Hydrogen technology offers a promising opportunity to mitigate problems that arise due to the energy transition. It can enable storage and balancing for surplus in electricity production from intermittent resources as solar energy and wind power. Electrolysis converts green electricity into hydrogen. Hydrogen is suggested to be introduced into the current natural gas grid as sustainable replacement of natural gas in households. This allows for reduction of CO2 emissions and heating buildings that are not easily insulated. The number of poorly insulated homes is difficult using electrical low temperature heat pumps. Even though hydrogen offers many functional advantages, there are potential barriers that may restrain the introduction of hydrogen into the energy system. Often siting of large-scale renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels, causes anxiety and societal opposition. The reason for opposition is often distrust in institutions and technology that fails to equally distribute costs and benefits amongst stakeholders, authorities and residents. To prevent this for hydrogen infrastructure, this research studies how hydrogen technology can incorporate local values. This allows for adapting technology to local needs and involving households in decision making. Acceptable technology and a responsible process increase trust and acceptance when the infrastructure is actually adjusted. This research answers the question which technical design choices provide for an acceptable and responsible design of hydrogen distribution and domestic use to households in Stad aan ´t Haringvliet. Stad aan ‘t Haringvliet is used as case to research how to identify values and capabilities that play a role when designing hydrogen infrastructure for a specific local context. A participatory modelling approach is developed and executed. The approach involves stakeholders and households in the process of developing an Agent-Based Model. The model simulates the acceptability of hydrogen technology for households and identifies issues to be addressed in the next project phases. The Capability Approach and Value-Sensitive Design form the conceptual basis of this research. The effects of technology on households is assessed in terms of valuable capabilities and individual well-being. Capabilities create well-being as they allow users to choose e.g. how to heat and what technology to buy. The outcomes of this research are specific local requirements and general knowledge on how to develop acceptable technology. Hydrogen infrastructure is acceptable when it has only a small impact on households and offers comfort and security against the same costs as the current system. Higher costs are possibly acceptable when the new system reduces CO2 emissions or offers higher comfort. However, technology alone is not able to incorporate the whole set of important values. Additional institutional measures as for example information, participation and support are required to gain long term acceptance.

The goal of this research is to identify barriers that hinder the development of phosphorus (P) recycling by the communal water chain. Insights into these barriers can lead to a better understanding of the situation and can lead to possible solutions to overcome the obstacles. The research shows that P recycling is a complex field with numerous actors involved and with multiple options to recover phosphate. To identify the barriers, a list of potential barriers was created based on the Innovation System theory, the theory of Functions of Innovation Systems and barriers from Circular Economy literature. Based on six perspectives, the institutional, technological, financial, infrastructural, knowledge and social perspective, the value chain was analysed to create an overview of the current situation of P recycling in the Dutch communal wastewater chain. The research focusses on struvite from wastewater and phosphorus from sludge ash. The lack of demand is regarded as the most important barrier. Barriers related to this issue are the lack of a sense of urgency by consumers, the price gap between raw and recycled phosphorus and the risk perception related to recycled materials. Phosphorus recycling needs cooperation between actors in the whole value chain and needs a system perspective. Without such a view, investments in one part of the value chain can reduce the effectiveness of investments in other parts.

Our housing market is challenged. Housing prices are rising, and the number of single-person households is increasing, which impacts the affordability of housing. Cohousing offers a possible solution to this problem. However, the level of empowerment of cohousing communities to self-organize is troubled by financial or legal barriers, among other things. Self-organization is defined as: initiatives that emerge spontaneously in civil society from autonomous community-based networks of citizens, who are part of the urban system but independent of government procedures, and that are created around a common intrinsic motivation. The concept of sharing economy might provide a solution for the current barriers to cohousing development. Sharing economy is defined as: collaborative consumption of under-utilized goods, enabled through access rather than ownership, often through the use of community-based online services. This research connects sharing economy to cohousing by looking at empowerment of self-organization of cohousing initiatives. Sharing economy and self-organization of cohousing communities are connected because both are community-based initiatives, which are built upon a common motivation, and both are not facilitated by political power. The following research question was answered by studying a cohousing initiative: How can the concept of sharing economy support empowerment of cohousing communities towards self-organization to create affordable homes? This study researches empowerment by researching the community’s social capital, research shows that social capital contributes to community empowerment. Research findings show that the studied cohousing project can be viewed as a sharing economy. This leads to both advantages and disadvantages for the community. Moreover, the project struggles with its self-organization and is largely dependent on the housing corporation. Lastly, the cohousing project possesses social capital, but some elements can be improved. Moreover, the research found that the sharing economy within the cohousing initiative can support some conditions for self-organization, as well as bonding social capital. However, the aforementioned disadvantages of the case study’s sharing economy may limit the benefits. To reduce the disadvantages of sharing economy, this study proposes a communication tool as a possible solution for improving communication in the studied cohousing project. The tool, called ‘(im)Perfection Puzzle’, uses geometric shapes to help residents explain their thoughts and ideas regarding a specific problem and as a result work towards the acceptance of the differences in everyone’s ideas. A test of the tool illustrated that the tool has potential, but future research is recommended as long term effects remain unclear. Also, research with other cohousing projects is recommended for validating the connection between sharing economy and self-organization, and sharing economy and social capital.

Many nutrition education programmes currently face issues with implementation at schools. Little is known about causes for these issues. Research has shown that implementation of innovations like nutrition education programmes is influenced by adoption which in turn is affected by a multitude of determinants. The first objective of this thesis was to investigate the adoption of nutrition education programmes at primary schools and the association with implementation dose. The second objective was to create a tool to support the adoption of Taste Lessons. School-based nutrition education programmes are regarded as educational innovations in this thesis. An innovation is defined in this thesis as a novel, inventive and useable solutions related to people’s needs. In this context adoption is defined as the process which starts from the moment the teacher hears about the programme until the decision is made whether to use it. The number lessons implemented by the teachers is referred to as the implementation dose in this thesis. To reach the first objective, the adoption of Taste Lessons, EU-Schoolfruit and school-based nutrition education programmes in general, was evaluated. Data analyses were performed to investigate the association of the score on adoption determinants with implementation dose of Taste Lessons. Multilevel analyses were performed to compare the changes in intended programme outcomes over time between implementation dose categories. To reach the second objective, a Delphi study was performed to gain insight into the key stakeholders’ needs in the adoption process of Taste Lessons. In addition to these insights, literature and expert consults were used to develop a tool. This tool aims to support the adoption of Taste Lessons. Twenty-eight determinants important for adoption have been established. Several determinants that could be barriers for the adoption of Taste Lessons and EU-Schoolfruit have been identified. Significant positive associations have been found between implementation dose and the number of support staff, awareness of the programme’s contents, descriptive and subjective norm, and correctness of the programme. A significant negative association has been found with the teacher experiencing support from professionals. The implementation dose was significant positively associated with change in children’s nutrition knowledge. No significant association of the implementation dose with change of children’s fruit and vegetable consumption was found. Based on the above mentioned results in combination with the results from second part of the thesis a tool to support the adoption of Taste Lessons was developed. The digital tool should show teachers how they can tailor the programme to their needs, inform them about the contents, effectiveness and substation of the programme, and stimulate them to take action for implementation. The take home message of this research is that adoption determinants are associated with implementation dose, which in turn, is associated with the programme’s effectiveness. Context specific strategies for support of the adoption phase in the dissemination of nutrition education programmes should be developed, of which the tool developed in this research is an example. The strategy should be based on literature and practice, to ensure the feasibility, desirability and viability.

Building with Nature (BwN) is a relatively novel way of thinking for flood protection. Unlike traditional flood protection solutions that are poised to bring forces of nature to a halt, the BwN’s philosophy is to use natural dynamic processes for engineering advantage as a protection against natural disasters and events. Yet, the BwN design philosophy faces obstacles in terms of technical efficacy and evaluating added benefits when compared to traditional flood defence solutions. This research sets out to understand how these obstacles faced by the BwN design philosophy play a role in the consideration of a BwN flood defence solution during project development. This is done by relating the assessment of the added benefits to five discussion fields, namely Costs, Function, Policy, Responsibility and Support. In doing so it can be determined which discussion fields play an important part in embracing a BwN design based on its added benefits while considering its technical uncertainties. This research limits itself to a case study of the Houtribdijk reinforcement project where both traditional and BwN flood defence solutions were employed. Furthermore, this research limits itself to the project phase where flood defence options are still considered. This research found that although BwN flood defence project face technical uncertainties and discussions on efficacy, there is willingness to embrace a BwN solution when involved parties can agree on shared responsibilities. The curators of a flood defence project were found to be least willing to accept a technically uncertain design as they are accountable should it fail. The curators’ concern regarding their responsibilities can be mitigated and they can be more open to alternative solution if they are ensured of proper research and shared accountability when other values are destroyed in favour of flood protection. It was also found that the effect on stakeholders in financing and taking share of the responsibilities also have a positive effect on embracement of a BwN solution when the discussions on efficacy have not yet been settled.

The study is the first to describe and model the dynamics and characteristics of communication during midstream modulation. A meta-model of seven communication traditions is deployed to frame the nature of communication. The study also validates the effectiveness of midstream modulation in the field of medical device technology.

Background: There is an increasing need for structured methods that encourage effective knowledge sharing and collaborations at the working floor to implement innovation strategies, especially in case of employer - employee relationships. Objective: This research (master thesis) focused on knowledge sharing on the work floor during interprofessional collaborations to achieve durable innovation in hierarchical organisations using Communities of Practice. An integrative practical and theoretical study has been conducted. Research results: Communities of Practice managers can facilitate knowledge sharing in hierarchical organisations by actively fulfilling the connecting role between the innovation strategy managers and the executive professionals at the working floor. The COP managers can facilitate knowledge sharing by integrating the three levels (strategic, tactical and operational) using the Community Builder Program. Therefore, three steps need to be taken: 1) Develop close connections between the innovation strategists and themselves to align the organisation’s innovation strategy with their communities of practices’ raison d’être. 2) Design a COP strategy (using the Collaboration Analyser) aligned with the innovation strategy and simultaneously should all COP managers’ personal perspectives be aligned prior to the execution of the COP strategy. 3) Facilitate knowledge sharing and open communication in the design of the collaboration between COP members and their employers they are working with to share the gathered COP knowledge and put into practice. Use the C-Booster. Deliverables: The research resulted in three parts: 1) Collaboration Analyser: A conceptual collaboration model that supports in knowledge sharing and helps COP managers to analyse the collaborations between COP members. 2) C-Booster: A tool that facilitates creative and collaborative thinking and open communication during the ‘fuzzy front design stage’ of the collaboration between two professionals at the working floor. 3) Community Builder Program: A program that facilitates COP management in the alignment with the innovation strategy with the collaborations at the work floor, using the model and tool.

The goal of this thesis was to ‘develop a tool that offers insights in message framing for behaviour change to improve communication towards customers.’ By using an Design Based Research and Double Diamond approach constant iterations were made between theory and practice to develop a support tool that helps sustainable start-ups to design message frames that stimulate pro-environmental consumer behaviour change. Furture recommendations are to further develop the tool, test the effects, and stimulate more integrated research on the psychology of behaviour change, sustainable behaviour barriers, and framing designs.

The operating rooms (OR) in hospitals is a complex system, with a high number of innovations every year. Therefore the healthcare professionals (HCPs) are required to choose between the several aspects and innovations for the OR. Decision-making requires a mutual vision (Littlejohn et al., 2017) and should be based on evidence (Turner et al., 2017). To improve the well-informed decision-making, the main research question is: “How can a decision-support tool for optimisation in the operating room help a healthcare professional to select the objectives and the assessment criteria for performance optimisation of the operating room and the optimisation impact?”. The evidence for the tool consists of the 223 relations between the objectives and the assessment criteria (metrics) and 253 causalities of metrics that express the impact. There is a high heterogeneous perspective on the objectives of the optimisation of the performance of the OR and the criteria of assessing the quantification of (the optimisation of) the OR performance, which makes it harder to create a mutual vision on the OR performance. To achieve a mutual vision, a holistic view and consider all the perspectives, including the impact of optimisations, the HCPs should all share their perspectives on the objectives and the situation should be considered in its whole (Leinonen et al., 2008; Littlejohn et al., 2017). Therefore, the decision-making process could benefit of a decision-support tool. In this study a new tool is developed, namely the Performance Operating Room Counselling (PORC-)tool. This tool provides a holistic view of the OR performance (optimisation), by displaying evidence of the relations between objectives and metrics and the causalities. It also supports a conversation, which could lead to a mutual vision (Littlejohn et al., 2017). The tool is based on the concepts flowchart, matrix table and Microsoft Excel, for respectively the roadmap, the information display and the running-programme. The PORC-tool consists of an Excel file, a brochure and a manual with a more elaborated version of the functionality and the steps. The PORC-tool provides a clear and structural overview with evidence, to gather information more easily, provides multiple perspectives on the OR performance and supports to gather more insight into the OR organisation and goals before the decision-making of the HCP. The PORC-tool should be validated in practice and the functionality should be approved by HCPs. In the future, the tool can also be extended on perspectives, field of interest, aesthetics and functionality. To conclude, the answer to the main research question is that the HCPs should be facilitated to consider the whole complex system in their decision-making process, and support the decision-making based on evidence and with a mutual vision.

The living lab methodology is an approach to realise the innovation process by bringing together users, technology and business for collective ideation in a real-life environment. This study looked into the human level of the boundary-spanning activities within a living lab group via a case study on a university living lab of medical devices. This research aimed to provide insights on the interpersonal interaction to optimise the mutual learning between participants of a university living lab. The results of this research were translated into a communication tool to realise the optimal mutual learning within a living lab context. This research found out that the identification process played an important role in facilitating users to obtain benefits of the boundary-spanning activities while mitigating the possibility of conflicts. In the process of dynamic formation of professional identity in a living lab context, various identities of competence come closer and intersect with each other. The supervenient overlapping area of different competence can be regarded as the identity of knowledgeability. Knowledgeability manifests the ability to see the relevance of other competence to a professional’s own competence. Translated into practice in the design process of medical devices, the identity of competence provides a feasibility scope of expertise, which makes sure the design decision would be viable in the future commercialisation according to a certain aspect. Actors with knowledgeability to all the expertise in a group can better tweak the decision into the overlapping area of all the feasibility scopes of expertise, for example, of clinical, engineering and commercial expertise in this case. This research suggests that knowledgeability could be an indicator of so-called boundary-spanning competence. Knowledgeability is the result of identification in the interdisciplinary interaction within a living lab context. When designing a tool to facilitate the acquisition of knowledgeability, this study utilised the three modes of identification, namely imagination, engagement and alignment as the foundation of the tool. The tool stimulates reflection of the users through a series of inspiring questions and guides the users to reap the benefits of daily interdisciplinary conversations through communicative solutions. The main recommendations for future research entail taking this preliminary tool as a starting point to explore the cognitive activities further when people engage in boundary-spanning activities and the psychological aspect of the identification process. Furthermore, defining the quantitative criteria of knowledgeability would greatly improve the reliability and usefulness of the tool.

Biodesign plays a critical role in developing innovative solutions, such as carbon capturing with living materials that incorporate photosynthetic organisms. Team effectiveness is a crucial aspect of successful collaboration and has been extensively studied in various fields. However, research on team effectiveness in the emerging field of Biodesign remains limited. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the impact of transdisciplinary collaboration on team effectiveness and proposing strategies for its enhancement in the future. In scientific teams, factors such as individual expertise, disciplinary composition, and social dynamics significantly influence team effectiveness. Issues related to team leadership, coordination, and communication have been identified as major contributors to problems in many industries. This study focuses on exploring how the convergence of different scientific backgrounds and individual perspectives within transdisciplinary Biodesign teams influences team effectiveness. By gaining valuable insights into the dynamics at play, this research aims to lay the foundation for the development of a tool that can enhance team effectiveness across Biodesign projects. To address the research objective, several sub-questions are proposed. The first sub-question explores themes such as team processes, social networks, hierarchy, disciplinarity, and participatory design that impact team effectiveness in scientific teams. A comprehensive literature study will shed light on this sub-question. The second sub-question investigates the specific themes that affect overall team effectiveness in the Biodesign field. An exploratory case study, involving six expert interviews, will provide insights into this sub-question. Finally, the third sub-question explores the potential of leveraging these identified themes to enhance the team effectiveness of a Biodesign research group. This sub-question will be answered by connecting the findings from the literature study to the data obtained from the case study. In the final phase of this thesis, a tool called the Dual Feedback System (DFS) was developed with the purpose of enhancing team effectiveness in Biodesign and other academic teams. DFS comprises two components: the Satisfaction Survey and the Feedback Meeting. It involves BEP, MEP, or PhD students and their supervisors who complete the survey to provide feedback on different aspects of the ongoing project, including project satisfaction, teamwork, and supervision. The survey results serve as the foundation for the subsequent Feedback Meeting, which aims to facilitate open communication and bridge the existing hierarchical gap between participants, fostering a collaborative and constructive environment. Overall, this thesis contributes to our understanding of team effectiveness in the Biodesign field and provides valuable insights in how collaborations can be improved and team effectiveness in transdisciplinary research teams can be enhanced. The findings serve as the basis for the development of DFS, designed to enhance team effectiveness in Biodesign and other academic teams. The implementation of this tool within teams at TU Delft will further amplify its impact, particularly in important areas such as sustainability.

Academic research is inherently cooperative, with researchers exchanging information through formal publications as well as direct messaging. Academia are, however, becoming increasingly competitive: limited financial resources and research spots, among other things, may now affect how researchers cooperate and interact in general. In the current study, the congruence of cooperative and competitive interactions in academia was investigated. To this end, the existing knowledge on the competition and cooperation amalgamation "coopetition", coined for industry relationships, was used. A theoretical framework on coopetition and related theories relavant to academic relationships was constructed. This framework was used to conduct an online survey on academic coopetition among academic microscopy researchers in the Netherlands. The results suggested that competition and cooperation in academia are related yet separate, so that an increase in one does not necessitate a decrease in the other and vice versa. Additionally, the survey responses suggested a discrepancy between the respondents' reported competitive sentiments and those apparent from their other answers. To address this discrepancy, and help academic researchers reflect on what competition and cooperation mean to them, the interactive Guide for Introspection on Competition and Cooperation (GICCo) was developed.

The development of research evaluation frameworks sparked a focus on research impact. Therefore, this study explores the concept of research impact, looking at its various interpretations, and possible indicators and enablers. Finally, a design proposal for an impact mapping tool is made, to give scientists more awareness of the impact of their research.

Gender stereotypical beliefs play a role in everyone’s life, whether people impose personal and subjective norms on themselves, or judge others based on these existing beliefs. Gender stereotypes present a limited and inaccurate representation of reality’s complexity and have the ability to evoke pain and backlash. The goal of this master’s graduation project was to increase awareness about gender stereotypes and the thereof deriving effects on people. This project is part of a double degree program, in which the masters ‘Design for Interaction’ and ‘Communication Design for Innovation’ are combined. This meant that the objective was applied in two contexts with both a specific target group, namely Dutch high school students (aged 15 to 18) and academic professionals working within the TU Delft. Through a non-systematic literature research further understanding of gender stereotypes and the resulting impact on people was achieved. In modern western society, gender is generally viewed from a binary perspective. But gender isn’t a category with only two variables. The interpretation of gender is socially constructed, and can differ per culture and can change overtime. Gender stereotypes are learned from a young age, children as old as 18 months will start to comprehend them. This goes to show that gender stereotypes play an influential role during a large part of people’s lives. It also indicated that gender stereotypical beliefs are deeply rooted and unconscious, which makes challenging them harder. Additional to literature research, empirical research activities were performed. These existed of a mini experiment in which eight participants were asked about concepts related to gender, three interviews with academic professionals and an exploration of currently available informative media for teenagers. The conclusions drawn from these empirical research efforts are as follows. When aiming to increase awareness, it does help to encounter multiple perspectives on gender and gender stereotypes. Additionally, it is beneficial to be able to communicate with others about the matter. The created design concepts aim to do just that and should provide the target groups with guidance in the process of increasing awareness about gender stereotypes. In the context of high school students, the design concept created is a teaching method. In five classroom sessions teenagers are brought in contact with different perspectives on gender, can have conversations about the topic with peers and are guided in reflection. Between the lessons the students work on an individual assignment. To support the teenagers in their learning efforts, different teaching materials were created. These are for example games, a quiz, worksheets and subject inspiration-cards. For the academic professionals a dialogue intervention was designed. During a ten step process these professionals are guided in sharing a personal experience related to gender stereotypes. The aim is to establish conversation amongst each other about these stories. The steps of the process were based on a conversation with a dialogue expert, the method of appreciative inquiry and a three-step model from awareness to action. Based on initial evaluation both design concepts seem to be promising in achieving their objectives. Further testing could help to get an even better understanding of the usefulness of both concepts and could lead to design iterations.

This report contains the results of the two thesis studies that finalise a combined MSc--programs of Reservoir Geology and Science Communication. The first part of the report comprises the multi-scale data (kilometers to meters scale) analysis of a) the large--scale architecture of the subsurface Daly Waters Arch which was obtained from seismic data interpretation; and b) fracture pattern characterisation by outcrop measurements and drone imagery in the Tomkinson Province. Both the Daly Waters Arch and the Tomkinson Province are located in the largely undeformed Palaeo-- to Meso--Proterozoic Greater McArthur Basin in the Northern Territory, Australia. In July 2019, a geological fieldwork was conducted in the Tomkinson Province to collect the fracture data with the drone. In this research, the Daly Waters Arch and the Tomkinson Province have been geologically linked based on seismic and fracture data. By discussing analog cases of far-field deformation, these results have been placed in a larger context of large--scale basin deformation. The second part of the report focuses on the Netherlands, where ambitious goals have been set for the implementation of geothermal energy in the energy transition. During the gas production in Groningen, a negative social perspective towards mining operations, in general, was developed. For the implementation of geothermal energy, an approach for the communication of technical uncertainties between the initiators and the local public of a geothermal project is designed in this study. Technical uncertainties that are present in geothermal energy implementation in the Netherlands have been identified during semi-structured expert-interviews with different stakeholders in the spectrum of geothermal energy. The approach addresses guidelines for the communication of the context, the goal, the technical uncertainties present in the geothermal project, the main communicating actors, their reference frames, and the situation in which the communication process takes place.

The goal of this graduation project, conducted for the master science communication at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), was to design a tool to help partners of diabetes type 1 patients to come closer to the patient, by conversations about diabetes, to gain more insights in how the patients feels and how to support. The project is part of the Integrated Care Program for Diabetes type 1 patients (INCAP) in which ultiple partners are involved (SERMAS, Medtronic, Universidad Politécnica Madrid, TU Delft).

Throughout the work, the goal was to develop the physical layer of a quantum network stack. The layer of the network stack connected to the physical layer is the link layer. For entanglement-based quantum networks, we demonstrated the successful operation of a link layer and a physical layer. The physical layer’s entanglement generation procedure—implemented here using two NV center-based quantum network nodes—is abstracted by the link layer into a robust platform-independent service that can be utilized to run quantum networking applications. Other quantum network platforms using the approaches provided here (which are not unique to our diamond devices) will accelerate the development of large-scale and heterogeneous quantum networks. ---------------- A vision is developed on how successful university-industry collaborations can be established in the field of quantum technology development. By looking at the stakeholders, purpose and type of collaboration, and influencing factors, a three-step model is developed to move from awareness to acceptance to collaboration. By overcoming the existing barriers, university-industry collaborations can be successfully realized.

The energy system is a complex socio-technical system, characterised by a multitude of stakeholders, different goals, long-term investments, and large scale sub systems with long lifetimes. The government of the Netherlands aims to support the transition of the energy system of the Netherlands towards a sustainable system by implementing policy measures. Recently, companies have voiced their concerns on the fluctuating effects of policy measures in the Netherlands and have asked for a more long term vision of policy measures. This long term vision can be (partly) provided by analysing the interference in the energy system. Another component of a policy strategy is that to develop and implement a long term policy strategy, multiple governmental organisation have to collaborate. The policy measures are designed by different ministries within the Netherlands. In order to implement the coherent policy strategy, collaboration between these ministries is essential. This research proposes a methodology to identify five types of interference and to analyse the effects of the identified interference on the Dutch energy system. This categorization of interference allows for a discussion on the unavoidable nature of interference. Moreover, it shows which types of interference can prove to be beneficial at certain times. A conceptual theoretical framework for factors that influence interorganizational collaboration between public parties has been constructed based on literature, and is tested and validated within the case study. The research into interorganizational collaboration also includes a focus on the relations between the identified factors. The relations can provide insight into the more complex system view of the factors that influence interorganizational collaboration between public parties. Both researches are based on a view of the world in systems, and for both is searched for links between sub-systems. Finding the link between the technical energy system and the collaborations required in policy making was based on this system perspective. These two topics are invariably linked together. The integrations in the energy system increases the need for collaboration, whereas collaboration can increase (the effectiveness of) the integrations in the energy system.

Flooding currently affects 100 million people on average per year globally, and the number is increasing. The performance of dikes under extreme conditions is crucial to societal flood protection. By deploying measurement instruments in and around the embankment, more accurate insights into the actual status of the dike can be achieved that can be used to prevent the failure of a dike. Despite growing awareness of the potential of dike monitoring techniques and effort put into the development and testing of instruments, implementation of instrumental dike monitoring into regular practice remains scarce. The objective of this thesis is therefore to shed light on the factors that influence the implementation of innovation in dike monitoring practice by: (1) assessing and analysing the barriers and drivers for implementation of innovation in dike monitoring, by studying a case study of novel optic fibre pressure sensors and trying to influence this practice by (2) designing a communication oriented intervention for the development phase that enhances the implementation process.

Like many cities in sub-Saharan Africa, Kumasi, Ghana is facing greater groundwater demands in part due to rapid urbanization. However, currently Ghana does not systematically monitor groundwater, which poses a challenge in management and implementation of science-based policy. Additionally, coordination among stakeholders in Ghana’s water sector has been described as inadequate by the National Water Policy which results in greater obstacles in water resource management. In order to simultaneously address these issues, value sensitive design is implemented to synergize diverse stakeholder perspectives to develop groundwater management and monitoring strategies. Value sensitive design provides a theoretical basis for explicitly incorporating values into innovations. In order to address the goal of the study, 46 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the Kumasi water sector were conducted as well as literature and policy reviews. The first research question aims to identify key stakeholders and their role in groundwater management. The results identifed over 40 stakeholder groups in the Kumasi water sector. However, the most well-known groups are Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the Water Resources Commission (WRC). In addition to these government organizations, technical experts, specifically affiliated with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), were cited as necessary to involve in the development of a groundwater monitoring technology. The second research question seeks to identify practical considerations for groundwater monitoring. Here, there was a general negative view of groundwater management with challenges including limited regulation, lack of awareness for groundwater issues, and limited collaboration among groundwater stakeholders. To address these challenges, the most cited design requirement mentioned during the interviews was the need for mass education on water related concerns. Lastly, there were significant concerns among many of the interviewees about borehole drilling and the importance of informal communication between drillers and neighbors to ensure safe and sustainable access to groundwater. The third research question uses value sensitive design protocols to create value profiles for each of the stakeholder groups. The values incorporated in this study are economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, safety, social equity, participation, reliability, and trust. Respondents were asked, through a token allocation activity, to indicate what values are important for groundwater monitoring. Although the value profiles between stakeholder groups were not statistically different, the anecdotal evidence from interviews suggests that participation is connected to other values. This indicates that participation contributes to achieving other values in the implementation of a groundwater monitoring program. The last research question sought to identify communication tools to incorporate considerations derived from the research questions, case studies, Ghanaian water policy, and a theoretical framework based on participatory design. This resulted in the recommendation of three parallel strategies: a) multi-stakeholder involvement, b) technology development and c) a water education campaign. The programs are designed to operate in a cyclic manner based on a social learning model specific to water management. This will enable a groundwater monitoring technology to be developed (b) alongside a water education campaign (c) in the community where water will be monitored. Implementation of a multistakeholder advisory board to coordinate these efforts and facilitate collaboration will ensure a participatory process. The next steps are to disseminate findings to key stakeholders in the Ghana water sector and continuously adapt the action plans as new information is identified.