30,841 research outputs found
The value of theoretical multiplicity for steering transitions towards sustainability
Transition management, as a theory of directing structural societal changes towards sustainable system innovations, has become a major topic in scientific research over the last years. In this paper we focus on the question how transitions towards sustainability can be steered, governed or managed, in particular by governmental actors. We suggest an approach of theoretical multiplicity, arguing that multiple theories will be needed simultaneously for dealing with the complex societal sustainability issues. Therefore, we address the steering question by theoretically comparing transition management theory to a number of related theories on societal change and intervention, such as multi-actor collaboration, network governance, configuration management, policy agenda setting, and adaptive management. We conclude that these related theories put the managerial assumptions of transition management into perspective, by adding other steering roles and leadership mechanisms to the picture. Finally we argue that new modes of steering inevitable have consequences for the actual governance institutions. New ways of governing change ask for change within governance systems itself and vice versa. Our argument for theoretical multiplicity implicates the development of multiple, potentially conflicting, governance capacitie
Design and implementation of a multi-octave-band audio camera for realtime diagnosis
Noise pollution investigation takes advantage of two common methods of
diagnosis: measurement using a Sound Level Meter and acoustical imaging. The
former enables a detailed analysis of the surrounding noise spectrum whereas
the latter is rather used for source localization. Both approaches complete
each other, and merging them into a unique system, working in realtime, would
offer new possibilities of dynamic diagnosis. This paper describes the design
of a complete system for this purpose: imaging in realtime the acoustic field
at different octave bands, with a convenient device. The acoustic field is
sampled in time and space using an array of MEMS microphones. This recent
technology enables a compact and fully digital design of the system. However,
performing realtime imaging with resource-intensive algorithm on a large amount
of measured data confronts with a technical challenge. This is overcome by
executing the whole process on a Graphic Processing Unit, which has recently
become an attractive device for parallel computing
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