Leren van het energieke platteland : lokale en regionale coalities voor duurzame plattelandsontwikkeling

In deze studie onderzoeken we de kracht van de samenwerking tussen de verschillende gebruikers van het platteland. Burgers, boeren, natuurbeheerders en bedrijven die samen initiatieven ontplooien om hun leefomgeving te verbeteren. De studie laat aan de hand van een breed scala aan praktijkvoorbeelden zien hoe ze dat doen, wat ze proberen te bereiken en waar ze tegenaan lopen. Zo zijn er moderne boeren die samen met andere ketenpartijen hun bedrijfsvoering nog verder willen verduurzamen dan de wet al voorschrijft, en burgers die met boeren lokale coöperaties opzetten voor de opwekking van hernieuwbare energie

Community based design support

Different approaches of design methodology that have been developed throughout the history of the design methods movement have produced many insights into the structure of the design process (Alexander, 1964; Simon, 1969; Schön. 1983; Hubka and Eder, 1987; Pahl and Beitz. 1984; Roozenburg and Eekels, 1995). It seems however, that little of this accumulated knowledge is used in the daily practice of designing. The relation between design methodology and design practice is still weak (Cross, 1993; Achten et al. 2005). One reason might be that design methods are not addressing the designer’s needs. And thus are not supporting the designer, with a specific task, to solve the problem at hand. (Badke-Schaub et al. 2005) The aim of this research project was to develop a solution for this problem: the concept of Community Based Design Support (CBDS). This concept, inspired by the online community platforms that are emerging on the internet, enables the integration of a personal, contextual, social and dynamic dimension in design methodology Based on the CBDS model a software platform was designed: Designflow. A prototype was built to test if the concept of CBDS can provide designers with efficient and effective design support.Industrial Design Engineerin

Bridging the gap between design and behavioral research: (Re)searching the optimum design strategy for brands and new product innovations

Innovation, branding, and design are known to affect corporate success, but their interplay is not yet well understood. Companies need to take risks in developing new product innovations, whereas an established brand can serve as a familiar base to create recognition. However, designers are facing a serious challenge. Researchers in both fields study the existing world through abstract theories and “rules”, instead of showing how to use these theories in practice. This study focuses on the relation between brands and innovations from a design perspective to create successful brand extensions. Gaining knowledge about the level of newness (novelty), level of familiarity (typicality), fit with the parent brand (brand fit), and expected market success (EM success), will support designers to create successful brand extensions. The study discusses 81 designs of snow scooters designed by students and evaluated by 47 experts by means of a quantitative and qualitative analysis. A multiple linear regression analysis is performed to show if brand fit, typicality, novelty, and (typicality × novelty) has an impact on the expected market success. The analyses demonstrate a significantly positive effect of brand fit on the expected market success (p <.01). While the single effects of typicality and novelty were non-significant, the interaction between typicality and novelty showed a significant linear relationship on the expected market success (p <.05). The results show the importance of the much-investigated balance between typicality and novelty, where brand fit seems to act as the suppressor for novelty and may be called brand typicality