 4000 employees, works to find creative and sustainable solutions for improving the living environment of The Netherlands. The Ministry operates in three major areas: living space, housing and environment. An additional task is to plan, to conduct and to supervise the building of projects in government housing. VROM's goal is to make a policy in pace and harmony with current social, technological and political developments. It implements this policy in close co-operation with other ministries, local and regional governments, social organisations, businesses and interest groups as well as other national governments.

The Memorandum on the Implementation of the Climate Policy based on various international agreements is a good example of that. Other major components of VROM's policy are the Memorandum Living in the 21st century, the Fifth Memorandum on Spatial Planning as well as the National Environmental Policy Plan No. 4. These memoranda not only serve as guidelines for laws and regulations. These memoranda make once again clear that issues on 'living', 'space' and 'environment' exercise a mutual influence on each other and have to be approached in their complexity.

The Ministry's philosophy is: action speaks louder than words. The building of the head-office runs on 100% environment-friendly energy.

Address:	Rijnstraat 8, 2515 XP Den Haag (The Hague)
Website:	www.vrom.nl
Phone:	+31-70-339 35 42