The voice of the visual : visual learning strategies for problem analysis, social dialogue and mediated participation

The changing needs for innovative learning strategies in the life sciences results from the growing complexity of societal issues. Nowadays, complex societal issues are also called ‘wicked problems.’ Wicked problems are problems that do not have one single solution that is right or wrong, good or bad or true or false. These are problems in which many stakeholders are involved, all of them framing the problems and issues in a different way. Reflecting on the consequent changing role of scientists and the way they need to be trained, it is realized that innovative learning strategies are needed to enhance problem analysis. This PhD project explored visual learning strategies for problem analysis. In exploring these strategies, the project emphasized dialogue and participation by social actors, (future) practitioners and decision makers involved in wicked problem settings. The project had the twofold aim of exploring the potential of visual learning and defining the design and production of visual learning strategies. The project materialized in a design and research perspective on the production and use of visual learning strategies. The design track resulted in the development of the Visual Problem Appraisal (VPA) and Embedded Filming strategies. At the start of the project these strategies were used in settings of international master course work and adult education. As the project advanced, the attention also focused on using the strategies in the public domain, with a focus on public participation by silenced or overlooked social actors. The VPA design developed with the production and use of the ‘VPA Kerala’s Coast’ (2003 – 2008) and the ‘VPA AIDS & Rural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa’ (2005-2009). Core of the VPA design are filmed stakeholder narratives and a well elaborated methodological approach that creates a learning space where the VPA user meets with these stakeholders as part of a decision making process. The wicked problems addressed in these VPAs focus on integrated coastal zone management in Kerala, India, and on AIDS and rural development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Embedded Filming, designed and produced between 2003 and 2007, also focuses on HIV/AIDS and rural development professionalism in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Embedded Filming involves participation in the production phase by combining action research with a learning process. The film crew, facilitators and participants form an integrated whole. The shared focus of VPA and Embedded Filming is reflected in similarities in the general production and use. The filming process of both strategies focuses on social actors, their perspectives and reflections on reality. This consideration for multiple realities and societal complexity in the films is further underlined in the absence of a voice over or otherwise a steering ‘outsider.’ Although VPA and Embedded Filming have strong similarities, they are also characterized by differences. VPA filming activities are not embedded in a wider activity as is the case for Embedded Filming. Editing in Embedded Filming differs from the editing style of the VPA interviews as it adheres more to conventional documentary editing. The distinctive visual language of each film style was highlighted in the found footage experiment. This experiment showed that the footage of the Embedded Filming series could not be used for the production of VPA narratives because of the film styles not being congruent. The visual learning strategies have been used in an array of situations and with a variety of audiences. They have shown the ability to bring complex realities and a diversity of stakeholders together in spaces of learning, reflection and change. The experiences obtained with Visual Problem Appraisal and Embedded Filming provided the empirical evidence that it is possible to design, produce and use specific visual learning strategies to achieve strategic learning objectives that enhance complex competences for action and change. Research on these experiences is documented in the various chapters of this dissertation. The first chapter provides the background to the study and elaborates on the research design. The second chapter gives a broad introduction to the design, production and use of the ‘VPA Kerala’s Coast.’ It describes the educational design of VPA and the operationalisation during the filming process in Kerala, India. The analysis of the production experiences led to a series of workshops to research the impact of the VPA in the public domain. The evaluation of these workshops provided indications for social learning and stakeholder dialogue. The third chapter elaborates on the effects of the VPA in higher professional education. The study is based on experiences with the ‘VPA Kerala’s Coast,’ lectured in 2007/08 and 2008/09. The VPA design deliberately incorporates a rich variety of instruction strategies to anticipate the diverse learning styles of students in the international and intercultural classroom with a prominent role for visual learning. Students are confronted with a variety of learning activities that provides a challenging environment. They are immersed in the reality of complex multi stakeholder settings and they are stimulated to learn about wicked problems that are not easy to solve. Facilitator’s instructions and precise feedback options stimulate students to reflect on their work and that of their peers. It makes students almost immediately aware of the effects of their actions and the way they learn. The assessment presented indicates that the VPA strategy is effective as a strong and attractive simulation. The created safe space provides students an opportunity to learn from their interaction with un-familiar stakeholders and the VPA enhances critical reflection on learning procedures and patterns. Besides elaborating on the impact in education the chapter also provides insight in the design process of this learning strategy. The fourth chapter presents the process of producing and testing the ‘VPA Kerala’s Coast’ as a complex and intriguing multidisciplinary and multicultural project. We wondered what made the project a success. Framing the project as a space of intercultural communication gave guidance to the questions that articulated our search to understand the process we had been immersed in. In this chapter the events are described and critical incidents are analyzed that occurred during the production and the use of the VPA. The outcome leads to valuable recommendations for international and intercultural teams working on similar production and research projects. The fifth chapter reports on Embedded Filming. The filming and the films of a series of workshops and courses for Rural Development Professionals in Ghana, India, Tanzania and Zambia are analyzed as tools for learning and social change for different audiences. Analyzing the production and consumption processes shows the interconnectedness of the filming and learning during the courses. The results indicate that the films contribute to improved rural development professionalism in the context of HIV/AIDS. Chapter six highlights the potential of ‘mediated participation’ as compared to live participation, especially regarding the inclusion of vulnerable and distanced stakeholders. Mediated participation was explored by studying the production and use of the ‘VPA AIDS & Rural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa’ in workshops in Congo DRC, Ghana, Tanzania, the Netherlands and Zambia. The qualitative assessment was based on production experiences, evaluations of participants, and debriefings of workshops. The results indicate that mediated participation is not just a second-best option to live participation. Mediated participation as operationalized in VPA-methodology offers an alternative to learning in face-to-face interactions. The concept of mediated participation that resulted from the study is perceived as a promising concept. This term is used to contrast live presence of silenced and overlooked stakeholders in processes of public participation with participation or representation of these stakeholders’ concerns through the use of media (film). Mediated participation refers in this study to the filmed narrative (or mediated presence) of direct stakeholders who otherwise wouldn’t be present in public policy making processes. Mediated participation enhances social inclusion and equity in problem analysis and decision making by other means than through live participation. The experiences in this study with the design, production and use of VPA and Embedded Filming indicate the relevancy of designing and producing specific visual learning strategies in the context of wicked problems in multi stakeholder settings and sustainable development. It was learned that a specific visual learning strategy requires a particular film style or visual language. It is not film in general that defines the outcome of a learning process; it is the conceptual design, grounded in specific learning and film theories and film making expertise that lays foundations for the process that can be induced by the film. The discussed visual learning strategies overcome physical, cultural and social barriers between vulnerable stakeholders and decision makers. The mediated encounters with ‘the Other’ and ‘meeting’ other realities in social dialogues turned out to contribute to problem analysis. Designing, producing and using visual learning strategies requires due attention, expertise and resources. <br/

Molecular characteristics of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in the Netherlands; results of the 2014–2018 national laboratory surveillance

Objectives: Carbapenem resistance mediated by mobile genetic elements has emerged worldwide and has become a major public health threat. To gain insight into the molecular epidemiology of carbapenem resistance in The Netherlands, Dutch medical microbiology laboratories are requested to submit suspected carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment as part of a national surveillance system. Methods: Meropenem MICs and species identification were confirmed by E-test and MALDI-TOF and carbapenemase production was assessed by the Carbapenem Inactivation Method. Of all submitted CPE, one species/carbapenemase gene combination per person per year was subjected to next-generation sequencing (NGS). Results: In total, 1838 unique isolates were received between 2014 and 2018, of which 892 were unique CPE isolates with NGS data available. The predominant CPE species were Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 388, 43%), Escherichia coli (n = 264, 30%) and Enterobacter cloacae complex (n = 116, 13%). Various carbapenemase alleles of the same carbapenemase gene resulted in different susceptibilities to meropenem and this effect varied between species. Analyses of NGS data showed variation of prevalence of carbapenemase alleles over time with blaOXA-48 being predominant (38%, 336/892), followed by blaNDM-1 (16%, 145/892). For the first time in the Netherlands, blaOXA-181, blaOXA-232 and blaVIM-4 were detected. The genetic background of K. pneumoniae and E. coli isolates was highly diverse. Conclusions: The CPE population in the Netherlands is diverse, suggesting multiple introductions. The predominant carbapenemase alleles are blaOXA-48 and blaNDM-1. There was a clear association between species, carbapenemase allele and susceptibility to meropenem

Molecular characterization of MRSA collected during national surveillance between 2008 and 2019 in the Netherlands

Background.Although the Netherlands is a country with a low endemic level, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) poses a significant health care problem. Therefore, high coverage national MRSA surveillance has been in place since 1989. To monitor possible changes in the type-distribution and emergence of resistance and virulence, MRSA isolates are molecularly characterized.Methods.All 43,321 isolates from 36,520 persons, collected 2008-2019, were typed by multiple-locus variable number tandem repeats analysis (MLVA) with simultaneous PCR detection of the mecA, mecC and lukF-PV genes, indicative for PVL. Next-generation sequencing data of 4991 isolates from 4798 persons were used for whole genome multi-locus sequence typing (wgMLST) and identification of resistance and virulence genes.Results.We show temporal change in the molecular characteristics of the MRSA population with the proportion of PVL-positive isolates increasing from 15% in 2008-2010 to 25% in 2017-2019. In livestock-associated MRSA obtained from humans, PVL-positivity increases to 6% in 2017-2019 with isolates predominantly from regions with few pig farms. wgMLST reveals the presence of 35 genogroups with distinct resistance, virulence gene profiles and specimen origin. Typing shows prolonged persistent MRSA carriage with a mean carriage period of 407 days. There is a clear spatial and a weak temporal relationship between isolates that clustered in wgMLST, indicative for regional spread of MRSA strains.Conclusions.Using molecular characterization, this exceptionally large study shows genomic changes in the MRSA population at the national level. It reveals waxing and waning of types and genogroups and an increasing proportion of PVL-positive MRSA.A group of bacteria that cause difficult-to-treat infections in humans is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The aim of this study was to monitor changes in the spread of MRSA, their disease causing potential and resistance to antibiotics used to treat MRSA infections. MRSA from patients and their contacts in the Netherlands were collected over a period of 12 years and characterized. This revealed new types of MRSA emerged and others disappeared. An increasing number of MRSA produces a protein called PVL toxin, enabling MRSA to cause more severe infections. Also, some people appear to carry MRSA without any disease for more than a year. These findings suggest an increasing disease potential of MRSA and possible unnoticed sources of infection. Consequently, it is important to maintain monitoring of these infections to minimize MRSA spread.Schouls et al. characterize 43,321 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates obtained between 2008 and 2019 in the Netherlands. Genomic changes occur in the MRSA population, with increases in the proportion of PVL-positive MRSA.Molecular basis of bacterial pathogenesis, virulence factors and antibiotic resistanc

VPA Het Nieuwe Telen

Presentatie gehouden door Loes Witteveen, lector 'Communicatie, Participatie & Sociaal-Ecologisch Leren' aan hogeschool Van Hall Larenstein, in het Innovatiecafé georganiseerd op 6 oktober 2022 door Greenport Aalsmeer. Onderwerp: Video Problem Appraisal (VPA): een techniek om de samenhang tussen economische, technische en sociale context van innovatie-uitdagingen in beeld te krijgen

Visual Problem Appraisal (VPA) Duurzame Tuinbouw Nederland 2021

In de afgelopen jaren zijn diverse gesprekken gevoerd tussen het groene onderwijs en het programma ‘Kas als Energiebron’, waarbij de urgentie van de behoefte aan kennisverspreiding via het onderwijs is uitgesproken. Een consortium van agrarische hogescholen, CIV Tuinbouw, Wageningen UR, Delphy, KAE, World Horti Centre, brancheorganisaties en glastuinbouwbedrijven werkt aan een project dat in het teken staat van het verduurzamen van de glastuinbouwsector. Glastuinbouw Nederland en het ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (LNV) spelen hierin ook een rol. In deze samenwerking wordt gewerkt aan interdisciplinair onderwijs en kennisdeling

VPA Duurzame Tuinbouw in Nederland – project overzicht: Visual Problem Appraisal (VPA) – productie

Visuele leerstrategieën zijn een geschikte aanpak voor het verbeteren van reflectie en leren. Visuele media geven een stem aan de telers die betrokken zijn bij het project en zijn in staat om afstanden van tijd en ruimte te overbruggen. De rol van studenten, docenten en onderzoekers verandert van neutrale waarnemer tot betrokken mede-constructeurs van kennis, omdat bij de visuele leeromgeving observatie, reflexiviteit en spiegeling anders behandeld worden dan in traditionele op tekst gebaseerde leeromgevingen