Introduction: Fall rates and fall-related injuries among community-dwelling older adults (≥65 years) are expected to increase rapidly, due to the aging population worldwide. Fall prevention programs (FPPs), consisting of strength and balance exercises, have been proven effective in reducing fall rates among older adults. However, these FPPs have not reached their full potential as most programs are under-enrolled. Therefore, this study aims to identify promising strategies that promote participation in FPPs among community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This is an exploratory qualitative study. Previously, barriers and facilitators for participation in FPPs by older adults had been identified. Next, six strategies had been designed using the Intervention Mapping approach: (1) reframing; (2) informing about benefits; (3) raising awareness of risks; (4) involving social environment; (5) offering tailored intervention; (6) arranging practicalities. Strategies were validated during semi-structured interviews with communitydwelling older adults (n = 12) at risk of falling. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following a qualitative thematic methodology, with a hybrid approach. Results: All strategies were considered important by at least some of the respondents. However, two strategies stood out: (1) reframing ‘aging’ and ‘fall prevention’: respondents preferred to be approached differently, taking a ‘life course’ perspective about falls, and avoiding confronting words; and (2) ‘informing about benefits’ (e.g., ‘living independently for longer’); which was mentioned to improve the understanding of the relevance of participating in FPPs. Other strategies were considered important to take into account too, but opinions varied more strongly. Discussion: This study provides insight into potential strategies to stimulate older adults to participate in FPPs. Results suggest that reframing ‘aging’ and ‘fall prevention’ may facilitate the dialogue about fall prevention, by communicating differently about the topic, for example ‘staying fit and healthy’, while focusing on the benefits of participating in FPPs. Gaining insight into the strategies’ effectiveness and working mechanisms is an area for future research. This could lead to practical recommendations and help professionals to enhance older adults’ participation in FPPs. Currently, the strategies are further developed to be applied and evaluated for effectiveness in multiple field labs in a central Dutch region (Utrecht).
Teacher professional identity is conceptualized in this chapter as a complex configuration of personal and contextual factors. Professional identity is also seen as dynamic and subject to change. This coloring of the concept leads here to a specific elaboration of research with regard to (student) teachers’ identity formation. This research then focuses on (student) teachers working on issues arising from tensions between the personal and the contextual, the ways in which they position themselves toward relevant others, the impact of the micropolitical reality of the school on their functioning and well-being, and the role so-called “stories to live by” play in their work. The operationalization of the concept is illustrated by two studies in which the complexity and uniqueness of (the development of) professional identity have been investigated using narrative methods and techniques. This chapter also distinguishes between two different but related internal processes that are important in teacher education, namely professional learning internalizing knowledge and skills that are generally found to be relevant for the profession, i.e., teaching competence) and identity formation (a personal process of validating learning experiences in light of one’s “image-ofself-as-teacher,” that is, the teacher that one is and wants to become). It is argued that both processes can reinforce and enrich each other and, as such, will result in a more comprehensive and coherent framework for understanding teachers’ professional work and their development as teachers. An attempt is made to present both internal processes in an overarching model, referred to here as “framework of professional identity learning.” The chapter concludes with suggestions for (follow-up) research.
The article highlights the limitations of speed as a framework for discussing and tackling the environmental challenges of growing clothing volumes or quantities. This argument builds on a series of wardrobe studies mapping the number of clothing items owned, purchased, and disposed of by 25 people during six months, and the reasons behind purchase and disposal. The results indicate that clothing consumption is rarely driven by replacement and that opportunity plays a main role. These characteristics of clothing consumption explain why it takes more than producing long-lasting garments to reduce clothing demand. Rather than delaying the disposal of garments, a more straight-forward focus on reducing production is needed, that is the contribution of a volume-centric approach.
The energy transition is a highly complex technical and societal challenge, coping with e.g. existing ownership situations, intrusive retrofit measures, slow decision-making processes and uneven value distribution. Large scale retrofitting activities insulating multiple buildings at once is urgently needed to reach the climate targets but the decision-making of retrofitting in buildings with shared ownership is challenging. Each owner is accountable for his own energy bill (and footprint), giving a limited action scope. This has led to a fragmented response to the energy retrofitting challenge with negligible levels of building energy efficiency improvements conducted by multiple actors. Aggregating the energy design process on a building level would allow more systemic decisions to happen and offer the access to alternative types of funding for owners. “Collect Your Retrofits” intends to design a generic and collective retrofit approach in the challenging context of monumental areas. As there are no standardised approaches to conduct historical building energy retrofits, solutions are tailor-made, making the process expensive and unattractive for owners. The project will develop this approach under real conditions of two communities: a self-organised “woongroep” and a “VvE” in the historic centre of Amsterdam. Retrofit designs will be identified based on energy performance, carbon emissions, comfort and costs so that a prioritisation strategy can be drawn. Instead of each owner investing into their own energy retrofitting, the neighbourhood will invest into the most impactful measures and ensure that the generated economic value is retained locally in order to make further sustainable investments and thus accelerating the transition of the area to a CO2-neutral environment.
It is no wonder that the Academy for Leisure & Events is a key partner within the STEPup project which involves studying, reframing and designing for social entrepreneurship, social innovation and business modelling.The project looks at social entrepreneurship (SE) as the process of applying innovative business models to address social problems (for people and communities) by achieving both profit and purpose. SE creates long-term value and generates sustainable impact for society and the connected ecosystem.The experts of BUas together with the project consortium will be involved in developing, delivering and evaluating training modules for social entrepreneurs, developing a Good Practice catalogue on successful social enterprises in Europe, creating and sustaining a collaborative network based on real-life cases together with academia, social enterprise industry and impact assessment stakeholders.Collaborating partners:FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences (Austria), Cracow University of Economics (Poland), Payap University (Thailand), Burapha University (Thailand), Prince of Songkla University (Thailand), Mahasarakham University (Thailand), University of Mandalay (Myanmar), National Management Degree College (Myanmar), Chiang Mai Social Enterprise Company Ltd (Thailand), Agarwood Farmer Group (Thailand).
Dit project beoogt de toekomst als kompas te gebruiken en te verbinden met handelen in het heden. Een transmediale toolkit wordt hiervoor ontwikkeld die ontwerpgericht toekomstdenken met stakeholders in een maatschappelijk vraagstuk faciliteert. Een vraagstuk waarop de toolkit wordt toegepast in dit project is de energietransitie in de gebouwde omgeving. Doel Doel van dit project is de onderzoeksmethode door te ontwikkelen in een toekomstbestendige, elkaar versterkende online en offline vorm (transmediale toolkit), die stakeholders rondom een maatschappelijk vraagstuk faciliteert om toekomstdenken te gebruiken om tot radicale, breed gedragen innovaties te komen. Relevantie en impact De beroepspraktijk vraagt om methoden die participatie bij wijkgerichte energietransitie koppelen aan andere maatschappelijke opgaven. Er wordt gezocht naar manieren om de energietransitie te verbinden met werken aan een duurzame leefomgeving, ook door bewoners zelf. Er is behoefte om los te komen van het korte termijn denken. De uitdaging daarbij is om mogelijke toekomsten te verbinden met handelen in het heden, zodat we tot radicale vernieuwing komen. Aanpak De meeste methoden voor visievorming extrapoleren lineair het verleden via het heden naar de toekomst. ‘Probing the future’ breekt met die continuïteit door een sprong in de verre toekomst te nemen. Verbeeldingskracht, reframing en speculatief ontwerpen worden ingezet om een spectrum van mogelijke toekomsten voorstelbaar te maken. Resultaten Een hybride (online/offline) toolkit die te gebruiken is in het onderwijs en in organisaties, en in processen waarbij ook non-professionals betrokken worden. De tool wordt intergenerationeel inzetbaar, zodat studenten samen met (non)professionals uit verschillende leeftijdscategorieën van elkaar kunnen leren. Instrumenten in de toolkit richten zich op: Onderzoeken van vroege signalen van verandering met betrekking tot het vraagstuk: Ontwikkelen alternatieve toekomstscenarios; Bouwen van probes: interactieve en ervaarbare visualisaties van toekomstscenario’s die uitnodigen tot dialoog; Analyseren van reacties en inzichten uit de dialoog; Formuleren van praktische experimenten in de nabije toekomst om te ‘prikken in het systeem’. Looptijd 01 december 2020 - 30 november 2021 Relatie onderzoek, praktijk en onderwijs Als strategisch ontwerpdenkers bij de Hogeschool Utrecht (HU) gebruiken we dit toekomstdenken al langer als onderzoeksmethode om complexe vraagstukken samen met overheden, burgers en andere relevante organisaties in beweging te krijgen en in het onderwijs leiden we studenten Communicatie en Multimedia Design erin op. Cofinanciering Het onderzoek wordt gefinancierd door de NWO. Dossiernummer: KIEM.K20.01.037 Meer informatie