Modern day challenges of water resource management involve difficult decision-making in the face of increasing complexity and uncertainty. However, even if all decision-makers possessed perfect knowledge, water management decisions ultimately involve competing values, which will only get more prominent with increasing scarcity and competition over resources. Therefore, an important normative goal for water management is long-term cooperation between stakeholders. According to the principles of integrated water resource management (IWRM), this necessitates that managerial decisions support social equity and intergenerational equity (social equity that spans generations). The purpose of this discussion is to formulate preliminary recommendations for the design of serious games (SGs), a potential learning tool that may give rise to shared values and engage stakeholders with conflicting interests to cooperate towards a common goal. Specifically, this discussion explores whether SGs could promote values that transcend self-interest (transcendental values), based on the contributions of social psychology. The discussion is organized in the following way. First, an introduction is provided as to why understanding values from psychological perspectives is both important for water management and a potential avenue for learning in SGs. Second, a review of the description of values and mechanisms of value change from the field of social psychology is presented. This review highlights key psychological constraints to learning or applying values. Based on this review, recommendations are made for SGs designers to considerwhen developing games forwatermanagement, in order to promote transcendental values. Overall, the main conclusions from exploring the potential of value change for IWRMthrough SGs design are as follows: 1-SGs design needs to consider how all values change systematically; 2-SGs design should incorporate the many value conflicts that are faced in real life water management, 3-SGs could potentially promote learning by having players reflect on the reasoning behind value priorities across water management situations, and 4-value change ought to be tested in an iterative SGs design process using the Schwartz's Value Survey (SVS) (or something akin to it).
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Today, Dutch National Non-profit Sports Organizations (NNSFs) experience financial pressures. Two indications for this are described in this paper i.e. increased competition in the sports sector and changes in subsidy division. Decreasing incomes from subsidies can be compensated with either increasing incomes from a commercial domain or increasing incomes from member contributions. This last solution has been the motive for the increasing interest in the use of marketing techniques as a solution for the growing uncertainties. Many NNSFs have participated in a special marketing program in order to enlarge their marketing awareness and create a marketing strategy. This paper deals with possible impediments resulting from the implementation of the marketing strategies. It is primarily based on a literature review, however, the first results from a qualitative research to the increasing use of marketing techniques among NNSFs provides insights in the experienced impediments of NNSFs .
The scope of technology has expanded towards areas such as sports and vitality, offering significant challenges for engineering designers. However, only little is known about the underlying design and engineering processes used within these fields. Therefore, this paper aims to get an indepth understanding of these type of processes. During a three-day design competition (Hackathon), three groups of engineers were challenged to develop experience-able prototypes in the field of sports and vitality. Their process was monitored based on the Reflective Transformative Design process (RTD-process) framework, describing the various activities part of the design process. Groups had to keep track of their activities, and six group reflection-sessions were held. Results show that all groups used an open and explorative approach, they frequently swapped between activities, making them able to reflect on their actions. While spending more time on envisioning and creating a clear vision seem to relate to the quality of the design concept.
Green Amsterdam Logistics Area lab (GALA-lab) De Metropoolregio Amsterdam heeft een forse uitdaging op bereikbaarheid en leefbaarheid. Goederenstromen, volumineus en ‘fijnmazig’, moeten naar/door/uit de dichtbevolkte regio. Ook personenstromen nemen toe (forensen, toeristen). Behoefte aan extra woningen, bedrijven en kantoren zorgen voor grote druk op schaarse ruimte en leefbaarheid. GALA-lab beoogt een DLL in twee gebieden, Haven/West-as/Stad en RAI/Zuid-as/Schiphol. Het doel is dmv data meer grip te krijgen op goederen- en personenstromen en via het ontwikkelen van éen of meerdere control tower(s) goederen- en personenstromen integraal te beheersen. Bovendien wordt beoogd transportstromen ‘groener’ te maken, dmv bijvoorbeeld waterstof en elektrisch vervoer.
Het doel van het project is om inzicht te krijgen in praktische en commerciële haalbaarheid rondom de Aquabooster van het bedrijf Wabbi dat eigendom is van studentondernemer Faik Durmus. Het onderzoek waaruit de Aquabooster is ontstaan is gedaan door studenten van de opleiding Biologie en Medisch Laboratoriumonderzoek aan de Saxion Hogeschool. Daarmee borduurt dit project voort op praktijkgericht onderzoek vanuit een kennisinstelling. De Aquabooster is het enige product van het bedrijf Wabbi. De Aquabooster reinigt herbruikbare flessen (zoals de Dopper®) van consumenten met als doel de levensduur te verlengen en de afvalberg te verlagen. Hiermee hoopt Wabbi bij te dragen aan SDG12: ‘Responsible consumption and production’. De belangrijkste projectactiviteiten om het doel te realiseren omvatten: a. Het bouwen van meerdere prototypes; b. Validatie van de prototypes in relevante fieldlabs teneinde feedback uit de markt te krijgen; c. Onderzoek naar Intellectueel Eigendom; d. Schrijven van een businessplan. Deze activiteiten moeten er toe leiden dat er een beeld ontstaat over de potentie van Wabbi met haar Aquabooster. Het project duurt 9 maanden en het budget bedraagt conform begroting €40.000. De projectpartners zijn: Wabbi, Het Saxion Centrum voor Ondernemerschap (penvoerder), de lectoraten Mechatronica en Industrial Design en een partner ten aanzien van het onderzoek naar Intellectueel Eigendom (wordt nog gezocht). Aanvullend worden studenten ingezet om feedback uit de markt te krijgen en deelsystemen te ontwikkelen.
Circular agriculture is an excellent principle, but much work needs to be done before it can become common practice in the equine sector. In the Netherlands, diversification in this sector is growing, and the professional equine field is facing increasing pressure to demonstrate environmentally sound horse feeding management practices and horse owners are becoming more aware of the need to manage their horses and the land on which they live in a sustainable manner. Horses should be provided with a predominantly fibre-based diet in order to mimic their natural feeding pattern, however grazing impacts pasture differently, with a risk of overgrazing and soil erosion in equine pastures. Additionally, most horses receive supplements not only with concentrates and oils, but also with minerals. Though the excess minerals are excreted in the manure of horses, these minerals can accumulate in the soil or leach to nearby waterways and pollute water resources. Therefore, the postdoc research aims to answer the main question, “What horse feeding practices and measurements are needed to reduce and prevent environmental pollution in the Netherlands?” The postdoc research is composed of two components; a broad survey-based study which will generate quantitative data on horse feeding management and will also obtain qualitative data on the owners’ engagement or willingness of horse owners to act sustainably. Secondly, a field study will involve the collection of detailed data via visits to horse stables in order to gather data for nutritional analysis and to collect fecal samples for mineral analysis. Students, lecturers and partners will actively participate in all phases of the planned research. This postdoc research facilitates learning and intends to develop a footprint calculator for sustainable horse feeding to encompass the complexity of the equine sector, and to improve the Equine Sports and Business curriculum.
