In the Netherlands, we’re closing our emptying prisons. What can other countries learn from how we did it? | Renate van der Zee

The Dutch prison population has fallen by more than 40% - and awareness of the harms of harsh sentencing could explain why

Yesterday, I went to the cinema in the Dome prison in Haarlem. This monumental building - a vast, panopticon-style facility first opened in 1901 - is one of more than 20 Dutch prisons that have closed in the past decade. Some of them have ended up serving significantly more enjoyable purposes, such as this cultural hub.

The Dutch have seen their prison population decrease by more than 40% over the past 20 years. At the other end of the spectrum, Britain has the highest rate of incarceration in western Europe, and is struggling with an unprecedented prisons crisis. Britain's minister of prisons, James Timpson, calls the Netherlands a source of inspiration.

Renate van der Zee is a Dutch writer and journalist