Panarchy is the paradigm of transition and change. Panarchy is the paradigm where small actions can have major effects for better or worse. It is to expect the unexpected. Panarchy holds the promise of positively changing the Anthropocene. By being prepared we can anticipate upon unexpected emerging phenomena which can be used as leverage for creating change.rue change is by transformative learning which transforms our sets of assumptions and expectations, our frames of reference (mindsets, habits of mind and meaning perspectives) Art&Design, artists, designers and philosophers are, by there very nature, capable of changing our frames of reference and thereby create opportunities for true change and adaptation.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the insights gained by testing in a design studio a particular research-by-design strategy, focusing on the generation of innovative solutions for climate change adaptation. The strategy is based on the Design Thinking Process and has been applied in the climate adaptation design studio, which took place in 2022 at a Master of Architecture degree program in the Netherlands. The case study area was the Zernike university campus in Groningen, the Netherlands, which is situated in the verge between the city and the surrounding rural landscape, facing the urgent climate change challenges of the wider region, mainly floodings due to increased frequency of rainfalls and sea level rise. Furthermore, the area faces particular challenges, such as the increasing demand for serving additional needs, beyond the current educational and business related functions, such as (student) housing. Three indicative design research projects were selected to illustrate the tested research-by-design strategy, while systematic input has been collected from the participating students regarding the impact of this strategy on their design process. The results reveal that this strategy facilitates the iterative research-by-design process and hence offers a systematic approach to convert the threats of climate change into opportunities by unravelling the potentials of the study area, resulting in place-based, innovative and adaptive solutions.
Everyone has the right to participate in society to the best of their ability. This right also applies to people with a visual impairment, in combination with a severe or profound intellectual and possibly motor disability (VISPIMD). However, due to their limitations, for their participation these people are often highly dependent on those around them, such as family members andhealthcare professionals. They determine how people with VISPIMD participate and to what extent. To optimize this support, they must have a good understanding of what people with disabilities can still do with their remaining vision.It is currently difficult to gain insight into the visual abilities of people with disabilities, especially those with VISPIMD. As a professional said, "Everything we can think of or develop to assess the functional vision of this vulnerable group will help improve our understanding and thus our ability to support them. Now, we are more or less guessing about what they can see.Moreover, what little we know about their vision is hard to communicate to other professionals”. Therefore, there is a need for methods that can provide insight into the functional vision of people with VISPIMD, in order to predict their options in daily life situations. This is crucial knowledge to ensure that these people can participate in society to their fullest extent.What makes it so difficult to get this insight at the moment? Visual impairments can be caused by a range of eye or brain disorders and can manifest in various ways. While we understand fairly well how low vision affects a person's abilities on relatively simple visual tasks, it is much more difficult to predict this in more complex dynamic everyday situations such asfinding your way or moving around during daily activities. This is because, among other things, conventional ophthalmic tests provide little information about what people can do with their remaining vision in everyday life (i.e., their functional vision).An additional problem in assessing vision in people with intellectual disabilities is that many conventional tests are difficult to perform or are too fatiguing, resulting in either no or the wrong information. In addition to their visual impairment, there is also a very serious intellectual disability (possibly combined with a motor impairment), which makes it even more complex to assesstheir functional vision. Due to the interplay between their visual, intellectual, and motor disabilities, it is almost impossible to determine whether persons are unable to perform an activity because they do not see it, do not notice it, do not understand it, cannot communicate about it, or are not able to move their head towards the stimulus due to motor disabilities.Although an expert professional can make a reasonable estimate of the functional possibilities through long-term and careful observation, the time and correct measurement data are usually lacking to find out the required information. So far, it is insufficiently clear what people with VZEVMB provoke to see and what they see exactly.Our goal with this project is to improve the understanding of the visual capabilities of people with VISPIMD. This then makes it possible to also improve the support for participation of the target group. We want to achieve this goal by developing and, in pilot form, testing a new combination of measurement and analysis methods - primarily based on eye movement registration -to determine the functional vision of people with VISPIMD. Our goal is to systematically determine what someone is responding to (“what”), where it may be (“where”), and how much time that response will take (“when”). When developing methods, we take the possibilities and preferences of the person in question as a starting point in relation to the technological possibilities.Because existing technological methods were originally developed for a different purpose, this partly requires adaptation to the possibilities of the target group.The concrete end product of our pilot will be a manual with an overview of available technological methods (as well as the methods themselves) for assessing functional vision, linked to the specific characteristics of the target group in the cognitive, motor area: 'Given that a client has this (estimated) combination of limitations (cognitive, motor and attention, time in whichsomeone can concentrate), the order of assessments is as follows:' followed by a description of the methods. We will also report on our findings in a workshop for professionals, a Dutch-language article and at least two scientific articles. This project is executed in the line: “I am seen; with all my strengths and limitations”. During the project, we closely collaborate with relevant stakeholders, i.e. the professionals with specific expertise working with the target group, family members of the persons with VISPIMD, and persons experiencing a visual impairment (‘experience experts’).
Uit de ongevallenstatistieken blijkt dat ouderen verhoudingsgewijs vaker betrokken zijn bij verkeersongevallen en vaker de veroorzaker van een ongeval zijn. Ze worden daarom als risicogroep in het verkeer aangeduid. Diverse eerder uitgevoerde onderzoeken verwachten dat rijhulpsystemen, de zogenoemde ‘Advanced Driver Assistance Systems’ (ADAS) het verhoogde ongevalsrisico van de oudere autobestuurder kan verlagen. Toch blijkt uit voorgaand onderzoek dat deze ADAS, die generiek ontwikkeld worden voor een universele gebruiker, juist bij oudere automobilist nog niet goed aanslaan en de potentie van een doelgroepgerichte ADAS voor ouderen niet optimaal benut wordt. De technische mogelijkheden om ouderen te ondersteunen bestaan al, maar het ontbreekt op dit moment nog aan praktische toepassingen. In BRAVO staat een doelgroepgerichte ADAS voor ouderen centraal en zullen de marktmogelijkheden samen met de mkb-partners onderzocht worden. Dit onderzoek vraagt om een multidisciplinaire benadering van zowel de problematiek, de huidige markt als de behoeften van de consument/doelgroep. BRAVO zal resulteren in een businesscase die scenario’s bevat waarin een doelgroepgerichte ADAS voor ouderen kan worden toegepast. Daarnaast zal dit verkennende onderzoek nieuwe inzichten geven die zullen leiden tot nieuwe (en grotere) onderzoeken naar het effect en de impact van een doelgroepgerichte ADAS voor ouderen. Met BRAVO wordt een eerste stap gezet naar de ontwikkeling van een doelgroepgerichte ADAS die kan bijdragen aan de verkeersveiligheid en het zelfstandige mobiliteitsbelang van de oudere bestuurder.
Wet and healthy peatlands have a strong natural potential to save carbon and, due to their waterbuffering capacity, play an important role in managing periods of excessive rains or droughts. Yet, inNWE regions large areas of peatlands are drained for peat mining, agriculture or forestry, whichmakes them CO2 emission sources rather than sinks. By restoring the capacity to buffer carbon andwater, BUFFER+ partners aim at climate change adaptation and mitigation in NWE regions, while atthe same time restore biodiversity and create new revenue streams.BUFFER+ involves 21 partners and 7 Associated Organisations from regions
