Dealing with Uncertainties in Fresh Water Supply: Experiences in the Netherlands

Developing fresh water supply strategies for the long term needs to take into account the fact that the future is deeply uncertain. Not only the extent of climate change and the extent and nature of its impacts are unknown, also socio-economic conditions may change in unpredictable ways, as well as social preferences. Often, it is not possible...

Adaptive delta management: Roots and branches

Deltas are generally recognized as vulnerable to climate change and therefore a salient topic in adaptation science. Deltas are also highly dynamic systems viewed from physical (erosion, sedimentation, subsidence), social (demographic), economic (trade), infrastructures (transport, energy, metropolization) and cultural (multiethnic) perspectives...

Modeling Framework for Uncovering System Behaviors in Biofuels Supply Chain Network

A full realization of alternative energy such as biofuels depends on the existence of a viable supply chain (SC) network. This work seeks to understand the dynamics of biofuels SC network by developing an approach to model the dynamics and characterize system behavior. A multi-actor approach is pursued in which the interests of three supply...

Pilot Projects in Water Management

Pilot projects appear in many forms in policy making and management. In an effort to understand the nature and use of pilot projects and improve their effectiveness, we undertake a practice-based and theoretical study of the pilot project phenomenon. First, we examine the roles assigned to pilot projects in the policy development literature and...

The Influence of Scale Preferences on the Design of a Water Innovation: A Case in Dutch River Management

The debate on scale use in river management focuses primarily on the (lack of) fit between the biogeophysical and institutional systems. However, in this article we focus on the ‘subjective’ aspect of scale preferences in water governance. We apply an adapted version of the Integrated Scale Hierarchy for Rivers to determine the degree of fit...

Hop, Step, Step and Jump: Towards Real-World Complexity @ Delft University of Technology

This paper deals with System Dynamics education at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. It focuses more specifically on the quadruple jump approach towards dealing with real-world dynamic complexity. The paper starts with an overview of the System Dynamics courses, situated within the broader curriculum. Then recent innovations in...

A framework for identifying and qualifying uncertainty in policy making: The case of intelligent transport systems

Negotiating Knowledge in Systems Engineering Curriculum Design: Shaping the Present While Struggling with the Past

Designing a systems engineering curriculum is a complex process, not in the least because it involves a variety of academic professionals whose perceptions and interests rarely concur from the onset. The variety in stakeholders breeds variety not only in values and objectives, but also in supposed—and mostly tacit—views of an educational system....

Emerging conflict in collaborative mapping: Towards a deeper understanding?

In spatial planning and environmental management, maps are found very helpful in many situations, but in other situations they may also deepen conflicts or be ignored. This paper addresses the question what explains such phenomena, with particular emphasis on, and reference to, collaborative policymaking settings in the Netherlands. We have...