scholarly journals Dutch Delta Resiliency by Societal Learning Introducing the Intertwined Process of Daily Practice and Theory Development

Author(s):  
Fred Sanders

The Wester coastal Delta zone of the Netherlands is the relatively more crowded area of the country where ten of the seventeen million people live. The governmental prognosis is that this number of people will increase steadily in the coming decennia, unless the threat of climate-change seawater level rising. This is the picture in more Delta zones globally what makes the topic of resiliency for these delta-areas of importance. Approaches of resiliency are often dominated by governmental rescue planning and believe in technology solutions, while in the process the behaviour of people can make the difference in overcoming climate-change impact disasters. In the struggle against high water storming and flooding, the Dutch people prove this by developing societal resilient behaviour in a broad spectrum of activities. Post-PhD research on Dutch resilient behaviour in the in 1016-flooded Zaanstreek-Waterland area near the city of Amsterdam confirms that. Recently research by questionnaire among citizens in this region shows that people have favour for shared responsibility with government and related professional organizations. The Dutch examples of societal resiliency carried by people also show a action-learning perspective intertwined with governmental contingency planning. Therewith the Dutch practice shows a positive cross-fertilization of practice and knowledge development.

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-115
Author(s):  
Amin Wibowo

Knowledge is created and learned by academicians for the purpose of further theory development. Academician’role in disseminating knowldege is very important. To reach a convergent understanding both theory and practice, it’s a need of flexibility between methodology and sources of data so that it stimulates actionable insight.One of the problems between theory and practice differencesis customers focus.For practicians customer focus raised three foundamentals questions: can the knowledge phylosophy reduce cost?. Can the knowledge phylosophy increse sales?, and can the knowledge phylosophy increase the profit?. This paper discuss the development of marketing knowledge based on the marketing practice to bridge the gap between academicians and practicians. Issues being discussed in this paper are the meaning of marketing knowledge from practician perspective, the theory of marketing in practician’s world, actionable research as the bridge of knowledge development, and the difference perspective between academician and parctician.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Boyers ◽  
Francesca Parrini ◽  
Norman Owen-Smith ◽  
Barend F. N. Erasmus ◽  
Robyn S. Hetem

AbstractSouthern Africa is expected to experience increased frequency and intensity of droughts through climate change, which will adversely affect mammalian herbivores. Using bio-loggers, we tested the expectation that wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), a grazer with high water-dependence, would be more sensitive to drought conditions than the arid-adapted gemsbok (Oryx gazella gazella). The study, conducted in the Kalahari, encompassed two hot-dry seasons with similar ambient temperatures but differing rainfall patterns during the preceding wet season. In the drier year both ungulates selected similar cooler microclimates, but wildebeest travelled larger distances than gemsbok, presumably in search of water. Body temperatures in both species reached lower daily minimums and higher daily maximums in the drier season but daily fluctuations were wider in wildebeest than in gemsbok. Lower daily minimum body temperatures displayed by wildebeest suggest that wildebeest were under greater nutritional stress than gemsbok. Moving large distances when water is scarce may have compromised the energy balance of the water dependent wildebeest, a trade-off likely to be exacerbated with future climate change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6914
Author(s):  
Frikkie Alberts Maré ◽  
Henry Jordaan

The high water intake and wastewater discharge of slaughterhouses have been a concern for many years. One neglected factor in previous research is allocating the water footprint (WF) to beef production’s different products and by-products. The objective of this article was to estimate the WF of different cattle breeds at a slaughterhouse and cutting plant and allocate it according to the different cuts (products) and by-products of beef based on the value fraction of each. The results indicated a negative relationship between the carcass weight and the processing WF when the different breeds were compared. Regarding a specific cut of beef, a kilogram of rib eye from the heaviest breed had a processing WF of 614.57 L/kg, compared to the 919.91 L/kg for the rib eye of the lightest breed. A comparison of the different cuts indicated that high-value cuts had higher WFs than low-value cuts. The difference between a kilogram of rib eye and flank was 426.26 L/kg for the heaviest breed and 637.86 L/kg for the lightest breed. An option to reduce the processing WF of beef is to lessen the WF by slaughtering heavier animals. This will require no extra investment from the slaughterhouse. At the same time, the returns should increase as the average production inputs per kilogram of output (carcass) should reduce, as the slaughterhouse will process more kilograms.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146879762199293
Author(s):  
Michelle Duffy ◽  
Judith Mair

In their editorial for the first issue of Tourist Studies, Adrian Franklin and Mike Crang made us aware that tourism research had shifted to an exploration of the extraordinary everyday where ‘more or less everyone now lives in a world rendered or reconfigured as interesting, entertaining and attractive – for tourists’. From our standpoint 20 years later, we suggest this particular departure point has important insights to offer our understanding of a quintessential tourism event, that of the festival, which now intervenes in daily life in all manner of ways. In this commentary, we present a reflective commentary on recent scholarship that advocates for more rigour in festival studies, with greater theory development and testing within the festival context, and how this work is suggestive of future directions for festival research. We present several areas that are ripe for further research, particularly given the tumultuous nature of the world we are living in, such as the challenges of climate change and how we might socialise in a post-Covid world. Much has changed in the 20 years since the inception of Tourist Studies, but festivals remain resilient – they will re-emerge in future, perhaps not unscathed but with a renewed sense of purpose.


Eos ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 69 (25) ◽  
pp. 668
Author(s):  
S.I. Rasool

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3614
Author(s):  
Zeyad Amin Al-Absi ◽  
Mohd Isa Mohd Hafizal ◽  
Mazran Ismail ◽  
Azhar Ghazali

Building sector is associated with high energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change. Sustainable development emphasizes any actions to reduce climate change and its effect. In Malaysia, half of the energy utilized in buildings goes towards building cooling. Thermal comfort studies and adaptive thermal comfort models reflect the high comfort temperatures for Malaysians in naturally conditioned buildings, which make it possible to tackle the difference between buildings’ indoor temperature and the required comfort temperature by using proper passive measures. This study investigates the effectiveness of building’s retrofitting with phase change materials (PCMs) as a passive cooling technology to improve the indoor thermal environment for more comfortable conditions. PCM sheets were numerically investigated below the internal finishing of the walls. The investigation involved an optimization study for the PCMs transition temperatures and quantities. The results showed significant improvement in the indoor thermal environment, especially when using lower transition temperatures and higher quantities of PCMs. Therefore, the monthly thermal discomfort time has decreased completely, while the thermal comfort time has increased to as high as 98%. The PCM was effective year-round and the optimum performance for the investigated conditions was achieved when using 18mm layer of PCM27-26.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Wadii Snaibi

AbstractThe high plateaus of eastern Morocco are already suffering from the adverse impacts of climate change (CC), as the local populations’ livelihoods depend mainly on extensive sheep farming and therefore on natural resources. This research identifies breeders’ perceptions about CC, examines whether they correspond to the recorded climate data and analyses endogenous adaptation practices taking into account the agroecological characteristics of the studied sites and the difference between breeders’ categories based on the size of owned sheep herd. Data on perceptions and adaptation were analyzed using the Chi-square independence and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Climate data were investigated through Mann-Kendall, Pettitt and Buishand tests.Herders’ perceptions are in line with the climate analysis in term of nature and direction of observed climate variations (downward trend in rainfall and upward in temperature). In addition, there is a significant difference in the adoption frequency of adaptive strategies between the studied agroecological sub-zones (χ2 = 14.525, p <.05) due to their contrasting biophysical and socioeconomic conditions, as well as among breeders’ categories (χ2 = 10.568, p < .05) which attributed mainly to the size of sheep flock. Policy options aimed to enhance local-level adaptation should formulate site-specific adaptation programs and prioritise the small-scale herders.


2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-117
Author(s):  
Shinichi Furuya ◽  
Hidehiro Nakahara ◽  
Tomoko Aoki ◽  
Hiroshi Kinoshita

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) among Japanese female classical pianists of different age groups. The causal factors for PRMDs also were examined. A group of 203 senior pianists, including piano teachers and students with piano majors at high schools and colleges, were surveyed using questionnaires. Results showed that 77% of these pianists suffered from PRMDs in at least one of their body portions. This value was larger than those reported in Western countries. Forty-four percent of these were serious enough to warrant medical treatment, which was a lower rate than reported in Western countries. The difference in these numbers may reflect the current state of understanding of PRMDs among Japanese pianists and their educators. The prevalence of PRMDs was found to be age-dependent. In the student groups, the finger/hand had the highest rate of PRMDs, followed by the forearm and shoulder. The senior group, on the other hand, had the highest PRMD incidence at the neck/trunk, followed by the forearm and hand/finger. Care may need to be exercised for these differences. The results also indicated that prolonged daily practice (>4 hours), playing chords forcefully, eagerness about practice, and nervous traits were found to contribute to the development of PRMDs in these pianists. Hand size was, on the other hand, not a significant risk factor of PRMDs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gryniuk ◽  
Dirk Kestner ◽  
Luke Lombardi ◽  
Megan Stringer ◽  
Mark Webster ◽  
...  

<p>Achieving reductions to embodied carbon, the global warming potential emissions due to the production of materials, is an essential component to meeting science-based climate targets. Studies have shown that a significant portion of embodied emissions within the built environment are due to structural materials. However, many structural engineers are, not only uneducated in the concept of embodied carbon, but also not aware of the role their decisions can make in addressing climate change. This is further exacerbated by a profession that does not have sufficient structural system embodied carbon benchmark information to make important and informed early design decisions. This required the collaborative development of a structural engineering commitment program, SE 2050, that is supported by leading professional organizations to spur the education and transformation of the profession.</p>


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1668 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Zabalza-Martínez ◽  
S. Vicente-Serrano ◽  
J. López-Moreno ◽  
G. Borràs Calvo ◽  
R. Savé ◽  
...  

This paper evaluates the response of streamflow in a Mediterranean medium-scaled basin under land-use and climate change scenarios and its plausible implication on the management of Boadella–Darnius reservoir (NE Spain). Land cover and climate change scenarios supposed over the next several decades were used to simulate reservoir inflow using the Regional Hydro-Ecologic Simulation System (RHESsys) and to analyze the future impacts on water management (2021–2050). Results reveal a clear decrease in dam inflow (−34%) since the dam was operational from 1971 to 2013. The simulations obtained with RHESsys show a similar decrease (−31%) from 2021 to 2050. Considering the ecological minimum flow outlined by water authorities and the projected decrease in reservoir’s inflows, different water management strategies are needed to mitigate the effects of the expected climate change.


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