Limited evidence is available about (non)-representativeness of participants in health-promoting interventions. The Dutch Healthy Primary School of the Future (HPSF)-study is a school-based study aiming to improve health through altering physical activity and dietary behaviour, that started in 2015 (registered in ClinicalTrials.gov on14-06-2016, NCT02800616). The study has a response rate of 60%. A comprehensive non-responder analysis was carried out, and responders were compared with schoolchildren from the region and the Netherlands using a cross-sectional design. External sources were consulted to collect non-responder, regional, and national data regarding relevant characteristics including sex, demographics, health, and lifestyle. The Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, or Student's t-test were used to analyse differences.
Triggered by recent flood catastrophes and increasing concerns about climate change, scientists as well as policy-makers increasingly call for making long-term water policies to enable a transformation towards flood resilience. A key question is how to make these long-term policies adaptive so that they are able to deal with uncertainties and changing circumstances. The paper proposes three conditions for making long-term water policies adaptive, which are then used to evaluate a new Dutch water policy approach called 'Adaptive Delta Management'. Analysing this national policy approach and its translation to the Rotterdam region reveals that Dutch policy-makers are torn between adaptability and the urge to control. Reflecting on this dilemma, the paper suggests a stronger focus on monitoring and learning to strengthen the adaptability of long-term water policies. Moreover, increasing the adaptive capacity of society also requires a stronger engagement with local stakeholders including citizens and businesses.
This CIENS-report sums up the main findings from the project “Cultural heritage and water management in urban planning” (Urban WATCH), financed by the Research Council of Norway through the MILJØ2015 programme, and cofunded by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage in Norway (Riksantikvaren) and the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU). The project started up in 2012 and ended in 2015.
