This is the editorial paper for the virtual special issue “Using Q methodology in higher education: Opportunities and challenges”, consisting of nine original research studies from different international contexts. In addition to presenting novel findings, contributors were invited to discuss the following two questions at the center of the special issue call: In what sense has Q methodology served as a fitting approach to investigate subjectivity in higher education? What methodological opportunities and challenges arise with Q methodology in higher education settings? This editorial provides an overview and discussion of the various justifications mentioned for Q methodology. Furthermore, it collates the opportunities and challenges contributors discuss in relation to their studies using this almost 90-year-old methodological approach. The editorial paper concludes with recommendations for future Q methodological studies in higher education and beyond.
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Innovating physical products can be seen as systems engineering at a higher abstraction level. It spans multiple domains and focuses not on developing the product, but realising the complete innovation. In our new approach, we focus on the four most important domains of physical product innovation: market, technology, production and business. Technology Innovation Processes (TIP) is a newly developed, flexible and pragmatic data-informed decision approach that helps innovation managers to navigate through the early stages of a blue-ocean innovation process, where not much is known.
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Introduction: The health-promoting school (HPS) approach was developed by the World Health Organization to create health promotion changes in the whole school system. Implementing the approach can be challenging for schools because schools are dynamic organizations with each a unique context. Many countries worldwide have a health promotion system in place in which healthy school (HS) advisors support schools in the process of implementing the HPS approach. Even though these HS advisors can take on various roles to provide support in an adaptive and context-oriented manner, these roles have not yet been described. The current study aims to identify and describe the key roles of the HS advisor when supporting schools during the dynamic process of implementing the HPS approach. Methods: The study was part of a project in which a capacity-building module was developed for and with HS advisors in the Netherlands. In the current study, a co-creation process enabled by participatory research was used in which researchers, HS advisors, national representatives, and coordinators of the Dutch HS program participated. Co-creation processes took place between October 2020 and November 2021 and consisted of four phases: (1) a narrative review of the literature, (2) interviews, (3) focus groups, and (4) a final check. Results: Five roles were identified. The role of “navigator” as a more central one and four other roles: “linking pin,” “expert in the field,” “critical friend,” and “ambassador of the HPS approach.” The (final) description of the five roles was recognizable for the HS advisors that participated in the study, and they indicated that it provided a comprehensive overview of the work of an HS advisor in the Netherlands. Discussion: The roles can provide guidance to all Dutch HS advisors and the regional public health organizations that employ them on what is needed to provide sufficient and context-oriented support to schools. These roles can inspire and guide people from other countries to adapt the roles to their own national context.
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.
Coastal nourishments, where sand from offshore is placed near or at the beach, are nowadays a key coastal protection method for narrow beaches and hinterlands worldwide. Recent sea level rise projections and the increasing involvement of multiple stakeholders in adaptation strategies have resulted in a desire for nourishment solutions that fit a larger geographical scale (O 10 km) and a longer time horizon (O decades). Dutch frontrunner pilot experiments such as the Sandmotor and Ameland inlet nourishment, as well as the Hondsbossche Dunes coastal reinforcement project have all been implemented from this perspective, with the specific aim to encompass solutions that fit in a renewed climate-resilient coastal protection strategy. By capitalizing on recent large-scale nourishments, the proposed Coastal landSCAPE project C-SCAPE will employ and advance the newly developed Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways (DAPP) approach to construct a sustainable long-term nourishment strategy in the face of an uncertain future, linking climate and landscape scales to benefits for nature and society. Novel long-term sandy solutions will be examined using this pathways method, identifying tipping points that may exist if distinct strategies are being continued. Crucial elements for the construction of adaptive pathways are 1) a clear view on the long-term feasibility of different nourishment alternatives, and 2) solid, science-based quantification methods for integral evaluation of the social, economic, morphological and ecological outcomes of various pathways. As currently both elements are lacking, we propose to erect a Living Lab for Climate Adaptation within the C-SCAPE project. In this Living Lab, specific attention is paid to the socio-economic implications of the nourished landscape, as we examine how morphological and ecological development of the large-scale nourishment strategies and their design choices (e.g. concentrated vs alongshore uniform, subaqueous vs subaerial, geomorphological features like artificial lagoons) translate to social acceptance.
Dit project heeft tot doel het ontwerp en de exploitatie van lokale energiesystemen te verbeteren voor buurten met een hoge zelfvoorziening en een hoge betrokkenheid van alle betrokken belanghebbenden. In dit project wordt een integrale aanpak toegepast door zowel technische als sociale aspecten mee te nemen.
