The aim of this study is to determine the contribution of student interventions to urban greening processes. In two Dutch cities action research was conducted, including reflexive interviews a year after the first intervention, to assess factors causing change in the socio-ecological system. Results show that students and network actors were mutually learning, causing the empowerment of actors in that network by adding contextualized knowledge, enlarging the social network, expanding the amount of interactions in the socio-ecological system and speeding up the process. Students brought unique qualities to the process: time, access to stakeholders who tend to distrust the municipality and a certain open-mindedness. Their mere presence made a difference and started a process of change. However, university staff needed to keep the focus on long-term effects and empowerment, because students did not oversee that. After a year, many new green elements had been developed or were in the planning phase. In Enschede, the municipality districtmanagers were part of the learning network, which made it easier to cause changes in the main ecological network. In Haarlem however, no change took place in the main ecological network managed by the municipality, because no political empowerment of the civil society group had developed yet.
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Objective: To predict mortality by disability in a sample of 479 Dutch community-dwelling people aged 75 years or older. Methods: A longitudinal study was carried out using a follow-up of seven years. The Groningen Activity Restriction Scale (GARS), a self-reported questionnaire with good psychometric properties, was used for data collection about total disability, disability in activities in daily living (ADL) and disability in instrumental activities in daily living (IADL). The mortality dates were provided by the municipality of Roosendaal (a city in the Netherlands). For analyses of survival, we used Kaplan–Meier analyses and Cox regression analyses to calculate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: All three disability variables (total, ADL and IADL) predicted mortality, unadjusted and adjusted for age and gender. The unadjusted HRs for total, ADL and IADL disability were 1.054 (95%-CI: [1.039;1.069]), 1.091 (95%-CI: [1.062;1.121]) and 1.106 (95%-CI: [1.077;1.135]) with p-values <0.001, respectively. The AUCs were <0.7, ranging from 0.630 (ADL) to 0.668 (IADL). Multivariate analyses including all 18 disability items revealed that only “Do the shopping” predicted mortality. In addition, multivariate analyses focusing on 11 ADL items and 7 IADL items separately showed that only the ADL item “Get around in the house” and the IADL item “Do the shopping” significantly predicted mortality. Conclusion: Disability predicted mortality in a seven years follow-up among Dutch community-dwelling older people. It is important that healthcare professionals are aware of disability at early stages, so they can intervene swiftly, efficiently and effectively, to maintain or enhance the quality of life of older people.
Stedelijke natuurversterking is bij uitstek een thema dat door de schalen heen moet worden bekeken. Van pocket park en gevelbekleding tot stedelijke groenstructuur, de biodiversiteit komt het beste tot bloei door samenhang.In het SIA-project Natuurinclusieve Gebiedsontwikkeling onderzochten vier hogescholen - Aeres Hogeschool, Avans Hogeschool, Hogeschool van Amsterdam en Hogeschool Van Hall Larenstein - drie schaalniveaus van gebiedsontwikkeling om de transitie naar natuurinclusieve gebiedsontwikkeling te versnellen. Gekoppeld aan drie casussen waren dit: gebouw (Spoorzone Waarder), straat (Knowledge Mile Park - KMP - Amsterdam), en gebied (Almere Centrum-Pampus). De casussen belichten veelvoorkomende typen ingrepen, zoals kleinschalige nieuwbouw, verbetering van de publieke ruimte, en binnenstedelijke woningbouw. Ondanks dat elke case een eigen thematisch zwaartepunt had - biobased materialen (Spoorzone Waarder), natuurlijke vergroening (KMP), en governance (Almere) - heeft via deelonderzoeken en tussen hogescholen kruisbestuiving plaatsgevonden. De white paper geeft de belangrijkste resultaten en lessen hiervan weer.Urban nature enhancement is a theme that needs to be considered across different scale levels. From pocket parks and façade greening to urban green infrastructure, biodiversity thrives best through connectivity.In the SIA-project Nature-inclusive Area Development, four universities of applied sciences - Aeres University of Applied Sciences, Avans UAS, Amsterdam UAS, and Van Hall Larenstein UAS- researched three scale levels of area development to accelerate the transition to nature-inclusive area development. This was linked to three case studies: Waarder Railway Zone (building), Knowledge Mile Park (KMP - street - Amsterdam), and Almere Centre-Pampus (area). The case studies represent common types of urban interventions, such as small-scale new developments, improvement of public space, and inner-city densification. Despite each case having its own thematic focus - biobased materials (Waarder Railway Zone), natural greening (KMP), and governance (Almere) - cross-pollination took place through sub-studies and collaboration between universities. The following pages present the main results and lessons learnt.
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