Over the last decade, many (European) countries have created special committees or conducted special investigations into the occurrence of sexual abuse in residential and/or foster care. Many of these studies concluded that children and young people in care are at a greater risk of being sexually abused, compared to youth growing up at home. However, the extent and scope of sexual abuse which has historically occurred in residential and/or foster care remains contested and is highly controversial. Although a broad range of factors are involved, one issue that is of crucial importance in the prevention of sexual abuse is paying attention to the healthy sexual development of children and young people in care. This sounds easy, but it isn’t easy at all. Ideas about relationships, intimacy and healthy sexual development differ between people and countries. It’s a sensitive subject that many professionals working in care find difficult to talk about. As most professionals working in care in Europe graduate from schools of Social Work, social work education should prepare (future) professionals to address this issue. Although some authors have addressed this issue, in general, social work education does not pay sufficient attention to the subject. This project aims to help (future) professionals build competencies on this specific subject by providing the following products:1. An international summer school on the subject of sex and sexuality, for social work students.2. An online course on the subject of sex and sexuality for professionals working in residential care or working with foster parents.3. A website with materials for European lecturers who teach future social workers on the subject of sex and sexuality.4. A reflection instrument as a tool for on-the-job training on the subject.These products are based on a set of practice based core competencies that professionals should develop in order to be able to provide care and upbringing on the theme of sex and sexuality. Next to that five central themes were used to order the development of modules.
DOCUMENT
‘Dieren in de dijk’ aims to address the issue of animal burrows in earthen levees, which compromise the integrity of flood protection systems in low-lying areas. Earthen levees attract animals that dig tunnels and cause damages, yet there is limited scientific knowledge on the extent of the problem and effective approaches to mitigate the risk. Recent experimental research has demonstrated the severe impact of animal burrows on levee safety, raising concerns among levee management authorities. The consortium's ambition is to provide levee managers with validated action perspectives for managing animal burrows, transitioning from a reactive to a proactive risk-based management approach. The objectives of the project include improving failure probability estimation in levee sections with animal burrows and enhancing risk mitigation capacity. This involves understanding animal behavior and failure processes, reviewing existing and testing new deterrence, detection, and monitoring approaches, and offering action perspectives for levee managers. Results will be integrated into an open-access wiki-platform for guidance of professionals and in education of the next generation. The project's methodology involves focus groups to review the state-of-the-art and set the scene for subsequent steps, fact-finding fieldwork to develop and evaluate risk reduction measures, modeling failure processes, and processing diverse quantitative and qualitative data. Progress workshops and collaboration with stakeholders will ensure relevant and supported solutions. By addressing the knowledge gaps and providing practical guidance, the project aims to enable levee managers to effectively manage animal burrows in levees, both during routine maintenance and high-water emergencies. With the increasing frequency of high river discharges and storm surges due to climate change, early detection and repair of animal burrows become even more crucial. The project's outcomes will contribute to a long-term vision of proactive risk-based management for levees, safeguarding the Netherlands and Belgium against flood risks.
De horeca-sector en het toerisme worden zwaar getroffen door de huidige crisis. Omzetschade is historisch groot; tegelijkertijd zijn er vanuit de praktijk veel vragen over hoe nieuwe werkwijzen moeten worden ontwikkeld en toegepast. Voor onze sector voorziet onderzoek in het kader van de Impuls-regeling daarom onmiskenbaar in een grote maatschappelijke behoefte. Hotelschool The Hague (HTH) zet strategisch in op het behoud en de versterking van praktijkgericht onderzoek en op het onderzoekend vermogen van haar studenten. Onderzoekend vermogen is, voor toekomstige afstudeerders in een snel veranderende arbeidsmarkt, door de HTH gedefinieerd als cruciale kernvaardigheid. In dit kader zijn recent de onderwijs- en onderzoeksprogramma’s van de HTH hervormd rond de principes van Design Oriented Research. Door de COVID-19 crisis is de continuïteit van het praktijkgericht onderzoek van de HTH, misschien nog wel meer dan bij brede hogescholen onder druk komen te staan. Met het hier voorgestelde Impuls 2020 bestedingsplan wil HTH de onderzoeksfunctie van haar praktische outlets — haar schoolrestaurants en -hotels— verder versterken zodat deze kunnen worden ingericht en gebruikt als ‘test-beds’ of HTH Labs. De schoolrestaurants en -hotels worden hiermee een faciliteit voor experimenteel, praktijkgericht onderzoek waar in commerciële bedrijven vaak geen mogelijkheid voor is. Dit Impuls 2020 voorstel behelst de visievorming voor de HTH Labs en de netwerkvorming met andere kennisinstellingen en met bedrijven als beoogde afnemers van de kennis die in de Labs ontwikkeld zal worden. Het voorstel voorziet tevens in de uitvoering van 3 pilotstudies die de mogelijkheden van de HTH Labs inzichtelijk maken voor het bedrijfsleven. De Impuls financiering zal uiteindelijk resulteren in een operationele onderzoeksfaciliteit in de schoolrestaurants en -hotels van de HTH, en in drie onderzoeksrapporten met bijbehorende disseminatie-activiteiten.
