IssueIn the Netherlands, the National Public Health Foresight Study (PHF) is published every 4 years, as starting point for national and local public health policy development. As these policies impact citizens’ health and lives, it is important to include their voices. We piloted an approach to strengthen this engagement to learn and to inspire PHF in other (country) settings.Problem descriptionPHF is usually expert-based. Citizen engagement, beyond consultation, is not yet common practice. In the Dutch PHF-2024, we engage citizens both as advisors (citizen council, N = 30 and panel, N = 500) and as target group (focusgroups N = 40). Intentionally the scope is diffuse, allowing for unexpected input. What can we learn from this approach, and how do the citizens contribute to the PHF?Results- Citizens of all ages, backgrounds and education types are well able to discuss health (determinants), data and indicators;- They have intrinsic motivation to contribute to better knowledge, feel responsible for effective engagement and are eager to engage across different backgrounds and population groups;- Integration of outcome into the PHF process is valuable, enriching scientific with experiential knowledge and facilitating results communication;- Fundamental questions, e.g., about foresight time frames (“why look so far ahead as the world is in crisis right now!”) are raised by the citizens, showing that these need to be better addressed in order to make PHF relevant for a broader public.Lessons- More permanent engagement of the citizens is needed to enable learning and development;- earlier engagement in the PHF process may enable joint development of core questions and issues to be addressed;- The results are highly encouraging; piloting this approach in other foresight types and in various contexts is therefore needed to refine and further develop it.Key messages• Citizen engagement can and should be strengthened to include citizen voices in the PHF process, informing policies that impact on their lives.• Citizens of all backgrounds, with their experiential knowledge, can be valuable partners in PHF, that provide important input.
MULTIFILE
Digital technologies permeate and transform organisational practices. As a society, we need means to explore the uncharted terrain that lies ahead and the desirability and consequences of possible courses of action to move forward. We investigate a design approach, called ‘future probing’, to envision and critically analyse possible futures around digital technologies. We first reconstruct our journey and describe related insights on the process, content and context level. Reflecting on the journey, we then extract a key insight revolving around the challenge for participants to link back from exploring the future to their present practice. In a first attempt at theorizing these difficulties, we see future probing as a practice that opens up adaptive space (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2017) in which people from different backgrounds engage in dialogue about possible futures of digital technologies. We found that adaptive processes, like semi structuring, temporary decentralisation, and collaboration (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018) were supported by the future probing practices and seemed to create space for employees to engage in exploration. There was still a lack of compelling acts of brokering and network cohesion (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018). This may indicate why linking back to daily practice is challenging. We assume that organising for adaptability requires a deliberate act of connecting far future explorations with present action, and propose that besides explorative skills, ‘adaptive anticipating’ action is needed to make the connection and that linking back through near future experiments might be a way to achieve this.
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We assessed how golfers cope with the commonly observed systematic overshoot errors in the perception of the direction between the ball and the hole. Experiments 1 and 2, in which participants were required to rotate a pointer such that it pointed to the center of the hole, showed that errors in perceived direction (in degrees of deviation from the perfect aiming line) are destroyed when the head is constrained to move within a plane perpendicular to the green. Experiment 3 compared the errors in perceived direction and putting errors of novice and skilled players. Unlike the perceived direction, putting accuracy (in degrees of deviation from the perfect aiming line) was not affected by head position. Novices did show a rightward putting error, while skilled players did not. We argue that the skill-related differences in putting accuracy reflect a process of recalibration. Implications for aiming in golf are discussed.
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A major challenge in the textile sector is achieving true circularity while preventing fraud, including false sustainability claims and material mislabelling. The complexity of supply chains and outdated certification systems have resulted in a lack of accountability and transparency. This project addresses these issues by developing and implementing Digital Product Passports, integrated with digital trust mechanisms as verifiable credentials, to create a transparent, responsible, and accountable textile supply chain. The project traces the journey of a corporate fashion t-shirt from cotton sourcing in India to production and distribution in the Netherlands, ensuring full transparency and traceability. Its goal is to drive a shift towards a circular economy by fostering collaboration across the supply chain and empowering stakeholders, particularly Tiers 3 and 4 in the Global South. Schijvens Corporate Fashion leads the effort with regenerative cotton sourcing through Raddis®Cotton, utilising Aware™’s technology solution. Adopting a ‘Fibre-Forward’ approach, the consortium ensures traceability by integrating data from raw material sourcing to end-user. This approach benefits all stakeholders, from farmers to garment producers, by providing verifiable information on fibre origins, social conditions, and ecological impacts. By tracking each fibre and collecting direct data, the project removes the opacity that can undermine sustainability claims. The project enhances accountability and sustainability compliance by utilising decentralised technologies for product verification. Integrating digital identity wallets for individuals and organisations, secured with verifiable credentials, enhances trust and accountability, fostering circular economy practices. Rather than seeing DPPs as the end goal, the project views them as catalysts for systemic change. It prioritises continuous improvement, collaboration, and shared benefits, aiming to establish a regenerative circular economy. Through a practical toolkit, the project will help organisations and policymakers navigate DPP adoption, strengthening transparency and creating a scalable, inclusive system for supply chains across the Global South and -North.
In 2024, the Dutch government set a new plan for offshore wind farms to become the Netherlands' largest power source by 2032, aiming for 21 GW of installed capacity. By 2050, they expect between 38 and 72 GW of offshore wind power to meet climate-neutral energy goals. Achieving this depends heavily on efficient wind turbines (WTs) operation, but WTs face issues like cavitation, bird strikes, and corrosion, all of which reduce energy output. Regular Inspection and Maintenance (I&M) of WTs is crucial but remains underdeveloped in current wind farms. Presently, I&M tasks are done by on-site workers using rope access, which is time-consuming, costly, and dangerous. Moreover, weather conditions and personnel availability further hinder the efficiency of these operations. The number of operational WTs is expected to rise in the coming years, while the availability of service personnel will keep on declining, highlighting the need for safer and more cost-effective solutions. One promising innovation is the use of aerial robots, or drones, for I&M tasks. Recent developments show that they can perform tasks requiring physical interaction with the environment, such as WT inspections and maintenance. However, the current design of drones is often task-specific, making it financially unfeasible for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – providing services in WT inspection and maintenance- to adopt. Together with knowledge institutes, SMEs and innovation clusters, this project addresses these urgent challenges by exploring the question of how to develop a modular aerial robot that can be easily and intuitively deployed in offshore environments for inspecting and maintaining WTs to facilitate SMEs adoption of this technology? The goal is to create a modular drone that can be equipped with various tools for different tasks, reducing financial burdens for SMEs, improving worker safety, and facilitating efficient green energy production to support the renewable energy transition.
Our mission is to increase the productivity of Dutch greenhouses. Even the most modern greenhouses still suffer from 10% to 25% loss of crop due to pests and diseases (Pimentel, 2012). Our autonomous flying platform can reduce crop loss by regular scouting while avoiding excessive cost of manual labour. With one drone we can scout one hectare of greenhouse per hour, providing detailed information about environmental parameters and crop health, quality and quantity. In comparison traditional manual scouting methods scout a single hectare per day. As a spin-off from RAAK.MKB006.017 HiPerGreen, we are aiming for a fast track solution to a single pest control problem: Fusarium in orchids, and validate a Minimum Viable Product for use in the Greenhouse.
