This report investigates prior experiences and impacts of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) with the aim of informing preparation plans for Leeuwarden and Fryslân to organize the event in 2018. The longterm benefits that the ECoC tend to be both tangible through improvements in facilities, and intangible as self-confidence and pride increase as the result of celebrating the destination, its culture and history.
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This article starts from the observation that popular culture resides in a contradictory space. On the one hand it seems to be thriving, in that the range of media objects that were previously studied under the rubric of popular culture has certainly expanded. Yet, cultural studies scholars rarely study these media objects as popular culture. Instead, concerns about immaterial labor, about the manipulation of voting behavior and public opinion, about filter bubbles and societal polarization, and about populist authoritarianism, determine the dominant frames with which the contemporary media environment is approached. This article aims to trace how this change has come to pass over the last 50 years. It argues that changes in the media environment are important, but also that cultural studies as an institutionalizing interdisciplinary project has changed. It identifies “the moment of popular culture” as a relatively short-lived but epoch-defining moment in cultural studies. This moment was subsequently displaced by a set of related yet different theoretical problematics that gradually moved the study of popular culture away from the popular. These displacements are: the hollowing out of the notion of the popular, as signaled early on by Meaghan Morris’ article “The Banality of Cultural Studies” in 1988; the institutionalization of cultural studies; the rise of the governmentality approach and a growing engagement with affect theory.
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While mission statements (MSs) are included in schools often due to governing policy, evidence suggests they remain underutilized by leaders. Scant research is undertaken with regard to school mission statements and how these affects daily practice. This qualitative phenomenological study explores the extent to which school MSs influence daily practice, as well as professional development for school leaders and teachers. This study draws upon interviews with six individuals who lead or teach at two different international schools. The findings provide valuable insight into how MSs are experienced by leaders and teachers. The paper concludes with a discussion around the potential implications for policy makers and school leaders who wish to shape school culture and professional development.
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Steeds meer mode- en textielontwerpers willen bijdragen aan de transitie naar een circulair mode- en textielsysteem, maar bezitten vaak niet de juiste kennis en/of hebben onvoldoende ervaring met maak- of ontwerpmethoden die gericht zijn op circulariteit. Daarnaast wordt er in de mode- en textielsector vaak uitgegaan van een beperkte definitie van circulariteit. Waar circulariteit in deze sector doorgaans gaat over de 9-R methodiek (reuse, repair, recycling, etc.), zetten we in dit project artistiek en ontwerpend onderzoek in om circulariteit vanuit een holistisch perspectief te benaderen met speciale aandacht voor de sociaal-culturele, esthetische en systemische facetten van circulariteit. Op vele plekken in de keten is er sprake van onzichtbaar arbeid, en er is steeds meer vraag naar een sterker begrip (transparantie) van het mode- en textielsysteem en de verschillende actoren daarbinnen. De intransparantie en onzichtbaarheid van diverse actoren in het mode- en textielsysteem staat de transitie naar een circulair modesysteem, met minder vervuilende maak-en consumptie praktijken, in de weg. In dit project werken ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de Kunsten en State of Fashion als geassocieerde BIS-instelling nauw samen met Avans Hogeschool en de Crafts Council Nederland. Gezamenlijk onderzoeken wij – door middel van artistiek en ontwerpend onderzoek – hoe het zichtbaar maken van “onzichtbaar arbeid” in het mode- en textielsysteem kan leiden tot nieuwe, circulaire maak- en ontwerppraktijken.
To treat microbial infections, antibiotics are life-saving but the increasing antimicrobial resistance is a World-wide problem. Therefore, there is a great need for novel antimicrobial substances. Fruit and flower anthocyanins have been recognized as promising alternatives to traditional antibiotics. How-ever, for future application as innovative alternative antibiotics, the full potential of anthocyanins should be further investigated. The antimicrobial potential of anthocyanin mixtures against different bacterial species has been demonstrated in literature. Preliminary experiments performed by our laboratories, using grape, rose and red cabbage anthocyanins against S. aureus and E. coli confirmed the antimicrobial potential of these substances. Hundreds of different anthocyanin entities have been described. However, which of these entities hold antimicrobial effects is currently unknown. Our preliminary data show that an-thocyanins extracted from grape, rose and red cabbage contain different collections of anthocyanin entities with differential antimicrobial efficacies. Our focus is on the extraction and characterization of anthocyanins from various crop residues. Grape peels are residues in the production of wine, while red rose and tulip leaves are residues in the production of tulip bulbs and regular horticulture. The presence of high-grade substances for pharmacological purposes in these crops may provide an innovative strategy to add value to other-wise invaluable crop residues. This project will be performed by the collaborative effort of our institute together with the Medi-cal Microbiology department of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), 'Wijnstaete', a small-scale wine-producer (Lemelerveld) and Imenz Bioengineering (Groningen), a company that develops processes to improve the production of biobased chemicals from waste products. Within this project, we will focus on the antimicrobial efficacy of anthocyanin-mixtures from sources that are abundantly and locally available as a residual waste product. The project is part of a larger re-search effect to further characterize, modify and study the antimicrobial effects of specific anthocy-anin entities.
CIRC B.V. heeft een prototype biovergister ontwikkeld die op kleine schaal, 50 kilogram organische afval per dag kan omzetten in groen gas, elektriciteit, warmte en hoogwaardige plantenvoeding. In dit prototype wordt als startercultuur koemest gebruikt, waardoor het drie weken duurt voordat het vergistingsproces opgestart is. Alternatieven, zoals startersculturen uit GFT installaties zijn alleen te koop als bulk materialen, waardoor leveranciers geen kleinere hoeveelheden willen leveren aan CIRC. In dit KiemGoChem project gaat de Hogeschool Utrecht in samenwerking met CIRC B.V. onderzoeken welke innovatieve starterculturen gebruikt kunnen worden en welke voorbewerkingsstap nodig is om het biovergistingsproces geschikt te maken voor organisch afval en bioplastics. Met als doel een geurloze, robuuste en betaalbare biovergister te ontwikkelen die geschikt is in de gebouwde omgeving. Kansrijke alternatieven worden getest in het laboratorium en een klantgericht strategisch businessplan wordt opgesteld. Het project wordt uitgevoerd door docenten, studenten en medewerkers van de Hogeschool Utrecht, Utrecht Science Park InnovatieLab Life Sciences & Chemistry en de startup CIRC B.V.
