Global climate agreements call for action and an integrated perspective on mobility, energy and overall consumption. Municipalities in dense, urban areas are challenged with facilitating this transition with limited space and energy resources, and with future uncertainties. One important aspect of the transition is the adoption of electric vehicles, which includes the adequate design of charging infrastructure. Another important goal is a modal shift in transportation. This study investigated over 80 urban mobility policy measures that are in the policy roadmap of two of the largest municipalities of the Netherlands. This analysis consists of an inventory of policy measures, an evaluation of their environmental effects and conceptualizations of the policy objectives and conditions within the mobility transitions. The findings reveal that the two municipalities have similarities in means, there is still little anticipation of future technology and policy conditions could be further satisfied by introducing tailored measures for specific user groups.
The development of sustainable aviation turns out to be a 30 year transition process. How to manage this transition process is a crucial for the change and success of the aviation sector in future. The foreseen solutions are mostly driven by technological innovation and improvements of procedures and regulations. The question is if these tools are sufficient to manage the innovation of an entire sector with 100 years legacy or are changes in business models, societal values and human behaviour part of the instrument mix aviation can use? New or adapted innovation models and tools are needed to use the full mix of instruments. The article explores the use of a modified Cyclic Innovation Model which is developed by researchers of TU Delft. The development of Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and the outlook for its next 100 years is used as a case to understand the complexity of sustainable airport development.
MULTIFILE
Conflict lies at the core of urban sustainability transitions and the indispensable structural changes that accompany them. In this chapter we examine the RESILIO project, a multi-actor collaboration in Amsterdam aiming to transition towards a 'climate proof' city through smart water retention systems on urban roofs. The focus is on the conflict that emerged during discussions about controlling the smart valves on the rooftops which are designed to prevent urban flooding. Using a discourse analytical framework, the study analyses participant interactions, conflicting positions, and discursive strategies employed by the partners involved in the initiative. Participants utilised several discursive strategies, including identity, stake, and accountability management, to manage their positions in the conflict and influence the discourse. The study highlights the challenges of addressing conflict that involves redefining accountability and responsibility between public and private actors in the collaborative setting of transition initiatives. By doing so the findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how conflict can shape learning processes and foster sustainable urban transitions.
De markt vraagt om steeds meer productvariëteit. Veel bedrijven realiseren productvariëteit nu met veel klant-specifiek engineeringswerk (Engineer-to-Order/EtO). Dit zet druk op alle afdelingen in het bedrijf zoals sales, engineering, productie en service. Een uitdagende manier voor deze bedrijven, om beter met het spanningsveld tussen externe en interne eisen om te gaan, is het ontwikkelen van meer configureerbare producten (lego principe}. Hiervoor is een modulaire opbouw van het product nodig waarin verschillende productonderdelen gestandaardiseerd zijn en gebruikt kunnen worden in verschillende eindproducten. Zo kan, met minder engineeringsactiviteiten, een product geconfigureerd worden (Configure-to-Order/CtO) en de klant productvariëteit worden geboden zonder alle interne druk. Voor diverse bedrijven vormen ook de mogelijkheden van Industry 4.0 en sustainabilty ambities belangrijke drivers in hun streven naar meer CtO. Het implementeren van CtO is echter niet eenvoudig. Het vraagt om aanzienlijke capaciteit, kennis en kunde op het gebied van productontwikkeling, procesontwikkeling en het veranderproces. Betrokkenheid van medewerkers uit alle belangrijke afdelingen (verkoop, engineering, productie, service etc.) is een vereiste. Mkb-bedrijven worstelen hiermee en hebben behoefte aan goede tools en technieken, zowel inhoudelijk, over de ontwikkeling van de productarchitectuur en de impact hiervan op de bedrijfsprocessen, als veranderkundig, hoe deze transitie tot stand te brengen. In dit Sia RAAK-mkb onderzoek willen wij samen met productie mkb-bedrijven, kennisinstellingen en brancheorganisaties een integrale aanpak ontwikkelen om CtO op een goede manier te implementeren. De deelnemende mkb-bedrijven hebben de duidelijke wens om dit de komende jaren te doen. Voor de specifieke casussen zullen met casestudies en interventieonderzoek aanpakken ontwikkeld worden. Studentprojecten zullen ondersteuning geven aan de verschillende interventies. Vervolgens zal systematisch case-vergelijkend onderzoek worden uitgevoerd om inzicht te krijgen in wat in welke situatie werkt. Op basis van het case-vergelijkend onderzoek worden tools en technieken ontwikkeld die enerzijds generiek zijn en anderzijds kunnen worden aangepast aan specifieke bedrijfssituaties.
In order to achieve much-needed transitions in energy and health, systemic changes are required that are firmly based on the principles of regard for others and community values, while at the same time operating in market conditions. Social entrepreneurship and community entrepreneurship (SCE) hold the promise to catalyze such transitions, as they combine bottom-up social initiatives with a focus on financially viable business models. SCE requires a facilitating ecosystem in order to be able to fully realize its potential. As yet it is unclear in which way the entrepreneurial ecosystem for social and community entrepreneurship facilitates or hinders the flourishing and scaling of such entrepreneurship. It is also unclear how exactly entrepreneurs and stakeholders influence their ecosystem to become more facilitative. This research programme addresses these questions. Conceptually it integrates entrepreneurial ecosystem frameworks with upcoming theories on civic wealth creation, collaborative governance, participative learning and collective action frameworks.This multidisciplinary research project capitalizes on a unique consortium: the Dutch City Deal ‘Impact Ondernemen’. In this collaborative research, we enhance and expand current data collection efforts and adopt a living-lab setting centered on nine local and regional cases for collaborative learning through experimenting with innovative financial and business models. We develop meaningful, participatory design and evaluation methods and state-of-the-art digital tools to increase the effectiveness of impact measurement and management. Educational modules for professionals are developed to boost the abovementioned transition. The project’s learnings on mechanisms and processes can easily be adapted and translated to a broad range of impact areas.
The SPRONG-collaboration “Collective process development for an innovative chemical industry” (CONNECT) aims to accelerate the chemical industry’s climate/sustainability transition by process development of innovative chemical processes. The CONNECT SPRONG-group integrates the expertise of the research groups “Material Sciences” (Zuyd Hogeschool), “Making Industry Sustainable” (Hogeschool Rotterdam), “Innovative Testing in Life Sciences & Chemistry” and “Circular Water” (both Hogeschool Utrecht) and affiliated knowledge centres (Centres of Expertise CHILL [affiliated to Zuyd] and HRTech, and Utrecht Science Park InnovationLab). The combined CONNECT-expertise generates critical mass to facilitate process development of necessary energy-/material-efficient processes for the 2050 goals of the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda (KIA) Climate and Energy (mission C) using Chemical Key Technologies. CONNECT focuses on process development/chemical engineering. We will collaborate with SPRONG-groups centred on chemistry and other non-SPRONG initiatives. The CONNECT-consortium will generate a Learning Community of the core group (universities of applied science and knowledge centres), companies (high-tech equipment, engineering and chemical end-users), secondary vocational training, universities, sustainability institutes and regional network organizations that will facilitate research, demand articulation and professionalization of students and professionals. In the CONNECT-trajectory, four field labs will be integrated and strengthened with necessary coordination, organisation, expertise and equipment to facilitate chemical innovations to bridge the innovation valley-of-death between feasibility studies and high technology-readiness-level pilot plant infrastructure. The CONNECT-field labs will combine experimental and theoretical approaches to generate high-quality data that can be used for modelling and predict the impact of flow chemical technologies. The CONNECT-trajectory will optimize research quality systems (e.g. PDCA, data management, impact). At the end of the CONNECT-trajectory, the SPRONG-group will have become the process development/chemical engineering SPRONG-group in the Netherlands. We can then meaningfully contribute to further integrate the (inter)national research ecosystem to valorise innovative chemical processes for the KIA Climate and Energy.