What does the Dutch society think?

Following the coronavirus outbreak in the Netherlands, the government has taken various measures to control the spread of the virus, to protect high-risk groups such as the elderly and to prevent various parts of the health care system from collapsing. Now that RIVM (the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and Environment) has come to the conclusion that the measures appear to be effective, the questions as to whether these measures can be phased out and how (at what pace, and in what way) have to be answered. Naturally, the government bases its choices and decisions on sophisticated model studies by experts, but the preferences, considerations and values of society are hardly taken into account. To support more insights into the latter, we carry out a Participative Value Evaluation (PWE), in which approx. 10.000 citizens are consulted about their preferences regarding the trade-offs that occur while lifting the corona measures. This study is carried out in collaboration with the RIVM, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Ministry of Finances and Vrije University of Amsterdam.

You can find more information and participate in the research here (from 29 April)