Background: Revealing tacit knowledge often is seen as very valuable for organizations, although it is usually challenging to enunciate and share this type of knowledge. Methods: This study uses a participatory design and the application of a board gaming simulation as instruments to extract tacit knowledge. To illustrate this application, the gaming simulation is played with entrepreneurs from horticulture. Horticulture represents a complex social system where tacit knowledge plays a major role in the trade process. A participatory design process is used to explore whether the design and play of gaming simulations enable participants to explicate their tacit knowledge. Participants’ participation in designing the gaming simulation explicated that reconstructing reality was a prerequisite for their commitment. Results: The results from playing simulation sessions show that participants were able to: (1) narrow down the anecdotic behaviour to a few factors; (2) to structure these factors; (3) explore how these factors relate to trade barriers and (4) to explain which tactics are applied to foster trade. Conclusion: The educational value of this study is that it helped entrepreneurs in understanding complex real-life situations.
MULTIFILE
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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Students, researchers, professors and company representatives gathered to share progress and ideas at the second half-year symposium of HiPerGreen at the World Horti Center in Naaldwijk. HiPerGreen is a Raak MKB subsidised research project aiming to bring value to horticultural growers. Cock Heemskerk, head of the HiPerGreen project and lector Robotica at InHolland University of Applied Sciences, welcomed everyone and gave an overall status update. Then Lucien, Fesselet project manager at HiPerGreen, talked about the minimal viable product (MVP) to make automated detection of fusarium in Phalaenopsis (a type of orchid) possible. Three consortium partners were invited to explain what they do for HiPerGreen and what their motives for participation are: Igno Breukers (DB2-Vision, start-up of a new type of multispectral camera for Precision Agriculture), Tim Brander (head grower at Hazeu Orchids) and Tom Kearny-Mitchel (plant biology advisor at Applied Drone Innovations). Next several students summarised their team’s work, findings and failures to the audience. During the live demo Lucien unveiled one of the team’s newly-built technologies: live stream thermal images of plants. The sympoium was concluded with a brainstorm session and drink.
