Climate Action

  • 65% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030. The current target of the City, a 49% reduction by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, is too low to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. GroenLinks wants to speed up the implementation of the Climate Agreement by setting up more projects and stepping up existing projects. We quit coal; we shut down the remaining coal-fired power stations on the Maasvlakte as soon as possible.
  • Health gain of at least 50% by 2030. By reducing particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, we realize a 50% improvement compared to 2016 levels. This is achieved by creating more space for cyclists and pedestrians and by discouraging car travel.
  • Rotterdam is organizing a People’s Climate Assembly. This People’s Assembly should be representative of the people of Rotterdam and is formed by the drawing of lots. To make this People’s Assembly inclusive of everyone, participants will receive a payment for taking part. The participants are supported by independent experts. The People’s Assembly will have a clear and meaningful mandate, making it easier to determine what action is taken in response to the results.

Affordable housing

  • We build more affordable homes. For all new-builds, our goal is a 50% share of social housing and a 35% share of mid-range homes for both sale and rent.
  • We tackle the exploitation of tenants. Anyone who rents out a property in Rotterdam is obliged to apply for a landlord permit; this also applies to existing contracts. Persons who exploit tenants, do not provide decent living conditions or discriminate when accepting tenants, will lose their permits.
  • Room rental should be made easier. We tempt the people of Rotterdam who have large houses into renting out rooms to fellow Rotterdam citizens who quickly need to find a place to live.
  • More affordable homes for students. In 2019, Rotterdam had a student housing shortage of 9,000 rooms. We strongly commit ourselves to creating more housing for students, with the aim of adding the total number of rooms required.
  • Housing for international students. An increasing number of international and Dutch Caribbean students find their way to Rotterdam. They tend to experience difficulties in finding decent and affordable housing. This is why educational institutions admitting these students should also provide housing for them. The City will support them where needed, including by providing them with accurate information on their rights as tenants.   

An equal city

  • We make our policies inclusive. We assess whether the City’s current policies have undesirable effects as a result of stereotyping based for example on gender, country of origin or disability. If it turns out that existing policies discriminate against certain groups, we will deal with this immediately. When designing new policies, we pay attention to transparency, inclusion, accessibility and racial profiling. We will involve the people of Rotterdam in this process as much as possible.
  • We increase the capacity of the police to crack down on racism, discrimination and gender related violence, both in the real world and online. We will establish an incident reporting system for this type of misconduct. Persons or companies that are confronted with this will be given proper and prompt support. Everyone should feel safe in our city, on the Internet and on social media. We pay attention to the different grounds for discrimination. Intersectionality is key to our approach.
  • Binding human rights check for technological applications. Before using risk assessment systems or artificial intelligence, we carry out a comprehensive check in order to prevent algorithmic systems from encouraging discrimination.
  • We promote fair recruitment and selection of employees. Anti-racism and anti-discrimination are prerequisites for public procurement and the awarding of grants. We offer support to entrepreneurs with respect to inclusive recruitment and selection, for example by means of open hiring or anonymized job application procedures. Employment agencies without anti-racism or anti-discrimination policies will not be awarded contracts by the City.
  • We tackle discrimination in traineeships. We help employers with objective recruitment and selection, for instance through cooperation with the Anti-Discrimination Bureau and awareness-raising teaching kits. Teaching professionals will receive training in discrimination in traineeships, enabling them to identify this, provide guidance to students and establish a dialogue with work placement companies. We determine where discrimination in traineeships does occur and when necessary, call employers to account for their conduct. We explore the possibility of withdrawing the accreditation of work placement companies if they repeatedly cross the line.
  • We identify and fight discrimination on the basis of religion, such as Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. By focusing on education and prevention, we tackle the core of the problem. We will increase security for religious buildings when required and curb the increase in threats. We suspend the enforcement of the partial ban on face-covering clothing.
  • We devote more attention to racism against different ethnic groups. A number of groups face racism targeted specifically at them, such as the Asian and Kurdish communities in our city. We provide awareness-raising programmes and courses for schools, City institutions and companies focusing on the Asian diaspora in the Netherlands. And we provide better security for Kurdish cultural institutions.
  • A good start for newcomers. Refugees and undocumented persons will not only receive sufficient money, but also proper assistance with civic integration and language courses. We end the free-market system for civic integration: successful integration is the responsibility of the government.
  • Rotterdam apologizes for its role in slavery. We give the colonial statues on the streets of Rotterdam to museums. We replace colonial street names or provide information on their context, depending on the name concerned. In Rotterdam, Keti Koti becomes be a commemorative event and a public holiday. The City promotes awareness-raising and provides a project grant for schools to develop lessons on our city’s colonial and slavery past. We urge our national government to follow our lead and make Keti Koti a national public holiday.   
  • We make it easier to change surnames linked to slavery. We follow the example of the City of Utrecht and offer a free and simplified procedure to the people of Rotterdam who want to change their surnames if these are linked to slavery.
  • We increase acceptance of and equality for LGBTIQA+ people. We will host more LGBTIQA+ events in the city and we will cooperate with and provide support to existing queer movements in Rotterdam. The City will establish a dialogue with professional and amateur sport clubs on how to promote acceptance of  LGBTIQA+ people and combat discriminatory and racist expressions. By stimulating the sharing of knowledge and offering a grant for diversity courses, the City is a driving force behind an inclusive sport culture. There will be a project grant for schools, which they can use to develop LGBTIQA+ education together with expert groups in order to promote mutual acceptance among students.
  • We support initiatives directed at empowerment and emancipation. We facilitate by providing funds and locations. We initiate and facilitate the setting up of social networks in local communities.

An accessible city

  • We make public space accessible. We make all pavements in Rotterdam wide enough to accommodate wheelchair users, persons with blind person’s canes or assistance dogs. Where necessary we remove barriers and place guiding lines. Pavements will be kept free of obstacles, for example by relocating pavement cafés to parking spaces, and by parking shared mopeds in designated areas.
  • All public transport stops will be adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities. For persons with poor eyesight, buses, trams or metro trains that are on their way will be announced. OV chip card service points will have voice assistance. Lift breakdowns will be repaired within a day.
  • The City provides grants for making organizations, events and locations accessible. There will be a project grant for the training of staff. There will also be a substantial grant to promote physical accessibility of events and locations. It will be easy to apply for these grants, and they will be announced with a campaign among the target groups. When issuing permits, we take account of the requirement of accessibility and assess compliance with the UN Disability Convention.

A city enriched by art and culture

  • We create a rich and diverse cultural scene. We offer a comprehensive range of high-quality and accessible activities for a variety of audiences. To achieve this, we involve local residents, entrepreneurs and organizations in the organization of events. With venues spread out across the city and our well-developed infrastructure, we ensure that different neighbourhoods and the city as a whole benefit.
  • The Public Library as a modern community centre for every Rotterdam resident. Public libraries will receive resources to invest in new media and music. We create more spaces where people can work and study, or learn literacy and digital skills. Increasingly, public libraries become places to meet and hold public debates; the library as an open house where local residents can organize activities. We invest in neighbourhood centres and hubs and reading rooms. The City will financially support the Public Library Rotterdam in extending its opening hours, allowing branches to remain open more often in the evenings and at weekends.
  • We set up a Rotterdam film fund. This will stimulate the local film and media industry. Makers, producers and entrepreneurs will have more resources to invest in high-quality new productions. This will lead to added value for the film sector and for the people of Rotterdam.

A city without poverty

  • We keep helping young people with money worries with our Perspective Pact and Perspective Fund. The City assists young Rotterdam residents in tackling their financial problems and preventing their debts from growing.
  • We prevent home evictions where possible. We impose restrictions on temporary contracts in the private sector. We make sure that private landlords join the Meldpunt Preventie Huisuitzettingen (Eviction Prevention Report Centre).
  • Shelter for migrant workers. People become homeless because they are kicked out by their employers. We urge the national government to disconnect work and housing for migrant workers. We also encourage migrant workers to get registered in Rotterdam. EU migrant workers who wish to stay here will be allowed to enter the civic integration process.

A green and healthy city

  • We plant a minimum of 100,000 additional trees that benefit the climate and the environment, reduce heat stress, retain water and increase biodiversity. Climate change causes an increasingly hot city. Paved areas and buildings in particular make the city even warmer and unhealthier. This is why an action plan will be set up to ensure that the hottest places in the city will be the first to receive additional trees and vegetation. Moreover, new housing developments will always be accompanied by additional high-quality vegetation. We will have mixed tree-lined streets and break the monoculture of too many of the same trees close together.
  • We improve rules to protect trees. There will be clear requirements as to when trees may be uprooted or relocated. Private individuals need to apply for a felling permit again.
  • We create green areas in unexpected places and add an additional 20 hectares of green space to the city. This could include vegetation between tram rails, against buildings and quay walls, on lamp posts, on City buildings, and on bus and tram shelters. We will create more mini-forests and food forests and we plant a compensatory forest for trees that have to be felled. Courtyards will become green havens. We will of course involve the residents of the city; Going for Green together. We promote the ecological maintenance of public green spaces by neighbourhood initiatives with the Right 2 Challenge project or through the awarding of green space maintenance contracts.