The Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) Challenge simulation platform helps planners and stakeholders understand and manage the complexity of MSP. In the interactive simulation, different data layers covering an entire sea region can be viewed to make an assessment of the current status. Users can create scenarios for future uses of the marine space over a period of several decades. Changes in energy infrastructure, shipping, and the marine environment are then simulated, and the effects are visualized using indicators and heat maps. The platform is built with advanced game technology and uses aspects of role-play to create interactive sessions; it can thus be referred to as serious gaming. To calculate and visualize the effects of planning decisions on the marine ecology, we integrated the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) food web modeling approach into the platform. We demonstrate how EwE was connected to MSP, considering the range of constraints imposed by running scientific software in interactive serious gaming sessions while still providing cascading ecological feedback in response to planning actions. We explored the connection by adapting two published ecological models for use in MSP sessions. We conclude with lessons learned and identify future developments of the simulation platform.
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Digitalization is gaining increasing attention in Higher Education (HE). The integrationof digital tools into instructional settings is particularly challenging, However, it offers manyopportunities to improve the learning process of students, especially in interdisciplinary teachingscenarios such as teaching sustainable usage of space and resources i.e. for the coastal zones and themarine areas. Worldwide, Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management(ICZM) are much needed approaches to manage and organize the increasing use of the sea andcoastal areas. Both are complex fields that are attracting more and more attention in interdisciplinaryHE. Correspondingly designed, the module ‘Planning and Management of Coastal Zones and SeaBasins’ at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, provides a case for integrating digital tools intoHE. In 2020, the digital serious game ‘MSP Challenge´ was used in an online learning format. Thisinteractive and collaborative tool supports informed decision making based on real and simulateddata, comparable to business (decision) processes based on environmental information systems(EIS). Therefore, the MSP Challenge game fosters not only the understanding of the complex topicbut additionally methodological skills which can be transferred to the usage EIS. While playing,students become able to (1) evaluate and simulate impacts of uses on coastal and marineenvironments, (2) describe the main interactions in ecosystems, (3) conceptualize information forsectoral or integrated MSP and (4) reflect on the role and use of data. In the presented case masterstudents studying “Water and Coastal Management” participated in the module. Moreover, thedigital serious game and the interdisciplinary topics of MSP and ICZM provides additionalopportunities to explore subtopics (e.g. IT-related) from other disciplinary perspectives.
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This paper explores the impact of the physical and social dimensions of the work environment on satisfaction and perceived productivity of knowledge workers in Dutch universities of applied sciences. The approach took the form of a literature review, multiple case study of six research centres using interviews and logbook analysis, and web-based survey (N = 188). Optimally facilitating knowledge production requires both space for concentration (to support internalisation of knowledge) and space for interaction (to support externalisation of knowledge). None of the work environments involved in the study adequately supported all the phases of knowledge development adequately. Cellular offices with personal desks are preferred for solo work and, whereas new workplace designs with a focus on the office as a meeting place support interaction and collaboration. Spatial layout and interaction have a stronger impact than comfort and absence of distraction. The spatial layout should support both in-depth concentration and communication, fit the internalisation/externalisation ratio of activities, and accommodate the proximity essential for collaborative knowledge development. Being able to choose is the key to success. In terms of research limitations, knowledge workers’ productivity was measured by self-assessment, but only a limited number of diaries were collected. The lessons learned can be used as inputs to decision-making processes regarding the design, implementation and management of working environments in higher education settings. Few studies have been conducted concerning the spatial preferences and needs of knowledge workers in universities of applied sciences. The results show that the physical dimension (comfort and layout) is more important for collective productivity, whereas individual productivity is more strongly influenced by the social dimension (interaction and distraction).
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Due to societal developments, like the introduction of the ‘civil society’, policy stimulating longer living at home and the separation of housing and care, the housing situation of older citizens is a relevant and pressing issue for housing-, governance- and care organizations. The current situation of living with care already benefits from technological advancement. The wide application of technology especially in care homes brings the emergence of a new source of information that becomes invaluable in order to understand how the smart urban environment affects the health of older people. The goal of this proposal is to develop an approach for designing smart neighborhoods, in order to assist and engage older adults living there. This approach will be applied to a neighborhood in Aalst-Waalre which will be developed into a living lab. The research will involve: (1) Insight into social-spatial factors underlying a smart neighborhood; (2) Identifying governance and organizational context; (3) Identifying needs and preferences of the (future) inhabitant; (4) Matching needs & preferences to potential socio-techno-spatial solutions. A mixed methods approach fusing quantitative and qualitative methods towards understanding the impacts of smart environment will be investigated. After 12 months, employing several concepts of urban computing, such as pattern recognition and predictive modelling , using the focus groups from the different organizations as well as primary end-users, and exploring how physiological data can be embedded in data-driven strategies for the enhancement of active ageing in this neighborhood will result in design solutions and strategies for a more care-friendly neighborhood.
