Competing Claims on Natural Resources: What Role for Science?

Competing claims on natural resources become increasingly acute, with the poor being most vulnerable to adverse outcomes of such competition. A major challenge for science and policy is to progress from facilitating univocal use to guiding stakeholders in dealing with potentially conflicting uses of natural resources. The development of novel, more equitable, management options that reduce rural poverty is key to achieving sustainable use of natural resources and the resolution of conflicts over them. Here, we describe an interdisciplinary and interactive approach for: (i) the understanding of competing claims and stakeholder objectives; (ii) the identification of alternative resource use options, and (iii) the scientific support to negotiation processes between stakeholders. Central to the outlined approach is a shifted perspective on the role of scientific knowledge in society. Understanding scientific knowledge as entering societal arenas and as fundamentally negotiated, the role of the scientist becomes a more modest one, a contributor to ongoing negotiation processes among stakeholders. Scientists can, therefore, not merely describe and explain resource-use dynamics and competing claims, but in doing so, they should actively contribute to negotiation processes between stakeholders operating at different scales (local, national, regional, and global). Together with stakeholders, they explore alternatives that can contribute to more sustainable and equitable use of natural resources and, where possible, design new technical options and institutional arrangements

Building communities for the exchange of learning objects: theoretical foundations and requirements

In order to reduce overall costs of developing high-quality digital courses (including both the content, and the learning and teaching activities), the exchange of learning objects has been recognized as a promising solution. This article makes an inventory of the issues involved in the exchange of learning objects within a community. It explores some basic theories, models and specifications and provides a theoretical framework containing the functional and non-functional requirements to establish an exchange system in the educational field. Three levels of requirements are discussed. First, the non-functional requirements that deal with the technical conditions to make learning objects interoperable. Second, some basic use cases (activities) are identified that must be facilitated to enable the technical exchange of learning objects, e.g. searching and adapting the objects. Third, some basic use cases are identified that are required to establish the exchange of learning objects in a community, e.g. policy management, information and training. The implications of this framework are then discussed, including recommendations concerning the identification of reward systems, role changes and evaluation instruments

Hybrid Simulation and Test of Vessel Traffic Systems on the Cloud

This paper presents a cloud-based hybrid simulation platform to test large-scale distributed System-of-Systems (SoS) for the management and control of maritime traffic, the so-called Vessel Traffic Systems (VTS). A VTS consists of multiple, heterogeneous, distributed and interoperating systems, including radar, automatic identification systems, direction finders, electro-optical sensors, gateways to external VTSs, information systems; identifying, representing and analyzing interactions is a challenge to the evaluation of the real risks for safety and security of the marine environment. The need for reproducing in fabric the system behaviors that could occur in situ demands for the ability of integrating emulated and simulated environments to cope with the different testability requirements of involved systems and to keep testing cost sustainable. The platform exploits hybrid simulation and virtualization technologies, and it is deployable on a private cloud, reducing the cost of setting up realistic and effective testing scenarios

Interactive situation modelling in knowledge intensive domains

Interactive Situation Modelling (ISM) method, a semi-methodological approach, is proposed to tackle issues associated with modelling complex knowledge intensive domains, which cannot be easily modelled using traditional approaches. This paper presents the background and implementation of ISM within a complex domain, where synthesizing knowledge from various sources is critical, and is based on the principles of ethnography within a constructivist framework. Although the motivation for the reported work comes from the application presented in the paper, the actual scope of the paper covers a wide range of issues related to modelling complex systems. The author firstly reviews approaches used for modelling knowledge intensive domains, preceded by a brief discussion about two main issues: symmetry of ignorance and system behaviour, which are often confronted when applying modelling approaches to business domains. The ISM process is then characterized and critiqued with lessons from an exemplar presented to illustrate its effectiveness

Designing and Composing for Interdependent Collaborative Performance with Physics-Based Virtual Instruments

Interdependent collaboration is a system of live musical performance in which performers can directly manipulate each other’s musical outcomes. While most collaborative musical systems implement electronic communication channels between players that allow for parameter mappings, remote transmissions of actions and intentions, or exchanges of musical fragments, they interrupt the energy continuum between gesture and sound, breaking our cognitive representation of gesture to sound dynamics. Physics-based virtual instruments allow for acoustically and physically plausible behaviors that are related to (and can be extended beyond) our experience of the physical world. They inherently maintain and respect a representation of the gesture to sound energy continuum. This research explores the design and implementation of custom physics-based virtual instruments for realtime interdependent collaborative performance. It leverages the inherently physically plausible behaviors of physics-based models to create dynamic, nuanced, and expressive interconnections between performers. Design considerations, criteria, and frameworks are distilled from the literature in order to develop three new physics-based virtual instruments and associated compositions intended for dissemination and live performance by the electronic music and instrumental music communities. Conceptual, technical, and artistic details and challenges are described, and reflections and evaluations by the composer-designer and performers are documented

Tietomallintamisen käyttöönoton skaalaus pilottihankkeista täysimittaiseen asuinrakentamiseen

Construction industry has not succeeded in exploiting the digital transformation of business, like other industries have. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the centerpiece of digitalization in construction industry as it lays the foundation for efficient use of methods and technologies such as prefabrication, IoT and machine learning, in addition to the benefits its implementation entails. BIM facilitates the use of correct and accurate information through and across projects, but its premise is that correct and accurate information is provided into the system from the beginning. To enable the use of correct information, various aspects need to be considered, which in turn presumes collaboration. This study explores implementation of BIM in typical housing projects in Finland from a holistic point of view. The holistic point of view considers the coevolution of technology, processes and people, which is under inspection. With more specified categorization, dependencies within the implementation process and understanding of the current state of BIM implementation at the case company, YIT, is established and analyzed. The purpose of this study is to advance the shift from piloting BIM implementation to larger scale implementation in the housing business of the case company. Based on establishing an in-depth understanding of BIM implementation, identifying its most important elements and their dependencies, the current state of implementation is described and analyzed. With rather extensive literature review, an in-depth understanding of the implementation of BIM and its elements, in general, is developed, which enables focusing on the relevant matters in the case studies. The literature review provides a theoretical framework that supports data collection and analysis. Research data is collected with semi-structured group interviews conducted for all housing units of the case company in Finland. The results indicate that coevolution of technology, processes and people is mostly hindered by lack of competencies and knowledge. There are many factors that contribute to the implementation such as insufficiency of instructional materials and novelty of technologies, but the development of BIM implementation culminates in lack of competencies and knowledge. Despite only partial coevolution, benefits of BIM implementation, have been observed in the case company. The most important BIM Uses were perceived to be design coordination, quantity take-off and visualization. In addition, the importance of collaboration, clear roles and responsibilities, and harmonization of processes were emphasized. As a result of analysis, a framework for development of the BIM implementation process, which contains suggestions and considerations both at project and business segment level, is developed. It aims to provide the direction for harmonizing the BIM implementation processes across the business units.Rakennusalalla ei ole onnistuttu hyödyntämään digitalisaatiota kuten muilla aloilla. Tietomallintaminen on digitalisaation keskeinen osa sillä se toimii perustana esimerkiksi esivalmisteiden, IoT:n sekä koneoppimisen tehokkaalle hyödyntämiselle sen lisäksi että sen käyttöönotto itsessäänkin tuo hyötyjä. Tietomallintaminen mahdollistaa virheettömän ja täsmällisen tiedon käytön hankkeissa sekä niiden välillä, mutta se edellyttää virheettömän ja täsmällisen tiedon tuottamista alusta lähtien. Jotta tarkoituksenmukaista tietoa kyettäisiin tuottamaan, useita näkökulmia on huomioitava, joka puolestaan edellyttää yhteistyötä. Tämä tutkimus käsittelee tietomallintamista tyypillisissä asuinrakennushankkeissa Suomessa holistisesta näkökulmasta. Holistinen näkökulma ottaa huomioon teknologian, prosessien ja ihmisten samanaikaisen kehityksen, joka on tarkastelun kohteena. Yksityiskohtaisemmalla kategorisoinnilla luodaan käsitys kohdeyrityksen, YIT:n, tietomallintamisen käyttöönoton nykytilasta ja käyttöönoton riippuvuussuhteista, joita myös analysoidaan. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on edistää siirtymistä tietomallintamisen käyttöönoton pilotoinnista laajempaan käyttöönottoon kohdeyrityksen asuinrakentamisen liiketoiminnassa. Tietomallintamisen nykytilan kuvaus ja analysointi pohjautuu perusteelliseen käsitykseen tietomallintamisen käyttöönotosta, sekä sen tekijöistä ja niiden riippuvuussuhteista. Laajan kirjallisuuskatsauksen avulla luodaan yleinen käsitys käyttöönotosta ja riippuvuussuhteista, mikä mahdollistaa keskittymisen oleellisiin asioihin tapaustutkimuksissa. Kirjallisuuskatsaus tarjoaa teoreettiset raamit, joka tukee tutkimusdatan hankkimista ja analysointia. Tutkimusdata kerätään puolistrukturoiduilla haastatteluilla, jotka suoritettiin kaikissa kohdeyrityksen Suomen Asumisen yksiköissä. Tulosten mukaan teknologian, prosessin sekä ihmisten samanaikaista kehitystä hidastaa pääasiassa kompetenssien ja tiedon puute. Monet tekijät kuten riittämättömät ohjeet ja uudenlaiset teknologiat vaikuttavat tietomallintamisen käyttöönottoon, mutta sen kehitys kulminoituu kompetenssien ja tiedon puutteeseen. Osittaisesta samanaikaisesta kehityksestä huolimatta, tietomallintamisen käyttöönoton hyötyjä on todettu kohdeyrityksessä. Tärkeimmiksi hyödyntämiskohteiksi nähtiin suunnitelmien yhteensovitus, määrälaskenta sekä visualisointi. Sen lisäksi painotettiin yhteistyön, selkeiden roolien ja vastuiden, sekä prosessien harmonisoinnin merkitystä. Analyysin tuloksena luotiin raamit tietomallintamisen käyttöönottoprosessin kehittämiseen, joka sisältää suosituksia ja huomioonotettavia seikkoja niin hanke- kuin segmenttitasollakin. Se pyrkii suuntaamaan käyttöönottoprosessien harmonisointia liiketoimintayksiköissä

Defining GeoDesign and the emergent role of the sustainable sites initiative (SITES) for integrative project management

textThis report is a discussion of the multifarious applications of the modern day geographic information system and how the universal merit of the technology across disciplines has led to the emergence of GeoDesign. The purpose of this Master’s Professional Report was to retrace the core conceptual framework and landmark events occurring in the evolution GIS technology, and how these factors have led to recent creation of new performance based rating systems and evidence-based design techniques. The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), a new performance based rating system that has emerged in response to the call for increased knowledge and best practices lacking in LEED, is discussed; along with integrated project management. This professional report was intended to be an exploratory discussion of the larger theoretical implications fueling the shift towards mandating greater standards for sustainable design. It offers some ideas for how we should continue evolving GeoDesign moving into the next century; and outlines the importance of all new rating systems needing to acknowledge the growing importance of GeoDesign and ever advancing imagery technologies in understanding complex system processes in the future.Community and Regional Plannin