The thesis explores the socio-territorial orientation of Finnmark, northern Norway, in relation to the growing international interest for the development of the mineral industry. This interest is met locally with directly opposing views, favouring on the one hand the cultural development related to land-based practices, and on the other hand exploiting Finnmarks high resource potential for the benefit of municipal growth and job development. Difficulties arise with the geographic distribution of ethnicities. Proposed developments of the mineral industry find more support in coastal areas and although most indigenous Sámi find their home inland, they depend to a large degree for their livelihood on this coastal areas. The current fractured political landscape is highly related to and tied up with the complex history of internal center-periphery dynamics, colonization and stigmatization, which took (and in a way are still taking) place under the flagship of national assimilation policies of ‘norwegianization’, sustaining Finnmarks not-so-postcolonial present. In this perspective, three mining cases are of interest, due to the different social and political responses to the mining plans: Nussir in Kvalsund, Bidjovagge in Kautokeino and Sydvaranger in Sør-Varanger. Motivations behind decision-making on these cases illustrate clearly the conflicts of interests and demonstrate the difficulties for coexistence of directly opposing world views. Through an understanding of the formation of societal strata, the argument of the thesis unfolds over an in-depth spatiotemporal and on-site analysis of the cases and their specific socio-territorial setting in Finnmark. I argue that we should look more critically at the tendentious role of the modus operandi of urbanists and geologists (more specifically of resource mappers), in their way of influencing decision-making and framing and shaping cultural life, especially in contested territories. The thesis then moves towards a possible way forward through redesigning our conventional tools and methods for a more inclusive territorial-based endogenous growth model, such an inclusive growth model has the potential to bring together on the long term the opposing visions and ideas on the future of the mining industry and the preservation of indigenous culture. I end by arguing that knowledge building from a combined perspective has the potential to evolve the acceptance amongst cultures abiding by different worldviews. Effectively, the newly proposed geological era of the Anthropocene, proposes also the updating modern science with cultural diversity, asking for renewed responses away from the modern tradition.

Since the oil crises during the 1970s, there has been a growing awareness of thermal losses through windows in buildings. Nowadays, double-glazing is a common product for moderate maritime climate. In the Netherlands two permit requirements are calculations regarding nearly zero energy and environmental performance of a building. In order to reach nearly zero energy buildings, triple glazing and even quadruple glazing is considered as possibility. This has negative affects on the environmental performance of a building, because glass does need a lot of resources for production. A solution to that challenge could be the application of thin glass sandwiches, a structural sandwich with two ultra-thin faces (0.5mm) of glass. The structural sandwich is common in the aviation industry to stiffen and strengthen an element without adding significant weight. Downside is the increased conduction through the core material. Question is: to what extent can a thin glass sandwich panel, compared to regular insulated glass units, counterbalance its decreased thermal performance by reducing embodied energy during production? This research focusses on the material choice, quantity and distribution in the core of a sandwich panel in order to maximize thermal performance for a moderate maritime climate. In order to do so, materials from the CES library are evaluated. Detailed analytical calculations are used to determine the thermal performance regarding different patterns. FEA simulation software is used to determine the thermal performance regarding the cross-section of the actual thermal bridge between the two faces. From this research, the best solution is picked and evaluated on energy consumption, order to identify the effects on a building scale. General trends are identified and transformed into a design for a thin glass sandwich. Next to that, design guidelines are extracted for designers in order to design a thin glass sandwich without the need of calculating.

Families are leaving the city of Amsterdam, mainly due to a lack of safety, child friendly outdoor spaces and affordable and appropriate size housing. Yet many of them do want to stay in the city, and the city wants to maintain them too, as they are important for the whole circle of city life. The notion of ‘family’ though is rather general, and usually implies traditional families. However, the amount of ‘modern’ families, such as single parent-, co-parent- and patchwork families is growing. They have even more specific needs than traditional families, due to their often complicated household configuration. The main task of this project is to provide suitable housing for these modern families, thus housing that is: child friendly and adaptable to changing household configurations.

Amsterdam is like many other cities facing several problems in the coming future. For my graduation project especially two project are important.

Firstly, our food system is under a lot of pressure. Worldwide we are not able to feed the global population. On a smaller scale the population of cities is growing due to urbanization. The urbanization causes difficulties to feed the urban citizens. Next to that, urbanizations also causes a growing distance between us and our food. A close relation with the food we eat is helping to understand the need for change.

Secondly, due to the earlier mentioned urbanization, Amsterdam is facing a housing shortage. Especially starters do have a hard time finding a suitable place to live within the city. Starters on the housing market cannot find a place to live because of a lack of availability and affordability. Densification of the city will help solving the housing shortage and the high prices.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to research the potential of smart tools in the increasingly dynamic used campus workplace from a user perspective, to provide the campus manager with information on both the smart tool product and the smart tool implementation process.
Methodology: The currently used smart tools are explored by filling out a standardized form. The in-depth case studies are conducted following the user journey approach. By drawing a timeline of a day and mapping the different events with associated feelings, an in-depth view of the users’ day can be captured.
Findings: The findings show 9 different smart tools functions. Within these groups, smart tools differ in terms of level of accuracy and combination of provided functions. The user journeys present the diversity in smart tool requests that users can have, which is strongly related to the provided workplace. Based on the findings, implications for the campus manager are summarized in an ambition framework, which presents four strategies to approach a smart tool project.
Practical implications: The findings from this research are based on the campus manager perspective and therefore provide implications for the campus manager.
Originality: The paper provides insights in several smart tool projects. As still many smart tool projects are not considered to be successful after implementation, information is needed to guide campus manager throughout this process.

The design of this family friendly building complex in the city center of Amsterdam is the result of the Dutch Housing graduation studio, Stronghold Amsterdam 2017 - 2018. This project focusses on the city living of Amsterdam, where high density and future orientation are very important.

There is an increasing amount of young families that leave the big cities. In this Amsterdam has the highest number of all cities in the Netherlands. The main reason for leaving is the extension of the family (or plan to), which results in new requirements for the house and living environment. Most families want to stay in the city but can’t find a house that meets the new requirements. They look for more space, a safe environment for children to play and for an affordable price. This is not possible in the housing market of Amsterdam.

To provide a living environment for these young families in Amsterdam the research reviewed the needs of young families and investigated which design solutions could satisfy them on the scale of the neighbourhood, building and dwelling. These design solutions are obtained from literature and six case studies and combined in a scheme. The main aspects that are important for the living environment of young families are: safety, facilities, playing and interaction, supervision, space and identity. All the design solutions are divided into these aspects.

A personal choice of some of the design solutions from the six topics provide the focus of the design. The design creates affordable housing and a safe living environment in the city center of Amsterdam, on the Tweede Weteringsplantsoen. To provide this the design expends the living space of the residents towards the collective space of the building. This consists out of a court-like raised square and a new street level on the fourth floor of the complex with a gallery and small squares. These open spaces at the top provide the characteristic form of the building and a strong identity. The dwellings are orientated towards the collective spaces of the building, to allow for supervision of the children playing outside. Children of different ages can slowly expend their range of action from the safety of the shared spaces of the building towards the city. The layout of the dwellings provides flexible use of the rooms and the possibility to create more rooms.