Innovation, technology and user experience in museums: insights from scientific literature

Museums play an important role in preserving the heritage and cultural legacy of humanity, however, one of their main weaknesses in regards the user is their static nature. At present, and in the face of the development of diverse technologies and the ease of access to information, museums have upgraded their implementation of technologies aimed at improving the user experience, trying more and more to access younger audiences with a sensitivity and natural capacity for the management of new technologies. This work identifies trends in the use of technological tools by museums worldwide and the effect of these on the user or visitor experience through a review of scientific literature. To complete the work, we performed a search of the publications in the Scopus® referencing database, and downloaded, processed, and visualized the data using the VOSviewer® tool. The main trends identified in this context of analysis are related to the role of museums with the development and improvement of the user experience; orientation to young audiences and innovation driven by the user through Interactive Systems, digital games, QR Codes, apps, augmented reality, virtual reality and gamification, among others. The objective of the implementation of new technologies in the context of museums is to satisfy the needs of contemporary communication, for all types of content and aimed at an increasingly digital audience, in order to ensure positive interaction and feedback from ideas with social and cultural changes

Echium oil is not protective against weight loss in head and neck cancer patients undergoing curative radio(chemo)therapy: a randomised-controlled trial

Background: Therapy-induced mucositis and dysphagia puts head and neck (H&N) cancer patients at increased risk for developing cachexia. Omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FA) have been suggested to protect against cachexia. We aimed to examine if echium oil, a plant source of n-3 FA, could reduce weight loss in H&N cancer patients undergoing radio(chemo)therapy with curative intent. Methods: In a double-blind trial, patients were randomly assigned to echium oil (intervention (I) group; 7.5 ml bis in die (b.i.d.), 235 mg/ml α-linolenic acid (ALA) + 95 mg/ml stearidonic acid (SDA) + 79 mg/ml γ-linolenic acid (GLA)) or n-3 FA deficient sunflower oil high oleic (control (C) group; 7.5 ml b.i.d.) additional to standard nutritional support during treatment. Differences in percentage weight loss between both groups were analysed according to the intention-to-treat principle. Erythrocyte FA profile, body composition, nutritional status and quality of life were collected. Results: Ninety-one eligible patients were randomised, of whom 83 were evaluable. Dietary supplement adherence was comparable in both groups (median, I: 87%, C: 81%). At week 4, the I group showed significantly increased values of erythrocyte n-3 eicosapentanoic acid (EPA, 14% vs −5%) and n-6 GLA (42% vs −20%) compared to the C group, without a significant change in n-6 arachidonic acid (AA, 2% vs −1%). Intention-to-treat analysis could not reveal a significant reduction in weight loss related to echium oil consumption (median weight loss, I: 8.9%, C: 7.6%). Also, no significant improvement was observed in the other evaluated anthropometric parameters. Conclusions: Echium oil effectively increased erythrocyte EPA and GLA FAs in H&N cancer patients. It failed however to protect against weight loss, or improve nutritional parameters. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01596933

Kinderen, papa’s en mama’s, natuurlijkheid en biotechnologie

Vroeg of laat krijgt onze huidige generatie kinderen te maken met biotechnologie: in voedsel, in de zorg, of misschien zelfs wel in het stemmen op politieke partijen. Daarom is het belangrijk om kinderen – op een speelse ma-nier – voor te bereiden op het maken van keuzes rondom biotechnologie. Ons MeningenLab onderzoek, laat zien dat refl ectie op diepere vragen zoals ‘wat is natuur?’, kinderen helpt om verschillende meningen af te wegen. In dit stuk beschrijf ik hoe en waarom

Civil servants’ perspectives of creativity in multi-stakeholder urban food system transformation

Purpose – This paper presents preliminary outcomes of an explorative research into perspectives of creativity among civil servants in their role as urban food system transformation facilitators, through which we aim to generate recommendations for boosting creativity in the public sector when tasked with comparable multi-stakeholder system transformations. Methodology – We interviewed 18 civil servants of 10 municipalities that are engaged in FUSILLI, an EU project (2020-2024) aimed at fostering urban food system transformation through multi-stakeholder experimentation and policy making in Living Labs. As researchers we are part of the EU project team as well, and collaborate closely with the civil servants, for which we could have open and reflective conversations with them about creativity. Qualitative analysis of anonymized interview transcripts, supported by sensitising concepts, resulted in the identification of preliminary themes in the perspectives of creativity that were present among the civil servants. Value – In the context of (facilitating) system transformation, perspectives of civil servants regarding creativity have been marginally studied. Our preliminary findings show that the civil servants who participated in this study considered and had experienced creativity merely as a fussy, flexible, open-ended process of generating ideas, and not so much as analytical-systematic idea consolidation. In that sense, our findings may align with earlier research into creativity in various contexts, however this congruence has specific implications for system transformation contexts wherein creativity is often longed for to guarantee the development of solutions and policies that are likely to positively disrupt systemic barriers and patterns. To contribute to this desire, we derive recommendations for dealing with creativity in large system transformation projects, as well as for research into 1) training that builds on the creativity-related expertise of civil servants to develop ownership over creativity in the public sector, and 2) climate strengthening exercises to foster creativity in multi-stakeholder system transformation processes that balance holistic and relationship oriented approaches with the desire for pragmatism and goal-orientedness that is often present among stakeholders who want to or are engaged in system transformation