Lebanon’s economic crisis has disrupted the country’s energy and water sectors, highlighting their interdependence. The methodologyinvolves surveying 150 municipalities across all Lebanese governorates, ensuring a comprehensive coverage of public and private waterresources. Data on water and energy were collected before and during the crisis to explore this nexus during periods of economic turmoil.The findings reveal a decline in water provision during the crisis, with the average weekly water supply plummeting from 49 h in 2019 to 22 hin 2023. Concurrently, the use of water tankers has surged from 26 to 44%, indicating a concerning shift in water acquisition methods.Despite the crisis, conventional water sources remain predominant, while unconventional sources account for less than 1% of the totalsupply. In response to the energy shortage, renewable energy sources have gained traction in residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.The scarcity and rising cost of electricity have driven the adoption of solar photovoltaics in the water sector, reaching 4.8% for extraction fromunderground reservoirs and 2.8% for distribution. Similarly, the use of solar water heaters has increased from 7.9 to 15.4% in 2023. Thesefindings underscore the interplay between energy and water security during periods of economic instability.
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We examine the ways in which a hidden crisis can be exposed from a communication point of view. In which way can organisations create general awareness of a crisis and try to understand the dynamic nature of interactions? With the help of discourse analysis, we have examined the interactional achievements of two crisis entrepreneurs in the domain of education in the Netherlands: a rector of a secondary school and the founders of BON, a social movement aimed at improving the quality of education. In this way, we will illustrate the discursive practices that play an active role when certain players signal a crisis.
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Talk by members of executive hospital boards influences the organizational positioning of nurses. Talk is a relational leadership practice. Using a qualitative‐ interpretive design we organized focus group meetings wherein members of executive hospital boards (7), nurses (14), physicians (7), and managers (6), from 15 Dutch hospitals, discussed the organizational positioning of nursing during COVID crisis. We found that members of executive hospital boards consider the positioning of nursing in crisis a task of nurses themselves and not as a collective, interdependent, and/or specific board responsibility. Furthermore, members of executive hospital boards talk about the nursing profession as (1) more practical than strategic, (2) ambiguous in positioning, and (3) distinctive from the medical profession. Such talk seemingly contrasts with the notion of interdependence that highlights how actors depend on each other in interaction. Interdependence is central to collaboration in hospital crises. In this paper, therefore, we depart from the members of executive hospital boards as leader and “positioner,” and focus on talk— as a discursive leadership practice—to illuminate leadership and governance in hospitals in crisis, as social, interdependent processes.
MULTIFILE
Restoring rivers with an integrated approach that combines water safety, nature development and gravel mining remains a challenge. Also for the Grensmaas, the most southern trajectory of the Dutch main river Maas, that crosses the border with Belgium in the south of Limburg. The first plans (“Plan Ooievaar”) were already developed in the 1980s and were highly innovative and controversial, as they were based on the idea of using nature-based solutions combined with social-economic development. Severe floodings in 1993 and 1995 came as a shock and accelerated the process to implement the associated measures. To address the multifunctionality of the river, the Grensmaas consortium was set up by public and private parties (the largest public-private partnership ever formed in the Netherlands) to have an effective, scalable and socially accepted project. However, despite the shared long term vision and the further development of plans during the process it was hard to satisfy all the goals in the long run. While stakeholders agreed on the long-term goal, the path towards that goal remains disputed and depends on the perceived status quo and urgency of the problem. Moreover, internal and external pressures and disturbances like climate change or the economic crisis influenced perception and economic conditions of stakeholders differently. In this research we will identify relevant system-processes connected to the implementation of nature-based solutions through the lens of social-ecological resilience. This knowledge will be used to co-create management plans that effectively improve the long-term resilience of the Dutch main water systems.
Het World Economic Forum constateert dat wicked problems zijn uitgegroeid tot polycrisis . De eerste reactie bij de waarneming en adressering van polycrisis is om in de gevestigde orde, het bestaande regime, te zoeken naar veranderruimte. Echter, de systeem feedback zoals hierboven is beschreven is een indicatie dat de wereld niet meer trouw is aan de imperatieven en routines van het bestaande regime . Conventionele ‘command and control' strategieën leveren geen adequate response om de polycrisis het hoofd te bieden . De veranderruimte bevindt zich buiten het bestaande regime. Voorbeelden daarvan zijn de tegendruk die economische grondbeginselen in het bestaande regime ondervinden vanuit niches: De economische groei gedachte ondervindt tegendruk in postgroei ideeën; het vrije markt principe wordt gecontrasteerd met een de commons beweging, en de extractieve economie wordt uitgedaagd door regeneratie. Uit de kantlijn van de samenleving, door experimenterend ondernemen, worden impulsen afgegeven voor een transitie naar een nieuwe economie. De theorie spreekt over niches die impulsen afgeven voor een transitie naar een nieuwe economie en kunnen doorgroeien in emergentie. Niches, of Small Wins, hebben het potentieel een systeem in beweging te brengen. Small Wins kenmerken zich onder meer door hun radicale vernieuwende praktijk . Small Wins, of niches, zijn essentieel in het versnellen van de transitie, ze zijn de werkplaatsen waar de nieuwe economie gaandeweg ontstaat. De niche praktijk is echter vaak impliciet en wordt als dusdanig niet herkend als essentiële versneller voor de transitie. Dit onderzoek beoogt impliciete ontwerpprincipes van werkplaatsen voor de nieuwe economie in kaart te brengen, te duiden en te delen zodat de transitie naar een nieuwe economie kan worden versneld. Consortium partner: De Groene Afslag Aanvullende partners: Schumacher Lab NL, De Hoorneboeg Changemakers: Joline Jolink, Bodemzicht ‘t Gagel, Oud Terra Nova Critical friend/kennispartner: DRIFT
The increasing concentration of people in urban environments in an era of globalisation means that social, economic, and environmental resources for living and working are under pressure. Urban communities experience increased stress levels due to inadequate and overburdened infrastructure and services, challenges due to ethnic and cultural diversity, socio-economic inequalities as well as the impact of environmental degradation. For these communities to build resilience under these circumstances therefore requires a multipronged approach. The underlying question this project will answer is: “What are the key characteristics of experiencescapes that contribute to resilience-building in communities?” The project will dive into the identification of building blocks of experiencescapes and roles of relevant actors that can support communities in building resilience. Within the context of a multidisciplinary approach, this project applies a range of qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, storytelling techniques, life stories, as well as various biometric quantitative methods, available through the experience lab of BUas. The outcome of the project will enable practitioners and researchers alike in various sectors to understand what and how they can contribute to creating an environment in which people can meaningfully interact in a way that builds resilience in communities. This outcome is communicated not only through academic publications and conference contributions, but also through public reports and a handbook for practitioners and students. These reports and handbooks support identification and application of building blocks of experiencescapes that support building resilience in communities. Finally, the knowledge generated in the project will contribute to the development of curricula of various educational programmes at Breda University of Applied Sciences by expanding the scope of experience design into the area of people-to-people relationships.
