The growing appetite of cities is one of the greatest future challenges. There is no set menu for meeting this appetite, but a trend is observed in which city authorities focus on region-based food provision. Regionalism is motivated by the importance of increased self-reliance. Besides, regional food systems, are associated with more sustainable production and reduced carbon footprints, the reconnection of consumers with production, and the increased uptake of whole foods in urban diets. However, the question remains to what extend region based food systems may become self-reliant? How may they contribute to improved sustainability and healthy lifestyles? With the Dutch city of Almere as a case in point this paper provides a food flow data-based analysis of the opportunities and limitations of regional based food system approaches. The paper sets off with defining the concepts of sustainable self-reliance and regionalism. Next, it describes the methodology of measuring and mapping the actual food flows. We combined secondary, publicly available, with primary quantitative and qualitative datasets, involving regional businesses, urban policymakers, and residents. Our study uncovers the coinciding disconnect and interconnectedness of local, regional and global food systems. The regional scale offers opportunities for tackling many food related challenges, however, sustainable urban food security demands connections beyond the regional sphere and beyond the food domain. To assess the effects of the policy options available at the local and regional level, a solid evidence base is essential. This paper advances the development of evidence-based methodologies to monitor and inform food system policies.
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This essay explores the notion of resilience by providing a theoretical context and subsequently linking it to the management of safety and security. The distinct worlds of international security, industrial safety and public security have distinct risks as well as distinct ‘core purposes and integrities’ as understood by resilience scholars. In dealing with risks one could argue there are three broad approaches: cost-benefit analysis, precaution and resilience. In order to distinguish the more recent approach of resilience, the idea of adaptation will be contrasted to mitigation. First, a general outline is provided of what resilience implies as a way to survive and thrive in the face of adversity. After that, a translation of resilience for the management of safety and security is described. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juul-gooren-phd-cpp-a1180622/
The increasing rate of urbanization along with its socio-environmental impact are major global challenges. Therefore, there is a need to assess the boundaries to growth for the future development of cities by the inclusion of the assessment of the environmental carrying capacity (ECC) into spatial management. The purpose is to assess the resource dependence of a given entity. ECC is usually assessed based on indicators such as the ecological footprint (EF) and biocapacity (BC). EF is a measure of the biologically productive areas demanded by human consumption and waste production. Such areas include the space needed for regenerating food and fibers as well as sequestering the generated pollution, particularly CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels. BC reflects the biological regeneration potential of a given area to regenerate resources as well to absorb waste. The city level EF assessment has been applied to urban zones across the world, however, there is a noticeable lack of urban EF assessments in Central Eastern Europe. Therefore, the current research is a first estimate of the EF and BC for the city of Wrocław, Poland. This study estimates the Ecological Footprint of Food (EFF) through both a top-down assessment and a hybrid top-down/bottom-up assessment. Thus, this research verifies also if results from hybrid method could be comparable with top-down approach. The bottom-up component of the hybrid analysis calculated the carbon footprint of food using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The top-down result ofWrocław’s EFF were 1% greater than the hybrid EFF result, 0.974 and 0.963 gha per person respectively. The result indicated that the EFF exceeded the BC of the city of Wrocław 10-fold. Such assessment support efforts to increase resource efficiency and decrease the risk associated with resources—including food security. Therefore, there is a need to verify if a city is able to satisfy the resource needs of its inhabitants while maintaining the natural capital on which they depend intact. Original article at: https://doi.org/10.3390/resources7030052 © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI.
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Despite their various appealing features, drones also have some undesirable side-effects. One of them is the psychoacoustic effect that originates from their buzzing noise that causes significant noise pollutions. This has an effect on nature (animals run away) and on humans (noise nuisance and thus stress and health problems). In addition, these buzzing noises contribute to alerting criminals when low-flying drones are deployed for safety and security applications. Therefore, there is an urgent demand from SMEs for practical knowledge and technologies that make existing drones silent, which is the main focus of this project. This project contributes directly to the KET Digital Innovations\Robotics and multiple themes of the top sectors: Agriculture, Water and Food, Health & Care and Safety. The main objective of this project is: Investigate the desirability and possibilities of extremely silent drone technologies for agriculture, public space and safety This is an innovative project and there exist no such drone technology that attempts to reduce the noises coming from drones. The knowledge within this project will be converted into the first proof-of-concepts that makes the technology the first Minimum Viable Product suitable for market evaluations. The partners of this project include WhisperUAV, which has designed the first concept of a silent drone. As a fiber-reinforced 3D composite component printer, Fiberneering plays a crucial role in the (further) development of silent drone technologies into testable prototypes. Sorama is involved as an expert company in the context of mapping the sound fields in and around drones. The University of Twente is involved as a consultant and co-developer, and Research group of mechatronics at Saxion is involved as concept developer, system and user requirement verifier and validator. As an unmanned systems innovation cluster, Space53 will be involved as innovation and networking consultant.
Since the 1970s, Caribbean reefs have transitioned from coral-dominated to algal-dominated ecosystems. The prevalence of algae reduces coral recruitment, rendering the reefs unable to recover from additional disturbances and jeopardizing crucial ecosystem services, including coastal protection, fisheries, and tourism. One of the main factors to the proliferation of algae is the scarcity of grazers, which is a result of overfishing and disease outbreaks. While fishing supports livelihoods, enhances local food security, and is an integral part of the Caribbean communities' culture, it remains a significant threat to coral reefs. Consequently, the Nature and Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP) 2020-2030, outlining conservation and restoration priorities in the Caribbean Netherlands, underscores the necessity of an integrated approach to tackle the complex challenges of coral reef restoration and fisheries development. The Saba government, and nature management organizations of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba are implementing the NEPP. Together with University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein, Wageningen University and WWF, they aim to identify novel species of native invertebrate grazers with the dual purpose of reef restoration and fisheries diversification. The Caribbean king crab (Maguimithrax spinosissimus), the West Indian sea egg (Tripneustes ventricosus), and the West Indian top shell (Cittarium pica) have been identified as potential candidates. Despite their preference to graze on macroalgae, their current densities are inadequate. Population enhancement of these species holds promise for reducing algae, promoting biodiversity, and simultaneously supporting small-scale fisheries. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the ecological effects and socio-economic potential of these grazers. The ReefGrazers project aims to assess the current densities of these herbivores around the BES islands, analyze their impacts on the reef, and evaluate their retention post-restocking. Socio-economic research will quantify current small-scale fishing practices, while market analysis will help assess the potential for the development of these novel resources as sustainable fisheries.
Foodsecurity, duurzaam gebruik van grondstoffen en water zijn items die zijn terug te vinden in de Grand Challenges in de EU-onderzoekagenda Horizon2020. In de tuinbouw vindt dit zijn plaats door steeds meer op microniveau teelt, groei en oogst te beïnvloeden. De Nederlandse tuinbouw loopt hiermee wereldwijd voorop en de kennis en kunde is een belangrijk exportproduct. Bedrijven hebben niettemin te weinig controle over de gewascondities in de tuinbouwkas met negatieve gevolgen voor de oogstopbrengst en overmatig gebruik van grondstoffen. Het teelt- en oogstproces in een tuinbouwkas kan aanzienlijk worden verbeterd door tot op microniveau een betrouwbaar en integraal beeld te verkrijgen van de verdeling van kritische gewasparameters binnen de kas. Via slimme monitoring kunnen eveneens concentraties van ziektekiemen gedetecteerd worden en 3D-beelden worden gemaakt van het gewas. Met hulp van deze informatie kunnen kwantiteit en kwaliteit van de oogst tot op microniveau worden getraceerd om de relatie tussen genomen maatregelen en verkregen effecten na te gaan. De regel-lus met het monitoringsysteem dient hiervoor te worden gesloten, waardoor men vooraf kan gaan sturen op basis van verkregen kennis en ervaring. Zo kan verkregen informatie worden ingezet b.v. om lokaal efficiënt te draineren en te bewateren en om CO2-gehaltes, hoeveelheid licht en temperatuur optimaal aan te passen aan benodigde kascondities. Ook kunnen effectief maatregelen tegen ziektes op plantniveau worden genomen en kunnen oogstopbrengsten worden gemaximaliseerd. Inzet van slim datamanagement is voor dit alles een must. Ambitie van SCOUT is het ontwikkelen van een integraal monitoringequipment- en methodologieconcept in de kas om gewas- en omgevingsparameters van tomaten op robuuste en betrouwbare wijze te kunnen verzamelen en modelmatig te analyseren. Telers willen deze informatie gebruiken voor het nemen van beheersmaatregelen t.b.v. meer controle op uniformiteit in de vruchtontwikkeling. De ambitie wordt uitgewerkt via opzet van slimme meetmethodieken en data-gebaseerde groeimodellen op plant- en vakniveau, die in de praktijk worden uitgetest met integrale sensorconcepten. Verder wordt een data-infrastructuur ontwikkeld inclusief een data dashboard voor visualisatie van de monitoring resultaten. Zo krijgt de tuinder een real-time beeld van de verdeling van kritische gewasparameters in de kas en kan hij in de toekomst de opbrengst bij de oogst beter voorspellen en beïnvloeden met als doel uniformiteit van de oogst, maximalisering van economische opbrengst en minimalisering van milieu-impact. SCOUT is een samenwerking van kennisinstellingen en bedrijven. Partners zijn de hogescholen: HAS hogeschool, Avans, Fontys , Inholland, Haagse Hogeschool en de NHL. WUR ondersteunt het project met wetenschappelijk advies. Participerende bedrijven zijn telers van met name tomaten of toeleveranciers van technologie aan de glastuinbouw. Tenslotte is de landelijke gewascommissie Tomaat en Paprika van LTO Glaskracht Nederland (onderdeel ZLTO) betrokken. SCOUT maakt bestaande kennis toepasbaar en ontwikkelt nieuwe kennis t.b.v. een slimme en robuuste sensor- en data-infrastructuur en groeimodellering in de kas. Verder vindt verankering van kennis en kunde in onderwijs en lectoraten plaats en een vergroting van de kwaliteit van docenten en afstudeerders. Circa 20 (docent)onderzoekers van de hogescholen en circa 100 studenten worden betrokken, die via stages en afstudeeronderzoeken werken aan interessante vraagstukken direct afkomstig uit de beroepspraktijk.
