A method for controlling a lighting system (100; 200), which comprises at least one lighting arrangement (110; 210), a user control device (120; 220) and a main control device, the method comprising the steps of: - providing the lighting arrangement (110; 210) with an identification code; - at the lighting arrangement (110; 210): - modulating light emitted by the lighting arrangement by lighting arrangement data, which contains the identification code of the lighting arrangement; - at the user control device (120; 220): - receiving light from the lighting arrangement; - deriving received lighting arrangement data from the light received from the lighting arrangement; - generating additional data which is associated with an identification code contained in the received lighting arrangement data; - transmitting the received lighting arrangement data and the additional data; - at the main control device: - receiving said received lighting arrangement data and said additional data from the user control device; - controlling the operation of the lighting arrangement dependent on said received lighting arrangement data and said additional data as received from the user control device; characterized in that, - at the user control device (120; 220) the received light from the lighting arrangement is measured and the user control device provides at least part of the additional data in the form of a value representing at least one measured property of the received light apart from said received lighting arrangement data contained in the received light indicative of the quantitative contribution to the light as received by the user control device, and - the main control device uses said value to determine the effect a specific control that the main control device has on the lighting at the location of the user control device and dependent thereon controls the lighting arrangement to obtain a light effect at said location. - providing the lighting arrangement (110; 210) with an identification code; - at the lighting arrangement (110; 210): - modulating light emitted by the lighting arrangement by lighting arrangement data, which contains the identification code of the lighting arrangement; - at the user control device (120; 220): - receiving light from the lighting arrangement; - deriving received lighting arrangement data from the light received from the lighting arrangement; - generating additional data which is associated with an identification code contained in the received lighting arrangement data; - transmitting the received lighting arrangement data and the additional data; - at the main control device: - receiving said received lighting arrangement data and said additional data from the user control device; - controlling the operation of the lighting arrangement dependent on said received lighting arrangement data and said additional data as received from the user control device; characterized in that, - at the user control device (120; 220) the received light from the lighting arrangement is measured and the user control device provides at least part of the additional data in the form of a value representing at least one measured property of the received light apart from said received lighting arrangement data contained in the received light indicative of the quantitative contribution to the light as received by the user control device, and - the main control device uses said value to determine the effect a specific control that the main control device has on the lighting at the location of the user control device and dependent thereon controls the lighting arrangement to obtain a light effect at said location.