While smart maintenance is gaining popularity in professional engineering and construction management practice, little is known about the dimensions of its maturity. It is assumed that the complex networked environment of maintenance and the rise of data-driven methodologies require a different perspective on maintenance. This paper identifies maturity dimensions for smart maintenance of constructed assets that can be measured. A research design based on two opposite cases is used and data from multiple sources is collected in four embedded case studies in corporate facility management organizations. Through coding data in several cross-case analyses, a maturity framework is designed that is validated through expert consultation. The proposed smart maintenance maturity framework includes technological dimensions (e.g., tracking and tracing) as well as behavioral dimensions (e.g., culture). It presents a new and encompassing theoretical perspective on client leadership in digital construction, integrating innovation in both construction and maintenance supply networks.
A positive experience of the perinatal period is significant for women in midwifery care. The literature on women’s experiences of the care in this period is extensive. However, a clear overview of the dimensions important for women’s experiences is lacking. Consequently, care providers and researchers may ignore aspects significant to women’s experience. In this short communication, we present a framework identifying the dimensions relevant for women’s experiences of the perinatal period.
Infants attend daycare at an early age, which raises questions about children's sensitivity to the childcare environment and the role of different temperamental traits in their development in the early years. In a two-year longitudinal study with parent- and caregiver-reported data for Dutch children at the age of 1 and 2 years (120 children from 92 groups), we explored fine-grained dimensions of negative affect and their relationship with socio-emotional functioning. Especially shyness, frustration and soothability proved robust predictors of socio-emotional development across parent- and caregiver-reported data with both concurrent (Year-1) and predictive associations (Year-2). Also, the quality of caregiver–child interactions moderated caregiver-reported child wellbeing and competence. Infants that are open to social contacts, are easy to comfort and have low levels of frustration, and have higher levels of wellbeing and less problem behaviour in early daycare than peers with higher levels of shyness and frustration and relatively low levels of soothability.
TU Delft, in collaboration with Gravity Energy BV, has conducted a feasibility study on harvesting electric energy from wind and vibrations using a wobbling triboelectric nanogenerator (WTENG). Unlike conventional wind turbines, the WTENG converts wind/vibration energy into contact-separation events through a wobbling structure and unbalanced mass. Initial experimental findings demonstrated a peak power density of 1.6 W/m² under optimal conditions. Additionally, the harvester successfully charged a 3.7V lithium-ion battery with over 4.5 μA, illustrated in a self-powered light mast as a practical demonstration in collaboration with TimberLAB. This project aims to advance this research by developing a functioning prototype for public spaces, particularly lanterns, in partnership with TimberLAB and Gravity Energy. The study will explore the potential of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) and piezoelectric materials to optimize energy harvesting efficiency and power output. Specifically, the project will focus on improving the WTENG's output power for practical applications by optimizing parameters such as electrode dimensions and contact-separation quality. It will also explore cost-effective, commercially available materials and best fabrication/assembly strategies to simplify scalability for different length scales and power outputs. The research will proceed with the following steps: Design and Prototype Development: Create a prototype WTENG to evaluate energy harvesting efficiency and the quantity of energy harvested. A hybrid of TENG and piezoelectric materials will be designed and assessed. Optimization: Refine the system's design by considering the scaling effect and combinations of TENG-piezoelectric materials, focusing on maximizing energy efficiency (power output). This includes exploring size effects and optimal dimensions. Real-World Application Demonstration: Assess the optimized system's potential to power lanterns in close collaboration with TimberLAB, DVC Groep BV and Gravity Energy. Identify key parameters affecting the efficiency of WTENG technology and propose a roadmap for its exploitation in other applications such as public space lighting and charging.
Gender barriers are a complex problem, as they are created and maintained by multiple dimensions of our societal system; governments, the corporate world, and by society itself. Within the hospitality industry, one of the most people-oriented sectors there is, gender barriers are especially a problem. Although there is equality amongst the entire Dutch hospitality sector in general (48.2% women, (CBS, 2022)), only 17% of top-management positions within the 5 largest hotel-chains in the country are occupied by women (Hampshire Hotel Group, 2022; Accor Group, 2022; van der Valk International, 2022; NH Hotels, 2022; NIBC, 2022). With the hospitality industry revolving around people and experiences, it is of utmost importance that it represents the actual world-population and society. In order to address the current challenges the industry is facing, it is time to face the elephant in the room; why don’t women get included in top and senior management within the hospitality industry as much as men do? This trajectory aims to identify where gender barriers occur within the Dutch hospitality industry and accordingly develop, and test interventions (enablers) together with two of the largest hotel-chains in the Netherlands, in order to improve women career advancement. The first phases of the trajectory will focus on the entire Dutch hotel sector, while the intervention phase will only be executed in collaboration with NH Hotels and IHG. The final phase of the trajectory will explore the implications of the findings from the industry to hospitality management education. By enabling more women to advance their hospitality careers, this will have a large impact on the industry’s sustainability and resilience, and again positively impact wider society.
Nature areas in North-West Europe (NWE) face an increasing number of visitors (intensified by COVID-19) resulting in an increased pressure on nature, negative environmental impacts, higher management costs, and nuisance for local residents and visitors. The high share of car use exaggerates these impacts, including peak pressures. Furthermore, the almost exclusive access by car excludes disadvantaged people, specifically those without access to a car. At the same time, the urbanised character of NWE, its dense public transport network, well-developed tourism & recreation sector, and presence of shared mobility providers offers ample opportunities for more sustainable tourism. Thus, MONA will stimulate sustainable tourism in and around nature areas in NWE which benefits nature, the environment, visitors, and the local economy. MONA will do so by encouraging a modal shift through facilitating sustainableThe pan-European Innovation Action, funded under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme, aims to promote innovative governance processes ,and help public authorities in shaping their climate mitigation and adaptation policies. To achieve this aim, the GREENGAGE project will leverage citizens’ participation and equip them with innovative digital solutions that will transform citizen’s engagement and cities’ effectiveness in delivering the European Green Deal objectives for carbon neutral cities.Focusing on mobility, air quality and healthy living, citizens will be inspired to observe and co-create their cities by sensing their urban environments. The aim to complement, validate, and enrich information in authoritative data held by the public administrations and public agencies. This will be facilitated by engaging with citizens to co-create green initiatives and to develop Citizen Observatories. In GREENGAGE, Citizen Observatories will be a place where pilot cities will co-examine environmental issues integrating novel bottom-up process with top-down perspectives. This will provide the basis to co-create and co-design innovative solutions to monitor environmental problems at ground level with the help of citizens.With two interrelated project dimensions, the project aims to enhance intelligence applied to city decision-making processes and governance by engaging with citizen observations integrated with Copernicus, GEOSS, in-situ, and socio-economic intelligence, and by delivering innovative governance models based on novel toolboxes of decision-making methodologies and technologies. The envisioned citizens observatory campaigns will be deployed and fully demonstrated in 5 pilot engagements in selected European cities and regions including: Bristol (the United Kingdom), Copenhagen (Denmark), Turano / Gerace (Italy) and the region of Noord Brabant (the Netherlands). These innovation pilots aim to highlight the need for smart city governance by promoting citizen engagement, co-creation, gathering new data which will complement existing datasets and evidence-based decision and policymaking.
