Duurzame energiebeelden voor de Veenkoloniën op basis van energiepotentiekartering en netwerkanalyses

In juni 2010 is voor de Agenda voor de Veenkoloniën het project Hotspot Veenkoloniën van start gegaan. Binnen dit project is het hoge ambitieniveau gesteld om als regio meer koolstofdioxide vast te leggen dan er uitgestoten wordt. Hiermee zal het gebied een bijzonder grote bijdrage gaan leveren in het tegengaan van klimaatveranderingen. Voor de Hotspot Veenkoloniën zijn diverse deelprojecten uitgeschreven om vanuit verschillende disciplines en mogelijkheden aan deze doelstelling bij te dragen. In dit rapport is een drietal van deze deelprojecten opgenomen: de netwerkanalyse, de energiepotentiestudie en een integrale energievisie. De ruimtelijke bouwstenen van de eerste twee projecten vormen de input voor het ruimtelijke structuurbeeld. Deze integrale energievisie omvat een duurzame energievisie waarin ook rekening is gehouden met de uitkomsten van andere deelstudies

A structured approach for governing sustainable heat transitions in building renovation of towns and cities

This is the final version. Available on open access from IOP Publishing via the DOI in this record. Pioneer cities have demonstrated a willingness and capability to decarbonise local heat systems, but support is needed to scale up action. Heat decarbonisation is not simply a technical challenge, but also a political and social one; stakeholders must inform decisions about appropriate technological and policy solutions and will, in turn, be affected by them. Taking three dimensions of stakeholders, technology, and policy, a structured approach which centres stakeholders is presented to help local government to collaboratively find appropriate technology and policy solutions, both at the strategic scale across the municipality and in localised pilot projects, and explores how to initialise and support heat decarbonisation in more cities.European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)Province of South-Holland (Netherlands)Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (Netherlands

Accounting students and communication apprehension: a study of Spanish and UK students

Accounting is about measuring and communicating. Accounting bodies and employers have expressed opinions, which have been supported by research results, advocating that greater emphasis is placed on the development of communication skills throughout the education and training of accountants. Consequently, an increasing number of accounting programmes now include communication skills as educational objectives or learning outcomes, and have integrated activities into the curriculum specifically to develop these skills. It is important to recognise that certain factors can severely restrict the development of communication skills; a major factor is communication apprehension. Research suggests that the existence of high levels of communication apprehension will make efforts to improve communication skills ineffective. Previous research findings indicate that accounting students have high levels of communication apprehension. This paper compares and contrasts the levels and profiles of communication apprehension exhibited by accounting students at the (UK University) and those at the (ESP University). The levels of communication apprehension are also compared with those of students from other disciplines at the same institutions. The results confirm the high levels of communication apprehension in European accounting students. There are notable differences between the two countries however in certain underlying factors.</p

How Do Police Respond to Stalking? An Examination of the Risk Management Strategies and Tactics Used in a Specialized Anti-Stalking Law Enforcement Unit

How do police respond to and manage complaints of stalking? To answer this question, we conducted a 3-phase study. First, we reviewed the literature to identify risk management tactics used to combat stalking. Second, we asked a group of police officers to review those tactics for completeness and group them into categories reflecting more general risk management strategies. The result was 22 categories of strategies. Finally, we used qualitative methods to evaluate the files of 32 cases referred to the specialized anti-stalking unit of a metropolitan police department. We coded specific risk management tactics and strategies used by police. Results indicated that a median number of 19 specific tactics from 7 general strategies were used to manage risk. Also, the implementation of strategies and tactics reflected specific characteristics of the cases (e.g., perpetrator risk factors, victim vulnerability factors), suggesting that the risk management decisions made by police were indeed strategic in nature. Qualitative analyses indicated that some of the strategies and tactics were more effective than others. We discuss how these findings can be used to understand and use stalking risk management more generally, as well as improve research on the efficacy of risk assessment and management for stalking

Heat mapping the Netherlands: Laying the foundations for energy-based planning

Building TechnologyArchitectur

Measurements and simulation of ionospheric scattering on VHF and UHF radar signals:coherence times, coherence bandwidths and S4

Irregularities in the electron density of the ionosphere cause phase and amplitude scintillation on transionospheric VHF and UHF radar signals, particularly at lower radio frequencies. The design of radar and other transionospheric systems requires good estimates of the coherence bandwidth (CB) and coherence time (CT) imposed by a turbulent ionosphere. CB and CT measurements of the equatorial ionosphere, made using the Advanced Research Project Agency Long-range Tracking and Identification Radar 158 MHz and 422 MHz phase coherent radar located on Kwajalein (9.4°N, 167.5°E), are presented as a function of the two-way S4 scintillation index at 422 MHz The log linear regression equations are CT = 1.46 exp(−1.40 S4) s at 158 MHz and CT = 2.31 exp(−1.10 S4) s at 422 MHz. CT also varies by a factor of 2–3 depending on the effective scan velocity through the ionosphere, veff. The CT and CB, as a function of S4, have been compared to those from the Trans-Ionospheric Radio Propagation Simulator, a phase screen model. A close agreement is achieved using appropriate values of veff and midrange values of phase spectral index and outer scale. Validation of CB is, however, limited by insufficient radar chirp bandwidth. Formulating the model in terms of the two-way S4 index (an easily measurable parameter) rather than more fundamental phase screen parameters (which are difficult to obtain), improves its utility for the systems engineer. The frequency dependencies (spectral indices) of S4 and of CT are also presented to allow interpolation and some extrapolation of these results to other frequencies

A concept-knowledge theoretical framework for Integral Design workshops to innovate building design process

The technology use within the building industry is becoming increasingly important as the demands regarding comfort and energy consumption are becoming ever stricter. The traditional design approach, where the gap between the architectural artistic design and the exact engineering approach exists, is not an adequate way for creation of innovative ‘green building concepts’ that should fulfill new demands. Instead, an integral approach is proposed, where the main building design disciplines are involved from the conceptual phase of the design process. This integral approach combines use of morphological overviews, a design (visualization) tool from prescriptive design methodology, with the C-K theory, a new design theory in which concepts and knowledge spaces are discerned, for structuring object design knowledge of the design team members. Based on the notion that without the expansions of space C and space K design is reduced to mere optimization, using morphological overviews as a design tool all team interpreted functions and individually generated (sub) solutions can be visualized in a structured way. The morphological overviews subsequently play a central role in creation of integral design concept alternatives. This is a major step in enforcing team design during the essential, conceptual phase of the building design process, and can be seen as a start of the integration of architectural and engineering building design knowledge. The approach was tested within the Dutch building design industry, in cooperation with the Royal Dutch society of Architects (BNA) and the Dutch society of Consulting Engineers (ONRI). The evaluation based on reactions of more than one hundred experienced professionals that since year 2005 participated in ‘integral design’ workshops are presented in this paper. The workshops are to become a part of the new permanent professional educational program of the BNA