Environmental decision-making is complex and therefore constantly evolving. Approximately 30 years ago, environmental decisions were often taken and rolled out top-down, on the basis of sectoral tasks and powers, without too much attention being paid to the interrelationship of projects. Since then, attention has increasingly shifted to participatory and integrated approaches. However, it is not always clear what exactly it means to work participatory or integrated in practice. Governments clash with their limits in their ability to shape and facilitate this approach. Thus experienced municipalities a lack of knowledge and capacity. But certainly also in the Flemish administrations such a way of working is not always obvious and the search for suitable forms to work together with various parties on environmental projects. Therefore, in our search for more guidance, new rules or procedures were often invoked again. However, society is unpredictable and cannot always be summed up in more or new rules or procedures. rules and procedures. Thus, with the new approach outlined in the procedure in the decree 'complex projects', people hoped to find a remedy against excessive juridification. But in practice it appears that even after a widely appreciated participation procedure, projects are legally challenged.
The Environment Department has set to work on this problem definition and is exploring new directions for solutions. Not for an adaptation of the existing procedures or to work out new procedures. The central question is how we can arrive at a richer litigation in Flanders on the basis of the existing procedures? Litigation which is not too rigid, but not directionless either. This ensures that parties remain connected to each other within environmental projects, instead of getting further apart from each other. So that policy decisions are not endlessly challenged. We use the term 'binding governance' for this purpose, and want to take a step towards greater certainty for the realization of future environmental projects by means of recommendations for richer litigation.