"Broad Prosperity" Working Conference: Council Members Engage in Dialogue

Each municipality offers an intensive orientation program for new council members. It is precisely during this initial phase that it is particularly valuable to gain tools for making well-considered decisions, asking the right questions, and focusing on social impacts. That is why, on Wednesday, September 23, we organized a “Broad Prosperity” Workshop in collaboration with Leiden Kennisstad, specifically designed for council members in the Key Region Leiden.

“Through knowledge sharing, interactive activities, and discussion, we want to bring the concept of ‘Broad Prosperity’ to life so that you can apply it in your day-to-day council work—both now and over the next four years,” said Leonie Hussaarts at the opening of the event.

What is well-being?

We were guests at the Center for Applied Broad Well-Being at Leiden University of Applied Sciences. Professor Christine Carabain and researcher Robin Philips gave a presentation on the definition of broad well-being and the elements it encompasses. Here are some of the insights they shared:

Comprehensive well-being is about the present, the future, and other places. The latter refers to the question of what effects your policies and choices have elsewhere.
Comprehensive well-being puts people first. In real life, all systems are interconnected; therefore, bring together the systemic world (the social domain, spatial development, work and income, etc.) and the everyday world.
In some groups and neighborhoods, you see a cumulative effect, which leads to an uneven distribution of the positive and negative consequences of decisions. Preventing this negative cumulative effect can be an important consideration in the decision-making process.
Metropolitan issues are becoming increasingly common in smaller communities, even though these communities often lack the budget and resources to address them. A holistic approach to well-being can help achieve a win-win situation through careful, integrated consideration—for example, by identifying the social costs of new projects.
Comprehensive well-being is a broad concept. Therefore, choose a specific area to focus on and stick with it for a while: that way, the effects will become visible, and you can begin to expand on it.

National Survey

A national survey (SCP, COB-LISS, August 2025) shows that the concept of broad well-being enjoys broad support: 64% of respondents believe that the ecological consequences of policy are important to consider, 76% believe the same regarding social impacts, and 57% think that a broader view of well-being ultimately improves society. Differences are also evident within the region itself: for example, the comprehensive well-being figures show that Oegstgeest scores the highest on average, while in Leiden, the gap between the highest- and lowest-scoring neighborhoods is the widest. This underscores why a holistic perspective—especially at the neighborhood level—can be so valuable.

Getting Started with a Real-World Case Study

After the break, it was time to get to work on a specific case study: the presence of migrant workers in the region. Questions that came up included:

What positive and negative effects can be identified: here, in the future, and elsewhere?
What can we do to mitigate negative effects and capitalize on positive ones?
Do we see a buildup of negative effects anywhere, and how can we prevent that through policies, measures, and interventions?
What procedures are necessary, and in what order?
Do we really have a clear enough picture of the needs of migrant workers themselves? Are we asking the right questions at the right time, and are we willing to listen?

A Memorable Evening

This approach led to fruitful discussions, with room for a wide range of perspectives. In short: a valuable evening that offered a concrete introduction to thinking in terms of broad well-being.

Be sure to also read the recap below of the previous symposium on Comprehensive Well-Being.