Densely populated areas are major sources of air, soil and water pollution. Agriculture, manufacturing, consumer households and road traffic all have their share. This is particularly true for the country featured in this paper: the Netherlands. Continuous pollution of the air and soil manifests itself as acification, decalcification and eutrofication. Biodiversity becomes lower and lower in nature areas. Biological farms are also under threat. In case of mobility, local air pollution may have a huge health impact. Effective policy is called for, after high courts blocked construction projects, because of foreseen building- and transport-related NOx emissions. EU law makers are after Dutch governments, because these favoured economics and politics over environmental and liveability concerns. But, people in the Netherlands are strongly divided. The latest provincial elections were dominated by environmental concerns, next to many socio-economic issues. NOx and CO2 emissions by passenger cars are in focus. Technical means and increasing fuel economy norms strongly reduced NOx emissions to a still too high level. A larger number of cars neutralized a technological reduction of CO2 emissions. The question is: What would be the impact of a drastic mandatory reduction in CO2, NOx, and PM10 emissions on car ownership and use in the Netherlands? The authors used literature, scenario analysis and simulation modelling to answer this question. Electric mobility could remove these emissions. Its full impact will only be achieved if the grid-mix, which is still dominated by fossil fuels, becomes green(er), which is a gradual, long-term, process. EVs compete with other consumers of electricity, as many other activities, such as heating, are also electrifying. With the current grid-mix, it is inevitable that the number of km per vehicle per year is reduced to reach the scenario targets (−25% resp. −50% CO2 emissions by cars). This calls for an individual mobility budget per car user.
The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between successor characteristics, transfer planning characteristics and post-transfer profitability within Dutch SMEs. On the one hand, based on the resource dependency view, it is assumed that successors with more knowledge and experience, derived from work experience from outside the target firm, will be able to extract higher rents from the firm than those with less (diverse) work experience. On the other hand, based on the knowledge management literature, and in particular, concepts such as tacit knowledge, this research makes the contrasting prediction that posttransfer profitability is likely to be higher in firms where the successor is an insider and is related to the predecessor. Moreover, this paper proposes, based on the theory of planned behaviour, that written plan and strategic intent have a positive association with post-transfer profitability. The study is based on quantitative analysis of a random sample of Dutch SMEs. Initial results from the current study suggest that determinants of post-transfer profitability may be quite different in the family-to-family ownership vs. nonfamily ownership transfer conditions (i.e. whether or not the successor is related to the predecessor). Significant interaction effect is found such that the effect of strategic planning, in particular, varies depending on the nature of the transfer relationship (family to family, vs family to nonfamily). Other results offer mixed support for the proposed theories.
In this article, the preservation of the monumental built environment from the colonial period is related to and discussed within the perspective of heritage ownership. It contributes to a debate in which heritage resource preservation is approached and connected to several heritage ownership issues. It argues that an effective built environmental preservation policy for colonial heritage is strongly related to and dependent on issues such as legal property ownership, legislation on listed buildings, enforcement of such legislation, and the willingness among different categories of potential owners to participate and support such preservation. Especially, when it comes to built colonial heritage as an imported alien resource from a colonial past, these issues are particularly interesting and sensitive. A good illustration of these issues is the case of Paramaribo, Suriname. The national government policy following the inscription of the historic inner city of Paramaribo on the World Heritage List of UNESCO in 2002 clearly demonstrates an area of tension and difficulty between and within the interested parties. It shows that monumental preservation and heritage management and interpretation are strongly affected and determined by concepts such as ownership, affinity, interest, economic priorities, and political will. By referring to the actual problems encountered in the preservation efforts relating to the built colonial heritage in Paramaribo and subsequently explaining these problems in relation to specific ownership issues, this article throws light on a number of dilemmas. Conclusions are drawn widening the argument and contributing to the ongoing debate on heritage ownership issues and monument preservation policies especially as it relates to the global issue of managing the relics of now defunct empires. In recent years an increasing interest can be detected in issues concerning the legal property ownership of heritage. This growth in interest focuses in particular on the legislation in relationship to property ownership issues. An important aim of national governments is to use legislation to safeguard their cultural property by embedding it in law, especially, when this cultural property has a high monetary or identity value (as stressed by Fechner, 1998). Additionally, the growing awareness and recognition of heritage as a valuable economic, sociopsychological and environmental asset is receiving increasing international attention. For example, the international acknowledgment that heritage resources are under pressure from all kinds of processes and impacts has encouraged the need for an extension of international legal measures. Consequently, this international interest, often expressed in conventions, charters, and treaties, encourages national and local initiatives (Techera, 2011). An interesting complication to this issue is the question that arises where it involves the monumental built environment from the colonial period that is being preserved and restored, as it may be viewed as a heritage based on alien resources. In particular the acceptance, recognition, and role of what may be viewed as an imported colonial built environment in a multicultural and multiethnic context, may impact effective legislation. Although the discussion about the roles of heritage within a plural cultural and ethnic society has already begun (recently emphasized by Van Maanen, 2011; Ashworth, Graham, & Tunbridge, 2007), it is still an underresearched topic when it comes to legal property ownership as part of a management strategy for preserving built colonial heritage resources. This article examines in particular the effectiveness of policies and laws pursued in Suriname as an instrument for the preservation of resources. It highlights the legal and administrative challenges facing the implementation, management, and enforcement of these strategies and measures. The first part of this article examines the debate about the approach and strategy in using law in conservation and preservation policies. Then the article proceeds to introduce Suriname as an instructive case study. It describes the existing multiethnic context of Suriname and the evolution of legislative policy for the historic inner city of the capital, Paramaribo, with its monumental built environment from the colonial period. By using field data, the article continues with an analysis of the effectiveness and impacts of this administrative and legal framework established in Suriname. It examines in detail the main problems encountered and the extent to which this strategy is supported by the key stakeholders.
Vrijwel elk evenement heeft een backstage area waar tijdelijke stroomvoorziening op diesel worden geplaatst. Bij deze test wordt de waterstof Volta op een dergelijke backstage area geplaatst in plaats van of naast een andere tijdelijke stroomvoorziening. Tijdens de test willen de HAN en Volta in aanvulling op het RAAK-mkb project H2-Modus data verzamelen over de werking van het waterstofsysteem en de processen rondom veiligheid en vergunningen. In tegenstelling tot een eenvoudig te plaatsen dieselgenerator dient bij het plaatsen van een waterstof systeem rekening gehouden te worden met een veiligheidszone rondom het systeem. Waterstof is namelijk een zeer licht ontvlambaar en explosief gas. Een van de testdoelen is dan ook bewustwording creëren van deze extra voorzorgmaatregelen. Dit bewustwordingstraject begint al bij de aanvraag van een waterstofsysteem en loopt tot na de afbouw van het evenement. We sluiten hierbij zo veel mogelijk apparaten aan die in andere gevallen door dieselgeneratoren van stroom worden voorzien. Het is een grote uitdaging voor bedrijven om de businesscase van toepassingen op waterstof positief te maken. Het H2-Modus project ontwikkeld daarom modellen en tools die de zogenaamde Total Cost of Ownership minimaliseert en drempels in de ontwikkeling en toepassing in de praktijk minimaliseert en verwerkt dit in een waterstof handbook speciaal voor deze bedrijven. Met de data uit deze test deze modellen en tools extra gevalideerd en verbeterd worden.
Hoe kun je een koper stimuleren om niet perse de -op het eerste gezicht- goedkoopste machine of equipment aan te schaffen, maar ook te kijken naar lange termijn waardebehoud en duurzaamheid? Of andersom, hoe vergelijk je aanbod van leveranciers op een mix van criteria waaronder emissies, maar ook het lange-termijn kostenplaatje? Dit project richt zich op mkb-bedrijven in de metaal- en maakindustrie, waar veel ‘kritieke grondstoffen’ bespaard kunnen worden als er ook naar refurbish, remanufacturing en product-as-a-service gekeken wordt op het moment dat een machine vervangen moet worden. Er zal onderzocht worden in hoeverre goed gepresenteerde en samenhangende informatie over ecologische en economische duurzaamheid kan helpen bij het maken van zulke keuzes. Deze informatie wordt gepresenteerd in een beslissingsondersteunende tool. De tool moet inzicht geven over zg. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), in plaats van enkel de aanschafprijs, en in de eco-impact van verschillende alternatieven. Eco-impact wordt vaak bepaald d.m.v. een zg. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), waarin de levenscyclus van een product of dienst bekeken wordt van ‘wieg tot graf’. De TCO brengt juist de financiële aspecten (investering, beheer, onderhoud, ‘end-of-life’) over de levensduur in kaart. Maar het komen tot vergelijkbare LCA/TCO berekeningen vraagt afspraken over uitgangspunten en presentatiemethoden in een keten. In het project worden bestaande (reken)methoden op een vernieuwende wijze gecombineerd worden en in co-creatie geschikt gemaakt worden voor sales engineers en inkopers uit het werkveld. Het ontwerpgerichte onderzoek naar bruikbare presentatiemethoden en het mogelijke effect op aankoopgedrag zal vooral plaatsvinden met behulp van zg. ‘mockups’ waarmee de functionaliteit en interface van de tool iteratief getest wordt. Het eindresultaat is een advies over hoe te komen tot implementatie van de methode door de betrokken partijen. Het project kan zo bijdragen aan het introduceren van nieuwe circulaire business modellen in deze sector.
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.
