The value of the public real estate portfolio is estimated to exceed the biggest Dutchprivate investor ten times. In spite of its importance, it seems that this municipal real estate is not always managed in a professional way. This paper is about how a more developed and researched discipline – corporate real estate management (CREM) – can add value to a less developed and researched discipline – municipal real estate management (MREM) – to contribute to their professionalisation.
The purpose of this study is to show how local authorities (municipalities) deal with their community real estate. The study is an annually recurring research: every year since 2008 (except for 2013), Dutch municipalities have been asked to complete a questionnaire about how they manage their real estate. With these results it is possible to perform quantitative analyses on both trends and the current situation.The questionnaire responses have led to the following conclusions: (1) Half of themunicipalities has a policy but takes few risk measures, (2) Withdrawing local government, (3) Management and operations most outsourced tasks, (4) Obstacles remain unchanged, (5) Cost reduction most relevant policy theme since 2009, (6) Relevance of some policy themes depends on municipality size, (7) More real estate is offered, smaller percentage is sold, 8) More FTEs for real estate management, especially executive tasks and (9) Conscious focuson quality. Dutch municipalities tune their new developments of the municipal real estate policy to the results of the Barometer for Municipal Community Real Estate. This leads to a further development of professionalism of the municipal real estate portfolios.The contribution to science is showing patterns of community real estate management at Dutch municipalities. A longitudinal study of this size on this subject is unique in The Netherlands.
Background and aim – The aim of this paper is to look at the professionalization of municipal real estate management (MREM) from an organizational design perspective.Methods / Methodology – Analysis of current and recent MREMliterature in a Dutch context on organizational design. Results – It appears that organizational design is implicitly or explicitly concluded as being interesting and relevant, but no research was performed on this topic. In general, it seems MREM could be significantly better organized creating higher value of its real estate for society. Practical or social implications – The finding that organizational design is an interesting yet underexposed parameter contributes to an awareness at real estate professionals. A better organization of MREM will not only increase professionalism, but also create higher value for local authorities and society. Moreover, possibilities for future research have been identified. Ultimately, new research and more best case practices can advance the management of real estate at local governments.
In June 2016, two Dutch SME companies which are active in the area of urban solid waste management approached the International Environmental Sciences department of Avans about the current R&D activities on urban solid waste management in cooperation with the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) Brazil. The companies had interest in developing activities in Brazil, since they are aware of the great potential for exporting both knowledge and technology. Solid waste poses a major problem in Brazil which affects 200 million residents. The Brazilian municipalities collect around 71 million tons solid municipal waste on a yearly basis and only a tiny percentage of this collected waste gets recycled. As such. the overwhelming majority of the collected urban solid waste goes to landfills. Within the State of Minas Gerais there are 850 towns of which 600 have less than 20.000 residents and are agriculturally oriented. Current organic waste composting practices take place under very poor conditions (pathogens and weeds still remain in the compost) and most often the resulting compost product is not well received by its residential and agricultural consumers. As such there is huge room for improvement. The SME companies work with Avans and UFMG to address these challenges. The joint research team consisting of the two Dutch SME companies and the two Research and educational institutes have defined the following research question: What is the current status of organic solid waste management in Minas Gerais and how can cooperation between Brazil and the Netherlands result in a win-win for both countries? Two individual KIEM VANG proposals have been defined in order to address these challenges. The planned activities are a joint effort with professor R. T. de Vasconcelos Barros of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) and are executed within the Living Lab Biobased Brazil program (www.biobasedbrazil.org).
Historical sites, specifically former military fortifications, are often repurposed for tourism and recreation. While some of over 100 Dutch forts are recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites, a substantial number are currently underdeveloped, putting their heritage value and biodiversity at risk. This demands action, as forts are well-positioned to relieve overtourism in other locations, responding to the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Convention's call to spread visitors to lesser-known areas. Furthermore, developing lesser-known fort sites could provide tourism and recreation opportunities near populated areas, thus contributing to the well-being not only of visitors but also the environment. Development initiatives depend on a transition from isolation to cooperation across sites. However, for cooperation to be effective, enterprises and agencies managing these forts still lack data regarding visitor expectations and experiences. We will employ a multidisciplinary approach to capturing visitor demographics, motivations, and experiences, through conducting quantitative questionnaires, lab-driven physiological experience measurement, and location tracking. This proposal builds on the previous project, “Experiencing Nature”, funded by Centre of Expertise in Leisure, Tourism, and Hospitality, which utilized Breda Experience Lab technologies to explore visitor experiences at Fort de Roovere. In sum, the purpose of the present project is to measure and analyze visitor demographics, motivations, and experiences at less-developed forts, and to develop a toolkit to inspire, support, and monitor development of these forts for heritage preservation, visitor experience, and biodiversity. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Flemish partners, thereby forming the consortium comprised of the Alliantie ZuiderWaterlinie (NL), Regionale Landschappen (VL), and Agentschap Natuur en Bos (VL), with support from municipalities in both countries. The project will promote regional synergies and facilitate long-lasting cross-border collaboration, especially toward coming Interreg EU proposals, whilst informing the design of interregional marketing campaigns and supporting planning for visitor flows and biodiversity conservation efforts. Collaborative partnersNHL Stenden, Alliantie Zuidwaterlinie, RLRL, Agentschap Natuur en Bos.
Air-to-Water (A2W) systems are innovative technologies which make possible to supply drinking water to regions without any nearby surface or ground water source. Such systems use green energy (solar, wind) to condense air humidity and provide fresh water in rather remote locations. As water production is area dependent, they operate at relatively small fluxes (few cubic meters per day, per unit), which makes them especially suitable for small isolated communities that are not supplied by municipal water supply services. Even though they have reached quite high technology redness level (TRL), in-situ, real scale, tests are still required to optimize energy performance and evaluate production at very specific meteorological conditions. In this project we propose an in-situ evaluation of the performance of a real scale A2W system produced by a Dutch company (Dutch Rain Maker, model AW-25) in the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil. The cooperation with a HBO institute (Water Technology lectoraat, NHL Stenden) will provide the necessary analytical and technical support as well as extra expertise to conduct the tests. The project uses the opportunity given by the state government of Ceará State which built an infra-structure to provide space for in-situ tests for experts and companies who would like to test water technology solutions for arid regions. Finally, it is also intended to help establishing partnerships between European SME and Brazilian end users, i.e. municipalities of the Ceará state and small agriculture companies in the region.
