This paper aims to show how current insights on place branding are used to organize “green” entrepreneurship in the Dutch Utrechtse Heuvelrug region. The role of place is explored in establishing a differentiated meaning for green entrepreneurship and providing an inspirational source for innovations, resulting in a green economic value proposition designed and communicated through branding. Design/methodology/approach: From the literature, different perspectives on the role and function of the place were derived, which lead to the choice of an identity-based entrepreneurial brand. To define the regional identity, qualitative and quantitative research were conducted. In addition, co-creation sessions were organized to further develop the brand. Findings: Taking place branding as the starting point, a framework has been developed, introducing the regional identity as an open space, linking locally based sub-brands to enhance power. To deliver economical and social value in an area with no leading business to sustainability and well-developed business skills, cluster development has been introduced as a way to create new economic activity and sustainable impact. Practical implications: The strategy of separating stakeholders and position them as locally based brands enables place planners and marketers to manage place brand complexity, which generally delays the process, often limiting place branding to “logos and slogans”. Originality/value: This paper provides a case study, which offers new perspectives on the issue of managing complexity, which is inevitable in organizing a place brand.
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Universities are deeply involved in stimulating their students in entrepreneurship where they focus on designing programs based on existing knowledge form pedagogics and didactical concepts. Although the Total Entrepreneurial Activity is increasing, the results are not satisfying in all cases. The question arise were improvements can made in curriculum design approaches. Exploring recent developments in curriculum design and engaged scholarship anchor points may be found. The start of a traditional journey starts at the development of the adolescent (push approach). In this paper the start is from the other end, the terminal station of the educational process, the profession of the student (pull approach). The journey among the developments show that an anchor point for an alternative approach can be the context of the curriculum to be designed. Where the macro level is common over years, the micro (personal) level is starting attracting scholars attention. From the perspective of the meso level, a new context emerge. Engaging this context into the design process, better programs can be developed as technical start-up programs implicate. The questions addressed opens a new insights in the dynamic of the different professional domains. With these specific characteristics, the elements of a curriculum can be adopted to this and specific programs can be designed.
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Client: Foundation Innovation Alliance (SIA - Stichting Innovatie Alliantie) with funding from the ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) Funder: RAAK (Regional Attention and Action for Knowledge circulation) The RAAK scheme is managed by the Foundation Innovation Alliance (SIA - Stichting Innovatie Alliantie) with funding from the ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). Early 2013 the Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Transport started work on the RAAK-MKB project ‘Carbon management for tour operators’ (CARMATOP). Besides NHTV, eleven Dutch SME tour operators, ANVR, HZ University of Applied Sciences, Climate Neutral Group and ECEAT initially joined this 2-year project. The consortium was later extended with IT-partner iBuildings and five more tour operators. The project goal of CARMATOP was to develop and test new knowledge about the measurement of tour package carbon footprints and translate this into a simple application which allows tour operators to integrate carbon management into their daily operations. By doing this Dutch tour operators are international frontrunners.Why address the carbon footprint of tour packages?Global tourism contribution to man-made CO2 emissions is around 5%, and all scenarios point towards rapid growth of tourism emissions, whereas a reverse development is required in order to prevent climate change exceeding ‘acceptable’ boundaries. Tour packages have a high long-haul and aviation content, and the increase of this type of travel is a major factor in tourism emission growth. Dutch tour operators recognise their responsibility, and feel the need to engage in carbon management.What is Carbon management?Carbon management is the strategic management of emissions in one’s business. This is becoming more important for businesses, also in tourism, because of several economical, societal and political developments. For tour operators some of the most important factors asking for action are increasing energy costs, international aviation policy, pressure from society to become greener, increasing demand for green trips, and the wish to obtain a green image and become a frontrunner among consumers and colleagues in doing so.NetworkProject management was in the hands of the Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Transport (CSTT) of NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences. CSTT has 10 years’ experience in measuring tourism emissions and developing strategies to mitigate emissions, and enjoys an international reputation in this field. The ICT Associate Professorship of HZ University of Applied Sciences has longstanding expertise in linking varying databases of different organisations. Its key role in CARMATOP was to create the semantic wiki for the carbon calculator, which links touroperator input with all necessary databases on carbon emissions. Web developer ibuildings created the Graphical User Interface; the front end of the semantic wiki. ANVR, the Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour operators, represents 180 tour operators and 1500 retail agencies in the Netherlands, and requires all its members to meet a minimum of sustainable practices through a number of criteria. ANVR’s role was in dissemination, networking and ensuring CARMATOP products will last. Climate Neutral Group’s experience with sustainable entrepreneurship and knowledge about carbon footprint (mitigation), and ECEAT’s broad sustainable tourism network, provided further essential inputs for CARMATOP. Finally, most of the eleven tour operators are sustainable tourism frontrunners in the Netherlands, and are the driving forces behind this project.
The Dutch floriculture is globally leading, and its products, knowledge and skills are important export products. New challenges in the European research agenda include sustainable use of raw materials such as fertilizer, water and energy, and limiting the use of pesticides. Greenhouse growers however have little control over crop growth conditions in the greenhouse at individual plant level. The purpose of this project, ‘HiPerGreen’, is to provide greenhouse owners with new methods to monitor the crop growth conditions in their greenhouse at plant level, compare the measured growth conditions and the measured growth with expected conditions and expected growth, to point out areas with deviations, recommend counter-measures and ultimately to increase their crop yield. The main research question is: How can we gather, process and present greenhouse crop growth parameters over large scale greenhouses in an economical way and ultimately improve crop yield? To provide an answer to this question, a team of university researchers and companies will cooperate in this applied research project to cover several different fields of expertise The application target is floriculture: the production of ornamental pot plants and cut flowers. Participating companies are engaged in the cultivation of pot plans, flowers and suppliers of greenhouse technology. Most of the parties fall in the SME (MKB) category, in line with the RAAK MKB objectives.Finally, the Demokwekerij and Hortipoint (the publisher of the international newsletter on floriculture) are closely involved. The project will develop new knowledge for a smart and rugged data infrastructure for growth monitoring and growth modeling in the greenhouse. In total the project will involve approximately 12 (teacher) researchers from the universities and about 60 students, who will work in the form of internships and undergraduate studies of interesting questions directly from the participating companies.
Sinds de ratificatie van de Global Goals in het najaar van 2015 heeft de Nederlandse overheid zich gecommitteerd aan het bereiken van deze doelen. Er is echter geen implementatie of uitvoeringsreceptuur geleverd bij het bepalen van de doelen. Met Peeze Coffee, BiomyGreen zijn lopende gesprekken en afspraken over het prototypen van een implementatie strategie van de Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in het MKB. De Gemeente Rheden stimuleert de MVO strategie van het midden en klein bedrijf binnen hun grenzen en participeert in regionale samenwerkingsverbanden. De gemeente Rheden wil de kennis en toepassingsontwikkeling verder stimuleren en werkt daarbij intensief samen met VHL. Deze koplopers in Duurzaamheid inclusief de gemeente Rheden hebben hun duurzaamheidsprofiel goed op de rit maar krijgen de uitdaging van de SDGs voor hun kiezen: Er is weinig praktijk ervaring op midden management. Deze uitdaging zal merkbaar worden door toekomstige regelgeving op bv de energie transitie, circulair economie en de impact van de bedrijfsactiviteiten op onze leefomgeving. Beter is het deze ontwikkelingen voor te zijn: maar hoe doe je dat met het midden management? Dit kortlopende project gaat leerresultaten van onderzoek documenteren hoe deze bedrijven en de gemeente Rheden de SDGs in hun bedrijfsprofiel te verankeren. Het co-creëren gaat idealiter een ‘Demonstrator’ opleveren waarbij video, interviews recordings, werksessie opnamen en SDG implementatie modellen worden verwerkt welke Good Practises en leertrajecten werkzaam zijn bij het implementeren van de SDGs. De Demonstrator zal gebruikt worden bij Symposia, SDG kenniscentrum voor MKB en bij Entrepreneurship onderwijsmodules en draagt bij aan het bedrijfsprofiel van de aangesloten consortium deelnemers. Deze korte slag van Raak-Kiem zal uiteindelijk leiden naar een grotere aanvraag Raak-MKB of Raak-Pro.
