Global food systems need to become more sustainable, resilient and inclusive. To accelerate this transition, there is a need for scaling innovative strategies for improved Food and Nutrition Security (FNS), particularly for the poor and marginalised. Scaling, however, is not a straightforward or value-free process. The synthesis study examined which dilemmas influence Research for Impact projects that seek to contribute to FNS outcomes at scale, and how blind spots in scaling research and practice are tied to these dilemmas. Being aware of and tackling these blind spots at an early stage contributes to ‘responsible scaling’: not only focusing on technical and socio-economic, but also on ethical considerations about who will benefit or lose out. The findings presented in the full paper are based on insights from ten interdisciplinary research projects funded by NWO-WOTRO that were carried out in countries in East, Southern and the Horn of Africa between 2014–2020.
Abstract: Climate change is related with weather extremes, which may cause damages to infrastructure used by freight transport services. Heavy rainfall may lead to flooding and damage to railway lines, roads and inland waterways. Extreme drought may lead to extremely low water levels, which prevent safe navigation by inland barges. Wet and dry periods may alternate, leaving little time to repair damages. In some Western and Middle-European countries, barges have a large share in freight transport. If a main waterway is out of service, then alternatives are called for. Volume- and price-wise, trucking is not a viable alternative. Could railways be that alternative? The paper was written after the unusually long dry summer period in Europe in 2022. It deals with the question: If the Rhine, a major European waterway becomes locally inaccessible, could railways (temporarily) play a larger role in freight transport? It is a continuation of our earlier research. It contains a case study, the data of which was fed into a simulation model. The model deals with technical details like service specification route length, energy consumption and emissions. The study points to interesting rail services to keep Europe’s freight on the move. Their realization may be complex especially in terms of logistics and infrastructure, but is there an alternative?
MULTIFILE
Predictive models and decision support toolsallow information sharing, common situational awarenessand real-time collaborative decision-making betweenairports and ground transport stakeholders. To supportthis general goal, IMHOTEP has developed a set of modelsable to anticipate the evolution of an airport’s passengerflows within the day of operations. This is to assess theoperational impact of different management measures onthe airport processes and the ground transport system. Twomodels covering the passenger flows inside the terminal andof passengers accessing and egressing the airport have beenintegrated to provide a holistic view of the passengerjourney from door-to-gate and vice versa.This paper describes IMHOTEP’s application at two casestudy airports, Palma de Mallorca (PMI) and London City(LCY), at Proof of Concept (PoC-level) assessing impactand service improvements for passengers, airport operatorsand other key stakeholders.For the first time onemeasurable process is created to open up opportunities forbetter communication across all associated stakeholders.Ultimately the successful implementation will lead to areduction of the carbon footprint of the passenger journeyby better use of existing facilities and surface transportservices, and the delay or omission of additional airportfacility capacities.
