As in many large European Cities, Amsterdam is confronted with a large housing boom, partially fuelled by shortcomings in (affordable) housing development. Simultaneously, there is a persistent need to improve neighbourhoods with a weak socioeconomic status. The municipal government aims to both, develop major housing schemes and designate redevelopment areas. In 2017, Amsterdam presented a new urban renewal program for 32 designated deprived neighbourhoods in three boroughs. The program sets out physical housing ambitions, but also intends to anticipate and integrally address social, economic and ecological challenges. To ensure the developments are inclusive, the active involvement of local communities in the decision making process is central part of the new policy. However, a large body of planning literature emphasizes the tendency of large redevelopment processes to become exclusive rather than inclusive. To avoid these pitfalls, new spatial and programmatic governance arrangements may need to be developed. In close collaboration with the municipality and local communities, we conduct empirical action-research on Amsterdam’s urban regeneration program to develop and test promising solutions with practice. The paper analyses the planning process as it evolves. Based on framing theory, we structure and analyse the expected governance barriers hindering the inclusivity during the course of the planning process. The insights gathered regarding inclusivity provide critical input in the conceptualisation of new more forceful inclusive spatial planning strategies. In conclusion, a variety of spatial and programmatic governance arrangements are presented to reinforce the inclusivity of planning processes for a sustained impact of large-scale urban renewal programs.
A decade ago many gushed at the possibilities of 3D printers and other DIY tech. Today makers are increasingly shaking off their initial blind enthusiasm to numerically control everything, rediscovering an interest in sociocultural histories and futures and waking up to the environmental and economic implications of digital machines that transform materials. An accumulation of critique has collectively registered that no tool, service, or software is good, bad, or neutral—or even free for that matter. We’ve arrived at a crossroads, where a reflective pause coincides with new critical initiatives emerging across disciplines.What was making? What is making? What could making become? And what about unmaking? The Critical Makers Reader features an array of practitioners and scholars who address these questions. Together, they tackle issues of technological making and its intersections with (un)learning, art and design, institutionalization, social critique, community organizing, collaboration, activism, urban regeneration, social inequality, and the environmental crisis.
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At the age of a failing economic system and undeniable evidence of the effects humankind has had over the planet, it is necessary to look for alternatives to the way we live locally. This article explores the use of designing narratives and metanarratives to co-create imaginaries serving as the needed alternatives. This research starts by considering the historical factors to understand how industrialisation and the loss of traditional practices created a culture of disconnection from Nature in the Girona area, but also looks at why people start now reconnecting with it. The analysis is the foundation for speculative design practices to co-create a new local narrative of connection and regeneration. The project adopted the Integrative Worldviews Framework and used paradoxes to create possible future worldviews based on historical factors and literature. Citizens participated in conversational future-visioning workshops to develop and evaluate their local imagery of the previously created worldviews. This conversation-based exercise evidenced the potential of paradoxes in destructive futures to create imaginaries of regeneration. These imaginaries merge and form future stories. From the future narratives, the practice created cultural artefacts embodying a new culture of connection based on storytelling, traditional jobs, and a mythological understanding of Nature. Finally, as observed at the end of the project, these artefacts allow citizens to adopt them as their culture and expand their current worldview.
Paper sludge contains papermaking mineral additives and fibers, which could be reused or recycled, thus enhancing the circularity. One of the promising technologies is the fast pyrolysis of paper sludge, which is capable of recovering > 99 wt.% of the fine minerals in the paper sludge and also affording a bio-liquid. The fine minerals (e.g., ‘circular’ CaCO3) can be reused as filler in consumer products thereby reducing the required primary resources. However, the bio-liquid has a lower quality compared to fossil fuels, and only a limited application, e.g., for heat generation, has been applied. This could be significantly improved by catalytic upgrading of the fast pyrolysis vapor, known as an ex-situ catalytic pyrolysis approach. We have recently found that a high-quality bio-oil (mainly ‘bio-based’ paraffins and low-molecular-weight aromatics, carbon yield of 21%, and HHV of 41.1 MJ kg-1) was produced (Chem. Eng. J., 420 (2021), 129714). Nevertheless, catalyst deactivation occurred after a few hours’ of reaction. As such, catalyst stability and regenerability are of research interest and also of high relevance for industrial implementation. This project aims to study the potential of the add-on catalytic upgrading step to the industrial fast pyrolysis of paper sludge process. One important performance metric for sustainable catalysis in the industry is the level of catalyst consumption (kgcat tprod-1) for catalytic pyrolysis of paper sludge. Another important research topic is to establish the correlation between yield and selectivity of the bio-chemicals and the catalyst characteristics. For this, different types of catalysts (e.g., FCC-type E-Cat) will be tested and several reaction-regeneration cycles will be performed. These studies will determine under which conditions catalytic fast pyrolysis of paper sludge is technically and economically viable.
Artificial grass is much more durable and easily maintained than natural grass and therefore finds use in a wide range of applications. The artificial grass system consists of various components which are currently predominantly made of non-biodegradable plastics derived from fossil fuels. Consequently, it has a large environmental impact and is a significant contributor to the world’s (micro)plastic problem. Simultaneously, the world is suffering from a textile waste problem. In the EU only, 12.6 million tons of textile waste is produced annually. Most of this post-consumer textile waste ends up in landfills or incinerators. Striving for a circular economy, new regulations like the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) define goals for the collection and recycling of this textile waste. A dominant textile-waste stream is cotton, which consists of the biodegradable biopolymer cellulose. Cotton can be eco-friendly chemically recycled into regenerated cellulose fibres using the lyocell wet-spin process. The ReCeWTAG proposal will explore regenerating cellulose pulp from textile waste into natural artificial grass-like fibres. Currently cellulosic fibres do not have the same properties as synthetic fibres. This applied project will explore how regenerated cellulose grass fibres can be produced with the properties required by varying parameters on Saxion’s recently installed wet-spinning line. SaXcell BV will supply cellulose pulp generated from various cotton-containing textile waste-streams. TenCate Thiolon BV will advise on the required properties. bAwear will assess the environmental impact benefits. The aim is to follow-up this project to replace all synthetic components in artificial grass with cellulose creating a circular system as well as expanding the concept to other technical textiles. It will also assess waste streams like agricultural residues for cellulose regeneration, supporting the circular economy by reducing microplastics, waste and environmental impact.
"Regenerative Renaissance" (RR) embarks on an innovative journey to reshape the Fashion and Textile Industry's (FTI) societal and environmental influence. This project, led by University of Groningen (UG) in partnership with fashion designer Joline Jolink (JJ) and local farm Boerderij Gagel: Lente Land (LL) aims to transform Joline’s business into a leading regenerative small-medium enterprise (SME), establishing new norms for social and net positive circularity in the Dutch FTI. It probes how the FTI can progress from sustainability (net zero) to regeneration (net positive), focusing on fostering a symbiotic bond between fashion/textile production and land regeneration, connecting textiles and people with the land. This vision transcends traditional sustainability, seeking to actively enhance environmental restoration, biodiversity and creating multiple values. It entails a transformation of the fashion business model (BM), embedding regenerative practices into all aspects of running a fashion business and strengthening the ties between humans and nature. RR strives to reduce the fashion industry's environmental impact while enriching ecosystems and communities. The project involves collaborating with local communities and stakeholders to co-create initiatives like community farming, educational workshops, creating alternative products and a clothing line that reflects regeneration principles in its making and storytelling. The ultimate goal is to develop a replicable regenerative BM for the FTI, redefining the interaction between fashion, society, and the environment, and prompting a balanced shift towards a sustainable, ecologically harmonious future.
