How Participation Creates Citizens: Participatory Governance as Performative Practice

Participation is a prominent feature of many decision-making and planning processes. Among its proclaimed benefits is its potential to strengthen public support and involvement. However, participation is also known for having unintended consequences which lead to failures in meeting its objectives. This article takes a critical perspective on participation by discussing how participation may influence the ways in which citizens can become involved. Participation unavoidably involves (1) restrictions about who should be involved and about the space for negotiation, (2) assumptions about what the issue at stake is, and (3) expectations about what the outcome of participation should be and how the participants are expected to behave. This is illustrated by a case study about the Dutch nature area, the Drentsche Aa. The case study demonstrates how the participatory process that took place and the restrictions, assumptions, and expectations that were involved resulted in six forms of citizen involvement, both intended and unintended, which ranged between creativity, passivity, and entrenchment. Based on these findings, the article argues that participation does not merely serve as a neutral place in which citizens are represented, but instead creates different categories of citizens. Recognizing this means reconceiving participation as performative practice. Such a perspective goes beyond overly optimistic views of participation as a technique whose application can be perfected, as well as pessimistic views of participation as repression or domination. Instead, it appreciates both intended and unintended forms of citizen involvement as meaningful and legitimate, and recognizes citizenship as being constituted in interaction in the context of participatio

Contribution of postnatal collagen reorientation to depth-dependent mechanical properties of articular cartilage

The collagen fibril network is an important factor for the depth-dependent mechanical behaviour of adult articular cartilage (AC). Recent studies show that collagen orientation is parallel to the articular surface throughout the tissue depth in perinatal animals, and that the collagen orientations transform to a depth-dependent arcade-like structure in adult animals. Current understanding on the mechanobiology of postnatal AC development is incomplete. In the current paper, we investigate the contribution of collagen fibril orientation changes to the depth-dependent mechanical properties of AC. We use a composition-based finite element model to simulate in a 1-D confined compression geometry the effects of ten different collagen orientation patterns that were measured in developing sheep. In initial postnatal life, AC is mostly subject to growth and we observe only small changes in depth-dependent mechanical behaviour. Functional adaptation of depth-dependent mechanical behaviour of AC takes place in the second half of life before puberty. Changes in fibril orientation alone increase cartilage stiffness during development through the modulation of swelling strains and osmotic pressures. Changes in stiffness are most pronounced for small stresses and for cartilage adjacent to the bone. We hypothesize that postnatal changes in collagen fibril orientation induce mechanical effects that in turn promote these changes. We further hypothesize that a part of the depth-dependent postnatal increase in collagen content in literature is initiated by the depth-dependent postnatal increase in fibril strain due to collagen fibril reorientatio

Postnatal development of articular cartilage

Articular cartilage (AC) is the thin layer of tissue that covers the ends of the bones in the synovial joints in mammals. Functional adult AC has depth-dependent mechanical properties that are not yet present at birth. These depth-dependent mechanical properties in adult life are the result of a depth-dependent composition and structure that develops in postnatal life. Our knowledge on how postnatal AC remodelling proceeds, and how the functional depth-dependent mechanical properties develop in postnatal life is still limited. In this thesis, we investigated the properties of the postnatal collagen network in AC, and the contribution of postnatal collagen network remodelling to the adult depth-dependent mechanical properties of AC. We used horses and (mostly) sheep as experimental animals to obtain measurements on three parameters of the postnatal collagen network (predominant collagen fibril orientation, collagen densities and collagen network anisotropy). We used a composition-based finite element model for computational analysis of the role of this collagen network in the postnatal development of depth-dependent mechanical properties. We first investigated how collagen structure in AC affects the parameters that are measured by quantitative polarised light microscopy (qPLM), because qPLM is the most popular technique to investigate properties of the collagen network in AC. We quantified the contributions of the three collagen network parameters (orientation, density and anisotropy) to the measured predominant fibril orientation and the measured total tissue birefringence (retardance), and showed that collagen network anisotropy can be quantified when the retardance from polarised light microscopy is corrected for collagen densities. In the study on horses, we investigated differences in predominant collagen orientation for equine articular cartilage in stillborn and adult animals with scanning electron microscopy and quantitative polarised light microscopy (qPLM). In the study on sheep, we first investigated the predominant collagen orientation in animals divided over ten sample points between birth and maturity (72 weeks) with qPLM. Both studies confirmed the remark by Archer et al. [Archer2003] that the collagen fibrils in perinatal animals lie predominantly parallel to the articular surface, and we confirmed and quantified the adult 'Benninghoff' structure in the mature animals in both studies. We further observed a transitional layer with weak fibril anisotropy in the perinatal animals that is not correlated to changes in predominant collagen fibril orientation as in the adult Benninghoff structure. To investigate the contribution of collagen reorientation to the development of depth-dependent mechanical properties, we implemented the results on postnatal predominant collagen fibril orientation in the sheep in a composition-based finite element model. We described the interactions between collagen orientation, free swelling strains, osmotic pressures and effective AC stiffness in confined compression. Based on the results, we hypothesised that collagen densities increase most in the deep tissue due to increased collagen fibril strains that result from postnatal collagen fibril reorientation. In sheep, we measured collagen densities with Fourier transform infrared micro-spectroscopy. Collagen density increased in postnatal life, and they increased most in the deep tissue (near the bone), which supported our earlier hypothesis. Perinatal animals showed a valley in collagen densities near the articular surface, i.e. at the position of the transitional layer. We showed that this valley disappears in early postnatal life. We corrected the qPLM retardance from our sheep data with the collagen densities from the sheep data to assess collagen network anisotropy. The results showed that anisotropy is relatively constant in the deep tissue, and that anisotropy is stronger in the transitional layer of perinatal animals compared with the transitional layer of adult animals. To investigate interactions in postnatal collagen network remodelling, we implemented the three collagen network parameters (orientation, density and anisotropy) that we obtained from the sheep in the finite element model. Based on the results, we suggested different functional roles for the three collagen network parameters: collagen fibril reorientation contributes most to the development of depth-dependent mechanical properties, collagen density increases appear to equalise collagen fibril strains, and the weak anisotropy in the transitional layer appears to smooth gradients in the mechanical state of the tissue in adult animals. <br/

Novel thin film polymer foaming technique for low and ultra low-k dielectrics

The results presented show a novel route for the preparation of thin ultra-low-k polymer films based on commercial and "non-exotic" (non-expensive) polyimide by a foaming technique. Dependent on the glass transition temperature of the polyimide mechanically and thermally stable (> 300 °C) films having porosities of ca. 40 % and k-values below 2.0 are formed. A further reduction into the ultra low k region may be accomplished by tailoring the shape of the pores from spherical into disc-like void

Using life-history traits to explain bird population responses to changing weather variability

Bird population dynamics are expected to change in response to increased weather variability, an expression of climate change. The extent to which species are sensitive to effects of weather on survival and reproduction depends on their life-history traits. We investigated how breeding bird species can be grouped, based on their life-history traits and according to weather-correlated population dynamics. We developed and applied the linear trait–environment method (LTE), which is a modified version of the fourth-corner method. Despite our focus on single traits, 2 strategies—combinations of several traits—stand out. As expected, breeding populations of waterfowl species are negatively impacted by severe winters directly preceding territory monitoring, probably because of increased adult mortality. Waterfowl species combine several traits: they often breed at ground or water level, feed on plant material, are precocial and are generally short-distance or partial migrants. Furthermore, we found a decline in population growth rates of insectivorous long-distance migrants due to mild winters and warm springs in the year before territory monitoring, which may be caused by reduced reproduction due to trophic mismatches. We identify species that are expected to show the most significant responses to changing weather variability, assuming that our conclusions are based on causal relationships and that the way species, weather variables and habitat interact will not alter. Species expected to respond positively can again be roughly categorized as waterfowl species, while insectivorous long-distance migrants are mostly expected to respond negatively. As species traits play an important role in constructing functional groups that are relevant to the provisioning of ecosystem services, our study enables the incorporation of ecosystem vulnerability to climate change into such functional approache

Natuurbeleid voor de Drentsche Aa: over betrokkenheid, burgerschap en natuurvisies

Het overlegorgaan National beek- en esdorpenlandschap Drentsche Aa houdt dit voorjaar twee inloopavonden om plannen in het gebied te presenteren. Een van de auteurs bezocht deze avond. Insteek van dit hoofdstuk is: de reacties peilen die volgden op de instelling van het multi-stakeholdersplatform en de participatie initiatieven die door dit platform werden genomen; vervolgens aandacht voor natuurvisies en motieven van betrokkenheid, omdat deze meer inzicht zouden kunnen geven in de achtergronden van verschillende vormen van burgerscha

The landscape is a trap:Duck decoys as multispecies atmospheres of deception and betrayal

Duck decoys are trapping devices designed to catch ducks. From the fourteenth century onwards, duck decoys emerged in riverine lowlands in northwestern Europe. Their operation is based on a rigorously maintained physical structure with a woodland that encloses a water body with protruding extensions called pipes, which end in nets and are surrounded by reed screens. Catching ducks in these places requires a complex interplay between different groups of ducks, a dog, and a human decoyman who together are enmeshed in what becomes a deeply deceptive landscape. This paper explores duck decoys in the Netherlands as relational, situated and co-designed multispecies atmospheres. Through ethnographic descriptions of field visits, interviews and by drawing on historical accounts, we trace how inter- and intraspecies relations and behaviours are interpreted in terms of deception, betrayal, trust and curiosity. The varying interpretations of behaviours and the more-than-human knowledges at play reflect the essentially elusive character of the duck decoy. Especially when facing the environmental challenges of the Anthropocene, duck decoys and the ambiguous relations that were until recently maintained in them, encourage us to consider the historical trapping and hunting landscapes as places made by multispecies atmospheres. Even though these atmospheres and the intimate collectives of human and more-than-human lives have become increasingly fragile, their afterlives resonate through the changing character of the riverine landscape and its various waterfowl, as well as practices of knowing and conserving biodiversity.</p

Dielectric and polarization experiments in high loss dielectrics: a word of caution

The recent quest for improved functional materials like high permittivity dielectrics and/or multiferroics has triggered an intense wave of research. Many materials have been checked for their dielectric permittivity or their polarization state. In this report, we call for caution when samples are simultaneously displaying insulating behavior and defect-related conductivity. Many oxides containing mixed valent cations or oxygen vacancies fall in this category. In such cases, most of standard experiments may result in effective high dielectric permittivity which cannot be related to ferroelectric polarization. Here we list few examples of possible discrepancies between measured parameters and their expected microscopic origin