Het Nederlandse onderwijssysteem kan beschouwd worden als ‘the hidden secret in education’ (Alma Harris). Weinig landen zijn in staat om hoge onderwijs kwaliteit te combineren met een grote mate van gelijke kansen. Daarmee kan Nederland naast gidslanden zoals Finland, Canada/Ontario en Singapore een inspiratiebron zijn voor andere landen. Met dit doel voor ogen is in mei 2017 het boek ’The Dutch way in education: Teach, learn and lead the Dutch way’ gepubliceerd. ‘because the Dutch score high on Pisa rankings, they top almost every chart on child well-being and have a high performing system with a good balance between equity and excellence. These are just a few aspects that indicate the Dutch society and its education has a lot of things to discover if you look more closely.’In dit boek worden de verworvenheden van het Nederlandse onderwijssysteem beschreven vanuit verschillende invalshoeken (klik hier voor de inhoudsopgave [https://www.thedutch-way.com/downloads/The_Dutch_Way_in_Education_tableofcontents.pdf]). Lector Marco Snoek heeft het hoofdstuk over de leraar in het Nederlandse schoolsysteem beschreven. In the Netherlands, as in every country in the world, the quality of education is an issue of major concern, as education is a key factor in maintaining and developing the economic and social stability of a country. It is a key responsibility of the government to maintain and develop that quality. After all, educational quality is not a static concept, as education needs to adapt itself continuously to changes and new needs in society. This chapter focuses on the way in which educational quality and development are supported in the Netherlands and the role teachers play in these. Three perspectives on that role are presented, one in which teachers are recipients from government measures and follow system structures and regulations, one in which individual teachers are seen as the key actors in defining and realizing educational quality and one in which educational quality is considered the result of close collaboration of teams of teachers. The chapter shows how government and local policies in the Netherlands have moved from the first to the second perspective and are now, slowly, evolving to the third perspective.Het boek is uitgegeven door Uitgeverij Onderwijs maak je Samen. Zie www.thedutch-way.com. Sinds november 2017 is er ook een Nederlandse vertaling beschikbaar: The Dutch Way. Leren, lesgeven en leiderschap in het Nederlandse Onderwijs.
In the past few years, the EU has shown a growing commitment to address the rapid transformations brought about by the latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) developments by increasing efforts in AI regulation. Nevertheless, despite the growing body of technical knowledge and progress, the governance of AI-intensive technologies remains dynamic and challenging. A mounting chorus of experts expresses reservations about an overemphasis on regulation in Europe. Among their core arguments is the concern that such an approach might hinder innovation within the AI arena. This concern resonates particularly strongly compared to the United States and Asia, where AI-driven innovation appears to be surging ahead, potentially leaving Europe behind. This paper emphasizes the need to balance certification and governance in AI to foster ethical innovation and enhance the reliability and competitiveness of European technology. It explores recent AI regulations and upcoming European laws, underscoring Europe’s role in the global AI landscape. The authors analyze European governance approaches and their impact on SMEs and startups, offering a comparative view of global regulatory efforts. The paper highlights significant global AI developments from the past year, focusing on Europe’s contributions. We address the complexities of creating a comprehensive, human-centred AI master’s programme for higher education. Finally, we discuss how Europe can seize opportunities to promote ethical and reliable AI progress through education, fostering a balanced approach to regulation and enhancing young professionals’ understanding of ethical and legal aspects.
LINK
Due to the existing pressure for a more rational use of the water, many public managers and industries have to re-think/adapt their processes towards a more circular approach. Such pressure is even more critical in the Rio Doce region, Minas Gerais, due to the large environmental accident occurred in 2015. Cenibra (pulp mill) is an example of such industries due to the fact that it is situated in the river basin and that it has a water demanding process. The current proposal is meant as an academic and engineering study to propose possible solutions to decrease the total water consumption of the mill and, thus, decrease the total stress on the Rio Doce basin. The work will be divided in three working packages, namely: (i) evaluation (modelling) of the mill process and water balance (ii) application and operation of a pilot scale wastewater treatment plant (iii) analysis of the impacts caused by the improvement of the process. The second work package will also be conducted (in parallel) with a lab scale setup in The Netherlands to allow fast adjustments and broaden evaluation of the setup/process performance. The actions will focus on reducing the mill total water consumption in 20%.
The energy transition is a highly complex technical and societal challenge, coping with e.g. existing ownership situations, intrusive retrofit measures, slow decision-making processes and uneven value distribution. Large scale retrofitting activities insulating multiple buildings at once is urgently needed to reach the climate targets but the decision-making of retrofitting in buildings with shared ownership is challenging. Each owner is accountable for his own energy bill (and footprint), giving a limited action scope. This has led to a fragmented response to the energy retrofitting challenge with negligible levels of building energy efficiency improvements conducted by multiple actors. Aggregating the energy design process on a building level would allow more systemic decisions to happen and offer the access to alternative types of funding for owners. “Collect Your Retrofits” intends to design a generic and collective retrofit approach in the challenging context of monumental areas. As there are no standardised approaches to conduct historical building energy retrofits, solutions are tailor-made, making the process expensive and unattractive for owners. The project will develop this approach under real conditions of two communities: a self-organised “woongroep” and a “VvE” in the historic centre of Amsterdam. Retrofit designs will be identified based on energy performance, carbon emissions, comfort and costs so that a prioritisation strategy can be drawn. Instead of each owner investing into their own energy retrofitting, the neighbourhood will invest into the most impactful measures and ensure that the generated economic value is retained locally in order to make further sustainable investments and thus accelerating the transition of the area to a CO2-neutral environment.
The textile industry faces a significant environmental challenge, annually generating 45 million tons of waste cotton textiles, of which 75% are incinerated or sent to landfills, causing environmental harm. Additionally, 67% of garments are made of plastic fibers, and when disposed of in landfills, 5% of them turn into microplastics that can end up on our plates. Chicfashic proposes an innovative biotech process to address these issues by recovering and recycling plastic fibers while transforming natural fibers into bio-based molecules. These molecules are then used as secondary raw materials to produce bio-based pigments for textiles. The project aims to optimize this process and test it on a larger scale with the assistance of HAN BioCentre. This initiative aligns with Dutch government and EU regulations mandating textile recycling by 2050. The technology used is patent pending and does not involve the use of toxic chemicals or the release of harmful wastewater or fumes, contributing to a shift towards a more circular and sustainable textile industry by reintegrating natural colorants into textile production.
