The Added Value of Greenery for Sustainable Building: The Perspective from the Netherlands

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Wim Zeiler
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Sustainable Building

Form Follows Experience - Notes on the Functionality of Footbridges

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Schreinemachers ◽  
Wiebe Strick
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Highway Bridge ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Pedestrian Bridges ◽  
The City ◽  
Prime Location ◽  
Natural Way

<p>Should a bridge always be functional and accessible? Should it always fulfil its purpose? This seemingly self- evident question is a key question in footbridge design that is oriented towards creating experiences.</p><p>Footbridges are able to successfully enriches our experience of a certain context or landscape, it cannot be functional all the time, under all environmental conditions, weather and seasons. A good example is the Zalige bridge designed as part of the Room for the River, a large-scale national program for inland flood- protection in the Netherlands. Build upon the floodplains within a newly created river-park by the city of Nijmegen, the Zalige bridge’s curved shape stands in direct relationship to the fluctuating water levels of the river. When water levels rise, the bridge partially submerges, becoming only accessible through steppingstones. At peak heights, the bridge disappears completely, becoming a metaphor for our relationship to the water.</p><p>“Building a bridge that fails to fulfil its sole purpose of containing the water; this can only be pulled off in the Netherlands.” – jury Dutch Design Awards about the Zalige bridge.</p><p>The loss of functionality is directly related to the creation of an experience. When the water levels rose in January 2018, the bridge became the prime location to experience the changing landscape. It shows that engineering a bridge is not solely focussed on the most efficient engineering, but for the purpose it fulfils as for society. For most pedestrian bridges where the perception of the user is on a different level as for a highway bridge, functionality provides more than just cost driven or efficiency driven parameters. It is more related to the added value for the community. When design not solemnly derives from the sheer taste and predilection of the designer but is based on the user’s experience, it generates a durable relation with a feeling of ownership of its users. The key is to create this experience in an elegant and natural way and not forced or dictated. It should be people's own unique discovery and should not be imposed.</p>

scholarly journals An activity analysis of Dutch hospital-based physician assistants and nurse practitioners

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. T. W. J. van den Brink ◽  
A. J. Kouwen ◽  
R. S. Hooker ◽  
H. Vermeulen ◽  
M. G. H. Laurant
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Hospital Management ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Direct Patient Care ◽  
Patient Scheduling ◽  
Dutch Hospital ◽  
Medical Specialties

Abstract Background The physician assistant (PA) and the nurse practitioner (NP) were introduced into The Netherlands in 2001 and 1997 respectively. By the second decade, national policies had accelerated the acceptance and development of these professions. Since 2015, the PA and NP have full practice authority as independent health professionals. The aim of this research was to gain a better understanding of the tasks and responsibilities that are being shifted from Medical Doctors (MD) to PAs and NPs in hospitals. More specifically in what context and visibility are these tasks undertaken by hospital-based PAs and NPs in patient care. This will enable them to communicate their worth to the hospital management. Study design A descriptive, non-experimental research method design was used to collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data about the type of tasks performed by a PA or NP. Fifteen medical departments across four hospitals participated. Methods The patient scheduling system and hospital information system were probed to identify and characterize a wide variety of clinical tasks. The array of tasks was further verified by 108 interviews. All tasks were divided into direct and indirect patient care. Once the tasks were cataloged, then MDs and hospital managers graded the PA- or NP-performed tasks and assessed their contributions to the hospital management system. Findings In total, 2883 tasks were assessed. Overall, PAs and NPs performed a wide variety of clinical and administrative tasks, which differed across hospitals and medical specialties. Data from interviews and the hospital management systems revealed that over a third of the tasks were not properly registered or attributed to the PA or NP. After correction, it was found that the NP and PA spent more than two thirds of their working time on direct patient care. Conclusions NPs and PAs performed a wide variety of clinical tasks, and the consistency of these tasks differed per medical specialty. Despite the fact that a large part of the tasks was not visible due to incorrect administration, the interviews with MDs and managers revealed that the use of an NP or PA was considered to have an added value at the quality of care as well to the production for hospital-based medical care in The Netherlands.

scholarly journals Accelerating geothermal development with a play-based portfolio approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Diederik van Wees ◽  
Hans Veldkamp ◽  
Logan Brunner ◽  
Mark Vrijlandt ◽  
Sander de Jong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
New Information ◽  
Geothermal Potential ◽  
Heat Demand ◽  
Exploration Risk ◽  
Portfolio Approach

Abstract Over the past decade in the Netherlands, most operators have only developed a single doublet. The learning effect from these single events is suboptimal, and operators have only been capable of developing doublets in areas with relatively low exploration risk. This ‘stand-alone’ approach can be significantly improved by a collective approach to derisk regions with similar subsurface characteristics. Such a play-based portfolio approach, which is common in the oil and gas industry, can help to accelerate the development of the geothermal industry through unlocking resource potential in areas marked by high upfront geological risk, effectively helping reduce costs for the development. The basis of the methodology is to deploy new information to the play portfolio by trading off with the risk of the first wells, resulting in a strong geological risk reduction. The added value of the portfolio approach is demonstrated for the Netherlands in this paper through a comparison with a ‘stand-alone’ development. In the stand-alone approach, each new project will be equally risky, and therefore relatively unprofitable. In the case of a portfolio approach, all experience about the play is used optimally for derisking. In case of success, subsequent projects will have a higher chance of being successful, due to the experience gained in previous projects. Even if a project fails, this may help in increasing the probability of success for subsequent projects. For plays that are initially considered too risky for the market to start developing, the value of information (VoI) of a play-based portfolio approach will help by derisking the play to such an extent that it becomes attractive for the market to develop, even at high initial risk. It can be demonstrated for several geothermal plays in the Netherlands that by adopting the portfolio approach, the probability of a play being developed becomes higher, the number of successfully developed projects increases and the average profitability of the project will also be higher. Five more advantages are: (1) continuous improvement by integrated project development, (2) cost reduction through synergy, efficiency and standardisation, (3) optimisation of the surface heat demand and infrastructure, (4) the possibility of structural research and development (R&D) and innovation, and (5) financing advantages. The advantages reinforce each other. A preliminary estimate of the geothermal potential of the Netherlands adopting the portfolio approach is between 90 and 275 Petajoules (PJ). For about 350 doublets being developed, producing about 70 PJ, the value of the advantage of the play-based portfolio approach is €2 billion for the three main plays: Rotliegend, Triassic and Jurassic/Cretaceous. The learning effects of synergy, efficiency and standardisation are expected to be significant.

scholarly journals The role of victims’ lawyers in criminal proceedings in the Netherlands

2020 ◽  
pp. 147737082093185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nieke A Elbers ◽  
Sonja Meijer ◽  
Iris M Becx ◽  
Arlette JJG Schijns ◽  
Arno J Akkermans
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Case File ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Sex Offences ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

The role of the victim in the criminal trial process has evolved considerably in recent decades. On a European level, an important driver has been the EU Directive 2012/29/EU, according to which European countries are legally bound to afford certain rights to crime victims. In the Netherlands, the EU Directive has instigated several extensions of existing victims’ rights, and in the Code of Criminal Procedure a separate section has been devoted to the victim. The current study specifically addresses one of the victims’ rights, that is, the right to be legally represented. The Dutch government has financially invested in access to and specialization of victim lawyers in order to promote the realization of victims’ rights, specifically for victims of serious crimes and sex offences. The goal of the current study was to investigate the added value of victim lawyers and the extent to which they contribute to the fulfilment of victims’ rights in the criminal law process. A literature study was conducted to examine legislation pertaining to victims’ rights; a questionnaire study was conducted to investigate the perspective of victim lawyers ( n = 148); and interviews were conducted to examine the perspective of the police, Victim Support Netherlands, Public Prosecuting Service, and criminal courts ( n = 17). The results show that victim lawyers were important to the realization of victims’ rights. They were considered most necessary with respect to the right to claim compensation and with respect to the right to gain access to the case file. They were also required because victims’ rights have not yet been smoothly incorporated into legal practice. In addition, victim lawyers’ presence in the courtroom was considered important because it contributes to victims experiencing that they are taken seriously. It has been concluded that the support of victim lawyers is an important contribution to victim participation in criminal proceedings.

Incorporating Social Sciences in Public Risk Assessment and Risk Management Organisations

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Wendling
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
United States ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Public Risk ◽  
The Uk

The objective of the article is to analyse the use of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) in public risk assessment and risk management organisations in France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States based on more than a hundred interviews conducted with social sciences experts employed by or working for these organisations. If the added value brought by the integration of social scientists is recognised, the use of social sciences differs from one organisation to another. The article compares the different positions given to social scientists inside and outside the organisation, the various methods used and the different contents produced. The survey highlights a set of initiatives that are scattered, differentiated and ultimately have little in common – except that they often play a marginal role in the main activities of the agencies concerned.

Experimenteren in het re-integratiedomeinGebaseerd op een onderzoek van SEOR, Regioplan en Epsilon. Zie voor verdere details: De Koning et al. (2014).

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaap de Koning ◽  
Luuk Mallee ◽  
Paul de Hek ◽  
Maikel Groenewoud
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Integration Policy ◽  
The People ◽  
Integration Measure ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Practical Recommendations

Experimentation within the field of re-integration This article summarises the results of a recent study aimed at setting up and evaluating randomised experiments in the field of re-integration. Experiments are important, because they can produce reliable estimates of the effect of re-integration on job entry chances. The fact that in the Netherlands so far hardly any re-integration measure has been subjected to an experiment has contributed to the lack of insight in the effectiveness of re-integration policy. It proved to be difficult to find municipalities that are capable of and prepared to implement experiments. Nine such municipalities were found, but partly due to inexperience problems occurred during implementation. In the end six experiments were implemented in a sufficient way, and evaluated. Particularly the two experiments in Rotterdam show that experiments have an added value. These experiments were set up and carried out in such a way that they provide accurate estimates of the effectiveness of the measures involved. The results have been used for policy development in Rotterdam. Furthermore, both local politicians as well as the people involved in managing and implementing re-integration policy have recognised the importance of experiments and think positively of future experiments. However, for most municipalities this is not yet the case. The people politically responsible for re-integration policy and those involved in managing and implementing it have to become aware of the fact that policies have to be evidence-based and that experiments are a crucial tool in acquiring the evidence needed. In many cases people simply believe in the effectiveness of their policies, although the international evaluation literature indicates that this believe is far too optimistic. A further professionalization of the field is much needed. Finally, we make a number of practical recommendations for implementing and evaluating experiments.

Foreign Priests in The Netherlands

Exchange ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-85
Author(s):  
Frans J.S. Wijsen
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Key Informants ◽  
Core Business ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Religious Institutes

In 2012 Gerard Moorman wrote an article in this journal about foreign members of Roman Catholic religious institutes working in The Netherlands. This article is a follow-up, going in-depth. Its aim is to explore an uneasiness in the relation between foreign priests and Dutch Catholics, and what should and could be done about it. The sources that are used are key informants and policy documents of international religious institutes, analysing them using open and selective coding, and reflecting upon them from the perspectives of the Second Vatican Council notion of mutual missionary assistance of churches and of external and internal outsourcing in international businesses. The author concludes that the reversed mission of foreign missionaries is contested both within and inside religious institutes; that what is seen as added value depends on the perspective that one takes; and that foreign missionaries do not engage in what is usually seen as core business of missionary institutes, the missio ad gentes or primary evangelization.

scholarly journals The implementation of the coaching on lifestyle (CooL) intervention: lessons learnt

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste van Rinsum ◽  
Sanne Gerards ◽  
Geert Rutten ◽  
Madelon Johannesma ◽  
Ien van de Goor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Multiple Regions ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Combined lifestyle interventions (CLIs) are designed to help people who are overweight or obese maintain a healthy new lifestyle. The CooL intervention is a CLI in the Netherlands, in which lifestyle coaches counsel adults and children (and/or their parents) who are obese or at high risk of obesity to achieve a sustained healthier lifestyle. The intervention consists of coaching on lifestyle in group and individual sessions, addressing the topics of physical activity, dietary behaviours, sleep, stress management and behavioural change. The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation process of the Coaching on Lifestyle (CooL) intervention and its facilitating and impeding factors. Methods Mixed methods were used in this action-oriented study. Both quantitative (number of referrals, attendance lists of participants and questionnaires) and qualitative (group and individual interviews, observations, minutes and open questions) data were collected among participants, lifestyle coaches, project group members and other stakeholders. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research was used to analyse the data. Results CooL was evaluated by stakeholders and participants as an accessible and useful programme, because of its design and content and the lifestyle coaches’ approach. However, stakeholders indicated that the lifestyle coaches need to become more familiar in the health care network and public sectors in the Netherlands. Lifestyle coaching is a novel profession and the added value of the lifestyle coach is not always acknowledged by all health care providers. Lifestyle coaches play a crucial role in ensuring the impact of CooL by actively networking, using clear communication materials and creating stakeholders’ support and understanding. Conclusion The implementation process needs to be strengthened in terms of creating support for and providing clear information about lifestyle coaching. The CooL intervention was implemented in multiple regions, thanks to the efforts of many stakeholders. Lifestyle coaches should engage in networking activities and entrepreneurship to boost the implementation process. It takes considerable time for a lifestyle coach to become fully incorporated in primary care. Trial registration NTR6208; date registered: 13–01-2017; retrospectively registered; Netherlands Trial Register.

Concurrence between Complaints Procedures in the Dutch Healthcare System

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.J.M. Frederiks ◽  
F.Y. Alhafaji ◽  
J. Legemaate
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Legal Implications

AbstractThere are various ways in which complaints about healthcare providers’ performance can be handled in the Netherlands. In practice, situations occur relatively frequently in which one and the same treatment by a provider results in various different complaints procedures being instigated or, in other words, in concurrence between complaints procedures. Dutch periodicals published information on a total of 42 cases of concurrence between 1997 and 2007. Concurrence between complaints procedures prompts a series of questions about how it arises, its legal implications, the possible consequences for those involved and whether it has any added value. This article examines these various issues.

Enhanced capability to monitor drought using citizen weather stations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Garcia-Marti ◽  
Marijn de Haij ◽  
Hidde Leijnse ◽  
Jan Willem Noteboom ◽  
Aart Overeem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Daily Rainfall ◽  
Rainfall Data ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Weather Observations ◽  
Drought Conditions ◽  
Weather Stations

&lt;div&gt; &lt;div&gt; &lt;p&gt;Recent studies indicate that global warming changes the global hydrological cycle and may trigger drought or expand and deepen existing drought conditions at our planet. During the summer of 2018 the Netherlands experienced extreme drought conditions, matching the previous drought record from 1976. This climatic extreme has been monitored using a cumulative metric based on the difference between (potential) evaporation and precipitation. In an effort to provide exhaustive drought monitoring facilities, the Netherlands Meteorological Service (KNMI) developed a drought monitor based on the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) using 40 years of daily rainfall (1971-2010) from our official network of rain gauges for calibration. The daily SPI maps help decision makers to assess the status of meteorological drought in the Netherlands, thus enabling preventive measures mitigating its negative impacts on different socio-economic sectors.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div&gt; &lt;p&gt;In the past two decades our global society has witnessed the advent of new technological and scientific advances that have reshaped the way we collect weather observations. Increasing numbers of citizens are joining the effort of monitoring the weather by installing citizen weather stations (CWS) in private spaces (e.g., home, schools), thus conforming novel sources of weather data. In 2015, the KNMI joined as a partner the Weather Observations Website (WOW) consortium, a citizen science initiative promoted by the UK Met Office bringing together weather enthusiasts all around the world. WOW-NL CWS have collected 100+ million observations between 2015-2019. However, it is still unclear how to use this remarkable volume of observations, or what is the added value (e.g., economic, operational, research) they provide with respect to the official network.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div&gt; &lt;p&gt;In this ongoing work, we combined the newly developed SPI drought monitor with WOW observations from the Netherlands to obtain an &amp;#8216;SPI-WOW&amp;#8217; indicator. Our goal is threefold: 1) illustrating how to turn WOW-NL data into operational value; 2) assessing the possibility of providing higher resolution drought maps including WOW-NL rainfall data; 3) enable the possibility for underrepresented regions to obtain (relevant) local drought metrics.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div&gt; &lt;p&gt;We extracted 12 million precipitation observations for 2019 and, for each day of the year, we computed the daily rainfall accumulations for the previous 30 days (i.e., SPI-1). Note that the precipitation observations are not quality-controlled (QC). The calibrated model is tested with these newly created rainfall accumulations to obtain the SPI-WOW values. Our preliminary results compare the official vs alternative values of SPI at the location of each WOW-NL CWS. For each month we observe a moderate positive correlation, and there are CWS in the network capable of providing measurements close to the official ones. Further work to achieve the above-mentioned goal should include a) the application of a QC to the rainfall data to remove the outliers beforehand; b) thoroughly comparing the values of both networks in space and time across different scenarios; c) identifying the WOW-NL stations providing the best SPI metrics and its characteristics; d) assess the inclusion of radar data for the hi-res maps.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;

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