The relation between proximity to and characteristics of green spaces to physical activity and health: A multi-dimensional sensitivity analysis in four European cities

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases are the global disease burden of our time, with physical inactivity identified as one major risk factor. Green spaces are associated with increased physical activity of nearby residents. But there are still gaps in understanding which proximity and what characteristics of green spaces can trigger...

Estimated impact of CO2 and NOx emission reduction targets on car ownership and car use in The Netherlands

Densely populated areas are major sources of air, soil and water pollution. Agriculture, manufacturing, consumer households and road traffic all have their share. This is particularly true for the country featured in this paper: the Netherlands. Continuous pollution of the air and soil manifests itself as acification, decalcification and...

Agent decision-making: The Elephant in the Room - Enabling the justification of decision model fit in social-ecological models

Agent-based models are particularly suitable to reflect the dynamics of humans, nature, and their interactions, making them a crucial approach for understanding social-ecological systems. The formalisations of human decision-making are central to resulting model behaviours. Despite awareness of the complexity of human behaviour in social...

Effectiveness of window signalling systems in open-plan workplaces: Evidence from field work

Occupants are often unaware of window-opening strategies that can enhance their well-being and reduce energy consumption. Window feedback systems that indicate when to manually operate a window have become a strategy for enhancing the indoor climate, occupant’s satisfaction and energy efficiency. These systems are recognized for providing the...

Including justice in renovation policies considering the socio-spatial vulnerability to energy poverty: A Case Study-Mixed Methods (CS-MM) approach

Driven by climate change and energy crises, an increasing number of households in the European Union are becoming vulnerable to energy poverty. However, current renovation programs fall short in effectively targeting and addressing the needs of vulnerable groups, particularly in underprivileged neighborhoods where low effectiveness rates and...

Optimising the involvement of tenants in the decision-making process for energy efficiency renovation: Revealing behavioural barriers of tenants

Energy efficiency renovation (EER) of the existing residential housing stock is crucial to achieving further decarbonization to be climate neutral by 2050. This transition is particularly challenging for affordable rental housing providers as they have to make intensive investment decisions while balancing rental affordability for their low- and...

Mitigating personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chain disruptions in pandemics – a system dynamics approach

Purpose: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has emerged as an unprecedented health crisis worldwide and heavily disrupted the healthcare supply chain. This study focuses on analysing the different types of disruptions occurring in personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic and on proposing mitigation...

The ideal type of valuer: expert, service provider or reporter? An investigation into prevailing role types in commercial valuation

Purpose: The purpose of this paper aims to disclose shared beliefs and understandings about the concept of professionalism amongst Dutch commercial real estate valuers. It examines prevailing logics of action in a mature European valuation industry and reflects on the potential influence of these logics on the occurrence of judgement bias in...

Insights into factors affecting the combined bicycle-transit mode

This paper considers an increasingly popular, sustainable multimodality: the combination of bicycle and transit. The flexibility of the bicycle combined with the speed and comfort of good transit can be a highly competitive alternative to the car. This study shows that many factors influence the uptake and attractiveness of the bicycle...

The Y factor for Climate Change abatement – A method to rank options beyond abatement costs

The tools available to translate climate targets into abatement actions are mainly based on costs and technical feasibility. Options for greenhouse gas abatement span all sectors, all countries, and involve a huge variety of technologies. The reasons for abatement to be realized, or not, are diverse and complex. In particular, the political...

A design-based vision on future roles in engineering

In this paper, we present a vision on how engineers can play different roles in future society 2030. First we predicted how society in the Netherlands (in relation to Europe and the rest of the world) is going to develop and how future engineers will behave, act and take their position in this future world. We used the ‘Vision in Design’...

Insights into factors affecting the combined bicycletransit mode

This paper considers an upcoming, sustainable multimodality: the combination of bicycle and transit. The flexibility of the bicycle combined with the speed and comfort of good transit can be a highly competitive alternative to the car. This study shows that many factors influence the uptake and attractiveness of the bicycletransit combination....

Improving railway passengers experience: Two perspectives

This paper describes two perspectives to improve the passenger experience. The passenger satisfaction pyramid is introduced, consisting of the base of the pyramid (dissatisfiers) focusing on time well saved and the top of the pyramid (satisfiers) aiming at time well spent. The challenge in planning and design of public transport services is to...

Proof-of-concept of a questionnaire to understand occupants’ comfort and energy behaviours: First results on home occupant archetypes

Background: This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the TwoStep cluster analysis and the development and first results of a new questionnaire for measuring comfort, health, and energy habits. The justification for the questionnaire is to consolidate into one instrument questions of six specific domains about occupants’ energy consumption...

Behaviour of cyclists and pedestrians near right angled, sloped and levelled kerb types: Do risks associated to height differences of kerbs weigh up against other factors?

To create a safer environment for bicyclists and pedestrians, the usefulness of different types of kerbs as a separation between these two modes has been questioned by both researchers and practitioners. Right angled kerbs pose risks to cyclists due to their height but are assumed to separate them well from pedestrians. Sloped and levelled kerb...

Value systems and intentions to interact in social media: The digital natives

Current research on social media focus on perceptions, behavioural intention, usage, and seldom take value systems into account. Values are expected to impact behaviour directly or indirectly via intervening constructs, for example, attitude. This paper explores, starting from the Theory of Trying, how value systems impact the digital natives...