Schouwen-Duiveland is a beach and nature destination located in the Netherlands. It is surrounded by the North Sea, Voordelta and two of the most important water and natural areas of Western Europe: the Grevelingen and the national park of De Oosterschelde. There are distinctive zones strictly reserved for nature conservation but also areas where visitors are allowed to enjoy the natural landscapes. Schouwen-Duiveland is striving to be completely self-sufficient in energy by 2040. The municipality has drawn more attention to sustainability practices resulting into a number of improvements, especially in nature information & education, in Green Policies, Communities and Tourism.
“Tide for the future”, “Holiday-island Schouwen-Duiveland is creating a leading water-economy which will be the sustainable connection between living, working, caring and enjoying.” The municipality wants to be a destination for good living, working, caring and enjoying. The way it is reaching this goal is by creating a sustainable society, in terms of nature, landscape and environment but also in terms of a fair social and economic society, providing equal chances for people to participate and develop in society and providing in care and cure when people need so. Because of this goal the municipality preserves the rich natural values of the diverse and highly valued landscapes, carries out policies to reduce pollution and waste, for energy-saving and CO2-reduction, reducing car-miles and encouraging responsible and sustainable entrepreneurship. Quality marks like ECO XXI, Quality Coast, GreenKey and BlueFlag are very important to monitor the efforts and progress as a community as a whole and to encourage new and innovative sustainable and circular ambitions to achieve, supported by the local society.