Generating research findings, which make sense in today's society and can be appreciated as such by both the academic and the business worlds, requires reframing not only the core of how research is being developed but also questions the relevance of organizational survival. The Imagineering Methodology developed within the framework of the NHTV University of Applied Sciences provides a complementary perspective on management research and design. This article aims to present the essence and the specifics of how research is evolving today, using the aforementioned methodological stance and showing certain outcomes, already achieved in practice.
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Empowerment has become a hegemonic moral horizon and key modality of governance across the global South and the global North. Whether in the realm of development or in that of welfare and urban governance, a broad range of actors, from local NGOs to social professionals and international donors, now envision the empowerment of local communities as a crucial condition and means for achieving good governance and social justice (Cruikshank 1999; Rose 1996). Anthropologists and development scholars – including ourselves – often find themselves ambivalently positioned in relation to such projects of empowerment. In this essay, we turn to the hesitancies and experimental practices of our research interlocuters in two urban settings saturated by a ‘will to empower’ (Cruikshank 1999). During ten months in the year 2017, Anick followed the everyday practices of family workers in three community centers and neighborhood associations in the northeast of Paris, who were tasked to help working-class and migrant-background parents regain confidence and agency vis-à-vis state institutions. Like the parents with whom they worked, many of these family workers hailed from the banlieue themselves and were of migrant backgrounds. Naomi worked with 15 male former gang leaders in Mombasa (Kenya) who sought to reform themselves to escape police violence. Naomi’s interlocutors were between 16 and 28 years old and worked closely with their friend Hasso during 2019 and 2022. In this period, Naomi conducted eight months of ethnographic fieldwork with these young men and with Hasso, during which she observed their weekly meetings and the individual lives of several group members, and she conducted life history interviews with five of them. These two cases thus figure actors who were differently positioned in relation to the will to empower.
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Technology, data use, and digitisation are based on mathematical structures, and this permeates many aspects of our daily lives: apps, online activities, and all kinds of communication. Equipping people to deal with this mathematisation of society is a big challenge. Which competences are needed, which skills must be mastered? Which dispositions are helpful? These are the questions that matter in the development of adult education. The concept of numeracy is mentioned already for many years as a possible useful approach to equip adults with the necessary skills. In this paper we will argue that is only true when numeracy is defined as a multifaceted concept which combines knowledges, skills, higher order skills, context and dispositions.
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“Empowering learners to create a sustainable future” This is the mission of Centre of Expertise Mission-Zero at The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS). The postdoc candidate will expand the existing knowledge on biomimicry, which she teaches and researches, as a strategy to fulfil the mission of Mission-Zero. We know when tackling a design challenge, teams have difficulties sifting through the mass of information they encounter. The candidate aims to recognize the value of systematic biomimicry, leading the way towards the ecosystems services we need tomorrow (Pedersen Zari, 2017). Globally, biomimicry demonstrates strategies contributing to solving global challenges such as Urban Heat Islands (UHI) and human interferences, rethinking how climate and circular challenges are approached. Examples like Eastgate building (Pearce, 2016) have demonstrated successes in the field. While biomimicry offers guidelines and methodology, there is insufficient research on complex problem solving that systems-thinking requires. Our research question: Which factors are needed to help (novice) professionals initiate systems-thinking methods as part of their strategy? A solution should enable them to approach challenges in a systems-thinking manner just like nature does, to regenerate and resume projects. Our focus lies with challenges in two industries with many unsustainable practices and where a sizeable impact is possible: the built environment (Circularity Gap, 2021) and fashion (Joung, 2014). Mission Zero has identified a high demand for Biomimicry in these industries. This critical approach: 1) studies existing biomimetic tools, testing and defining gaps; 2) identifies needs of educators and professionals during and after an inter-disciplinary minor at The Hague University; and, 3) translates findings into shareable best practices through publications of results. Findings will be implemented into tangible engaging tools for educational and professional settings. Knowledge will be inclusive and disseminated to large audiences by focusing on communication through social media and intervention conferences.
The HAS professorship Future Food Systems is performing applied research with students and external partners to transform our food system towards a more sustainable state. In this research it is not only a question of what is needed to achieve this, but also how and with whom. The governance of our food system needs rethinking to get the transformative momentum going in a democratic and constructive manner. Building on the professorship’s research agenda and involvement in the transdisciplinary NWA research project, the postdoc will explore collective ownership and inclusive participation as two key governance concepts for food system transformation. This will be done in a participatory manner, by learning from and with innovative bottom-up initiatives and practitioners from the field. By doing so, the postdoc will gain valuable practical insights that can aid to new approaches and (policy) interventions which foster a sustainable and just food system in the Netherlands and beyond. A strong connection between research and education is created via the active research involvement of students from different study programs, supervised by the postdoc (Dr. B. van Helvoirt). The acquired knowledge is embedded in education by the postdoc by incorporating it into HAS study program curricula and courses. In addition, it will contribute to the further professional development of qualitative research skills among HAS students and staff. Through scientific, policy and popular publications, participation in (inter)national conferences and meetings with experts and practitioners, the exposure and network of the postdoc and HAS in the field of food systems and governance will be expanded. This will allow for the setting up of a continuous research effort on this topic within the professorship via follow-up research with knowledge institutes, civic society groups and partners from the professional field.
Entangled Machines is a project by Mariana Fernández Mora that interrogates the colonial and extractive legacies underpinning artificial intelligence (AI). By introducing slowness and digital kinship as critical frameworks, the project reconceptualises AI as embedded within intricate social and ecological networks, thereby contesting dominant narratives of efficiency and optimisation. Through participatory, practice-based methodologies such as the Material Playground, the project integrates feminist and non-Western epistemologies to articulate alternative models for ethical, sustainable, and equitable AI practices. Over a four-year period, Entangled Machines develops theory, engages diverse communities, and produces artistic outputs to reimagine human-AI interactions. In collaboration with partners including ARIAS Amsterdam, Archival Consciousness, and the Sandberg Institute, the research seeks to foster decolonial and interdisciplinary approaches to AI. Its culmination will be an “Anarchive” – a curated assemblage of artistic, theoretical, and archival outputs – that serves as a resource for rethinking AI’s socio-political and ecological impacts.
