In het afgelopen decennium hebben zich binnen hogescholen grote veranderingen voltrokken. Hogescholen ontwikkelen zich steeds meer tot een belangrijke partner van profit en non-profit organisaties, die producten en diensten aanbieden, waarbij de inbreng van hoogopgeleide professionals onontbeerlijk is. Dit heeft de opleiders van professionals de afgelopen jaren gestimuleerd zich diepgaand te bezinnen op hun taak. De opleiding kan zich steeds minder beperken tot het aanbrengen van een startkwalificatie in de professie, maar moet het fundament leggen voor het levenslange leerproces dat door de nieuwe professionaliteit wordt gevergd. Studenten in het HBO worden nu ook startbekwaam in het zelfstandig opzetten en uitvoeren van praktijkgericht onderzoek. Dit boek is tot stand gekomen als antwoord op deze nieuwe ontwikkelingen. Het accent ligt op praktijkgericht onderzoek, dat wil zeggen op onderzoek dat ontstaat vanuit de beroepspraktijk met het doel om deze beter te begrijpen en op basis hiervan te komen tot onderbouwde verbetering of vernieuwing. Zo wil het er toe bijdragen om de kloof tussen theorie en praktijk te overbruggen. Het richt zich tot hogeschoolstudenten, begeleiders van deze studenten en professionals in het werkveld. Het boek biedt hen een referentiekader voor het maken van een gedegen onderzoeksontwerp, gebaseerd op beargumenteerde keuzes voor een bepaalde onderzoeksstrategie en onderzoeksmethoden. Het besteedt aandacht aan het zoeken en gebruiken van wetenschappelijke literatuur, de implementatie van een vernieuwing of verbetering en aan het rapporteren van de uitkomsten.
Blog in het kader van het onderzoeksproject ‘The Network is the Message‘ Met dit onderzoek willen Hogeschool Rotterdam en Hogeschool Utrecht een antwoord geven op de vraag: “Hoe kan de effectiviteit van communicatie in online sociale netwerken worden beoordeeld en verbeterd?” In deze blog: Zoals te verwachten voor een dergelijk controversieel en politiek onderwerp is er een duidelijk onderscheid te zien tussen profit en non profit instellingen: de eerste nemen geen stelling, de tweede wel. Inhakers zijn net gewone social media posts: ze zijn vooral bedoeld om de producten en standpunten van degene die ze maakt te promoten en dat is natuurlijk prima!
Worldwide, coral reefs are rapidly declining due to increased sea water temperatures and other environmental stresses (Figure 1). To counter the extinction of major coral reef building species on the island of Bonaire, the non-profit organization Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire is restoring degraded reef sites using corals that are grown in local nurseries. In these nurseries, corals are propagated on artificial trees using fragmentation. After 6-8 months of growth in the nursery, the corals are transplanted to degraded reef sites around the island. Over the years more than 21.000 corals have been outplanted to reef restoration sites in this way. These corals show high survivorship under natural reef conditions but remain under threat by environmental disturbances, such as increased water temperatures, diseases, and competition with macroalgae. A promising intervention to increase reef persistence and resilience is to manipulate the coral-associated microbiome. At present, the composition of the microbiome in nursery-reared and outplanted corals on Bonaire is unknown. The aim of the current project is to identify and isolate naturally occurring beneficial bacteria that may stimulate the resilience of these corals. Our key objectives are: 1) to assess the presence of functionally beneficial bacteria in corals in nursery and restoration sites on Bonaire using metagenomic screening. 2) to design culture strategies to isolate these functionally beneficial bacteria. In the future, a selection of these beneficial bacteria can be applied to the corals to increase their resilience against environmental disturbances.
The latest IPCC Report (2022) provided by the UN shows us that, to guarantee a safe future for upcoming generations, we must change how we lead our lives on several levels. However, the increasing urgency to act and behave in a way that is not damaging the climate is bringing many psychological concerns to young generations. Worldwide reports are demonstrating how the issue of eco-anxiety is increasing daily, and how young people are feeling more hopeless than ever. Climate change has become a climate crisis, and individuals are experiencing pressure and fear incessantly (Marks et al., 2021). We, as Climate Streamers, have often found ourselves in this situation as well, but rather than freezing, we decided to take this challenge and think of solutions. Therefore, with the support of Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Performatory community, the BUas Startup Support Team, and outside mentors, we created Climate Streamers Foundation: a new youth-led non-profit organisation and a movement working towards a more inclusive and less polarised climate action. By working with leisure elements and a positive and appreciative approach, we want to give back hope, voice and power to the youth and inspire each other genuinely and sustainably. The purpose of this application is to allow us to elaborate a feasibility study concerning our MVP (minimum viable product), the card game, and boost the overall concept. We intend to implement the researched data to improve the design and sales management. The card game aims to stimulate appreciative conversations by giving space to players to express their opinions and personal stories and it is designed so everyone can play it, regardless of background and knowledge. After giving 200 games in production, we launched the card game in July 2022.
Background:Many business intelligence surveys demonstrate that Digital Realities (Virtual reality and Augmented Reality) are becoming a huge market trend in many sectors, and North America is taking the lead in this emerging domain. Tourism is no exception and the sector in Europe must innovate to get ahead of the curve of this technological revolution, but this innovation needs public support.Project partnership:In order to provide labs, startups and SMEs willing to take this unique opportunity with the most appropriate support policies, 9 partner organizations from 8 countries (FR, IT, HU, UK, NO, ES, PL, NL) decided to work together: regional and local authorities, development agencies, private non-profit association and universities.Objective of the project:Thanks to their complementary experiences and know-how, they intend to improve policies of the partner regions (structural funds and regional policies), in order to foster a tourist channeled innovation in the Digital Realities sector.Approach:All partners will work together on policy analysis tasks before exchanging their best initiatives and transferring them from one country to another. This strong cooperation will allow them to build the best conditions to foster innovation thanks to more effective structural funds policies and regional policies.Main activities & outputs:8 policy instruments are addressed, among which 7 relate to structural funds programmes. Basis for exchange of experience: Reciprocal improvement analysis and 8 study trips with peer-review of each partner’s practices. Video reportages for an effective dissemination towards other territories in Europe.Main expected results:At least 16 good practices identified. 8 targeted policy instruments improved. At least 27 staff members will transfer new capacities in their intervention fields. At least 8 involved stakeholders with increased skills and knowledge from exchange of experience. Expected 17 appearances in press and media, including at European level.
