Agrobiodiversity has been decreasing substantially in Europe. Social scientific research in this area has paid limited attention to how citizens value agrobiodiversity and its decline, and how these valuations can be influenced. We explore the influence of different arguments for enhancing agro-biodiversity, delivered via short movies, on attitudes and behaviour of students, environmental professionals and people interested in nature conservation in the Netherlands. We conclude that information provision does not influence attitudes. However, it does influence values assigned to agrobiodiversity, but not always in the ways we hypothesized. Information about the intrinsic value of agrobiodiversity has the most effects on values assigned to agrobiodiversity. Among students, women and people with a low emotional attachment with agricultural landscapes (‘place identity’ and ‘place dependence’), emphasizing the instrumental value of agrobiodiversity has a counter-intuitive effect. It does not influence the importance of this value but instead reinforces the intrinsic value they assign to agrobiodiversity. The latter finding is at odds with the instrumental biodiversity discourse in science and policy, which, under headings such as ecosystem services and natural capital, aims to mobilize support for nature conservation by emphasizing its instrumental, functional and economic values. Emphasizing the intrinsic value of agrobiodiversity seems more effective.
LINK
This study proposes a systematic value chain approach to helping businesses identify and eliminate inefficiencies. The authors have developed a robust framework, which food-sector entrepreneurs can use to increase profitability of an existing business or to create new profitable opportunities. The value chain approach provides win-win opportunities for players within the value chain. To test the robustness of the framework, the authors use food waste as an example of a critical inefficiency and apply it to two different food sector business cases, each operating in diverse conditions. Because the suggested framework addresses the core elements and parameters for the existence and competitiveness of a business, the model can be adapted to other sectors.
DOCUMENT
This quick guide is written to inspire designers, policy makers, company owners, employees, educators and students to change the linear economy into a circular economy by collaborating in local value chains. This guide explains the basics of circular economy, value chains and it gives practical tips for you to work with and practical examples to learn from. It is developed within the context of the Biocup project, part of the BIOCAS Interreg project supported by the North Sea Programme of the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union.
DOCUMENT
This white paper is presented by the Ethics Working Group of the uNLock Consortium This white paper presents findings of the Ethics Working Group, from the conceptual phase of investigation into the ethical issues of the uNLock solution, providing identity management solutions for sharing and presentation of medical COVID-19 credentials (test results) in the context of healthcare institutions. We have provided an outline of direct and indirect stakeholders for the uNLock solution and mapped values, benefits, and harms to the respective stakeholders. The resulting conceptual framework has allowed us to lay down key norms and principles of Self Sovereign Identity (SSI) in the specific context of uNLock solution. We hope that adherence to these norms and principles could serve as a groundwork for anticipatory mitigation of moral risk and hazards stemming from the implementation of uNLock solution and similar solutions. Our findings suggest that even early stage of conceptual investigation in the framework of Value Sensitive Design (VSD), reveals numerous ethical issues. The proposed implementation of the uNLock app in the healthcare context did not proceed further than prototype stage, thus our investigation was limited to the conceptual stage, and did not involve the practical implementation of VSD method involving translation of norms and values into engineering requirements. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that the implementation of VSD method in this context is a promising approach that helps to identify moral conflicts and risks at a very early stage of technological development of SSI solutions. Furthermore, we would like to stress that in the light of our findings it became painfully obvious that hasty implementation of medical credentials system without thorough ethical assessment, risks creating more ethical issues rather than addressing existing ones.
DOCUMENT
The research project In search of pedagogical sensitivity is executed from the research department of the knowledge circle renewing methods and didactics for teacher education and training of the Hogeschool Utrecht in the Netherlands under supervision of Hans Jansen (associated professor of the Hogeschool Utrecht - chair: renewing methods and didactics for teacher education and training) by Karel Mulderij, Renée van der Linde and Loes Houweling (all senior teachers and senior researchers of the Hogeschool Utrecht and members of the knowledge circle renewing methods and didactics for teacher education and training) with assistance of 25 students (teachers) studying in a three year Master course Ecological Pedagogy.
DOCUMENT
Nature-based tourism in the desert can play an important role in reconnecting people with nature. Tourist experiences are influenced by imaginaries as well as the spiritual and aesthetic values of the landscape, promoting a new identity through a sense of transformation and belonging. These Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) shaped as well by geopolitical imaginaries have as yet remained unexplored. They are important, new contributions to the body of research. How do German-speaking group and cruise tourists imagine the desert and how do they experience the cultural values of the dry ecosystem ‘in situ’? Primarily, in-depth interviews and travel ethnography were applied along with photography and content analysis of marketing material. To support these methods, a survey was distributed to mega-cruise tourists visiting the desert. Results show that group tourists in particular romanticize an imaginary, quiet, empty place similar to a sacred space, promoting self-transformation, a deep connection with the space and sociality with nature and/or with others. Their experiences also enhance empathy for the natural environment through ‘self-immersion’, creating profound well-being. While in the desert, group tourists engage in a multi-sensuous immersion and spiritual transformation, while cruise tourists enjoy an adventure experience. 74% of the cruise tourists enjoyed being in a completely different environment. But, due to noise, overcrowding and built infrastructure, some CES such as silence, finding solitude and viewing of the sands are diminished. A proposed framework takes into account the influence of geopolitical imaginaries and the spiritual and aesthetic values of the desert leading to the core spiritual experience. Such a framework can justify the long-term protection of the desert, and its high cultural value, as well as an environmental ethic.
DOCUMENT
Abstract: This study sought to provide insight into how art activities influence the well-being of long-term care residents, and how artists and caregivers collaborate in offering these activities. In two long-term care facilities for people with dementia and one for older people with chronic psychiatric disorders, an uncontrolled pre- and post-test study was conducted using a mixed-method design. Forty-six residents participated in the study. Three art activities—(a) dance, (b) music and movement, and (c) visual arts—were studied and co-created with the residents and executed by artists and caregivers together in eight to ten weeks. The Face expression scale (FACE) was used to examine the extent to which participating in the art activity influenced resident mood. Qualitative data were collected via group discussions with artists, caregivers, residents, and an informal caregiver. The results indicated that participating in an art activity positively influenced resident mood (p < 0.000). p-values for the three art activities were: p < 0.000 for dance, p = 0.048 for music and movement, and p = 0.023 for visual arts. The qualitative data revealed that joining an art activity provided a positive effect, increased social relationships, and improved self-esteem for residents. The collaboration between artists and caregivers stimulated creativity, beauty, and learning from each other, as well as evoking emotions.
DOCUMENT
Our planet’s ecology and society are on a collision course, which manifests due to a contradiction in the assumptions of unlimited material growth fueling the linear economic paradigm. Our closed planetary ecosystem imposes confined amounts of space and a finite extent of resources upon its inhabitants. However, practically all the economic perspectives have been defiantly neglecting these realities, as resources are extracted, used and disposed of reluctantly (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2015). The circular economy attempts to reconcile the extraction, production and usage of goods and resources with the limited availability of those resources and nature’s regenerative capabilities This perspective entails a shift throughout the supply chain, from material science (e g non-toxic, regenerative biomaterials) to novel logistical systems (e g low-carbon reverse logistics). Because of this, the circular economy is often celebrated for its potential environmental benefits and its usefulness as a blueprint for sustainable development (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2017). Unfortunately, the promise of the circular economy aiming at enhanced sustainability through restorative intent and design (McDonough & Braungart 2010), is often inhibited by institutional barriers posed by the current linear economy of take, make, use and waste (Ghisellini et al. 2016). Underlying those barriers our cultural paradigm celebrates consumerism, exponential growth and financial benefit instead of human values such as diversity, care and trust. Based on a mapping exercise of the circular economy discourse in the Netherlands and an overview of international (academic) literature (Van den Berg 2020) supplemented with collaborative co-creation sessions, visiting events, conferences, giving talks and classes, we have defined a gap leading to the focus of the Professorship. First, we highlight the importance of a process approach in studying the transition from a linear to a circular economy, which is why we use the verb ‘entrepreneuring’ as it indicates the movement we collectively need to make. The majority of work in the field is based on start-ups and only captures snapshots while longitudinal and transition perspectives - especially of larger companies - are missing (Merli et al. 2019; Geissdoerfer et al. 2018; Bocken et al. 2014). We specifically adopt an entrepreneurship-as-practice lens (Thompson, Verduijn & Gartner 2020), which allows us to trace the doings – as opposed to only the sayings - of organizations involved in circular innovation. Such an approach also enables us to study cross-sector and interfirm collaboration, which is crucial to achieve ecosystem circularity (Raworth 2019). As materials flow between actors in a system, traditional views of ‘a value chain’ slowly make way for an ecosystem or value web perspective on ‘organizing business’. We summarize this first theme as ‘entrepreneurship as social change’ broadening dominant views of what economic activity is and who the main actors are supposed to be (Barinaga 2013; Calás, Smircich & Bourne 2009; Steyaert & Hjorth 2008; Nicholls 2008). Second, within the Circular Business Professorship value is a big word in two ways. First of all, we believe that a transition to a circular economy is not just a transition of materials, nor technologies - it is most of all a transition of values We are interested in how people can explore their own agency in transitioning to a circular economy thereby aligning their personal values with the values of the organization and the larger system they are a part of Second, while circularity is a broad concept that can be approached through different lenses, the way in which things are valued and how value is created and extracted lies at the heart of the transition (Mazzucato 2018). If we don’t understand value as collectively crafted it will be very hard to change things, which is why we specifically focus on multiplicity and co-creation in the process of reclaiming value, originating from an ethics of care Third, sustainability efforts are often concerned with optimization of the current – linear – system by means of ecoefficient practices that are a bit ‘less bad’; using ’less resources’, causing ‘less pollution’ and ‘having less negative impact’. In contrast, eco-effective practices are inherently good, departing from the notion of abundance: circular thinking celebrates the abundance of nature’s regenerative capacities as well as the abundance of our imagination to envision new realities (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2015). Instead of exploiting natural resources, we should look closely in order to learn how we can build resilient self-sustaining ecosystems like the ones we find in nature. We are in need of rediscovering our profound connection with and appreciation of nature, which requires us to move beyond the cognitive and employ an aesthetic perspective of sustainability This perspective informs our approach to innovating education: aesthetics can support deep sustainability learning (Ivanaj, Poldner & Shrivastava 2014) and contribute to facilitating the circular change makers of the future. The current linear economy has driven our planet’s ecology and society towards a collision course and it is really now or never: if we don’t alter the course towards a circular economy today, then when? When will it become urgent enough for us to take action? Which disaster is needed for us to wake up? We desperately need substitutes for the current neo-liberal paradigm, which underlies our linear society and prevents us from becoming an economy of well-being In Entrepreneuring a regenerative society I propose three research themes – ‘entrepreneurship as social change’, ‘reclaiming value’ and ‘the aesthetics of sustainability’ – as alternative ways of embracing, studying and co-creating such a novel reality. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-poldner-a003473/
MULTIFILE
Within paediatric palliative care, it is essential for families and providers to have open, equal, and trusting relationships. In practice, however, building relationships can be challenging. Investing in better understanding the differences in each other's frames of reference and underlying values seems important. Wonder Lab practices provide a space to explore these differences by focusing together on life phenomena in curious and Socratic ways. Wonder Labs were organised with parents, healthcare professionals, and students involved in Dutch paediatric palliative care. The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of how participants experienced participating in Wonder Labs. We conducted twenty in-depth interviews with Wonder Lab participants and used inductive thematic analysis for data interpretation. Five themes were identified: Slowing down, Appreciating stories, Becoming vulnerable, Opening up and diving in, and Reframing perspectives. Participating in Wonder Labs allowed mothers, healthcare professionals, and students to contribute to deepening experiences and gain an expanded understanding of what is at play in caring for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. Through working in pluralised groups, frames of reference and understandings complemented each other and could change. Participants often adopted a more open attitude towards others involved in care after participating and adapted day-to-day practices. Deliberating within paediatric palliative care on sensitive issues and their underlying personal and professional beliefs and values must be part of working together, without specific care situations being the catalyst. This may foster the mutual understanding needed in searching for quality of life, death, and bereavement.
MULTIFILE
Many visitor studies make social background variables the central point of departure to explain participation patterns. How the past is 'staged', however, also has an influence on those to whom it appeals. This relational perspective calls for new conceptual tools to grasp empirical reality. Inspired by the historical philosophy of Georg Simmel and the literary theory of Mikhail Bakhtin a number of concepts which enable us to grasp the subtle relationship between museum presentations and visitors are presented. Bakhtin's notion of chronotopy serves as a key concept. By linking museum presentations and visitor perceptions with each other, it is also possible to identify certain tendencies within the contemporary museum landscape.
DOCUMENT
