This thesis studies how spatial circular strategies can contribute to just and climate-resilient transformation in Brazil’s coffee sector. Focusing on Southeast Brazil, it explores how agricultural methods, local resource cycles, and inclusive governance can mitigate and adapt to climate impacts while creating a fairer coffee value chain.

The research reveals that while some circular practices are already being applied, barriers remain to making system change. These include economic pressures, social inequality, and policy structures that favour large-scale, conventional farming. The analysis highlights distinct challenges and opportunities across different farm types. Large farms have the highest environmental impact potential, while small farms face the most social and economic constraints.

The project proposes spatial agricultural and intervention typologies and a practical toolbox to support farmers in transitioning toward circular production. In addition, supporting policy recommendations are suggested. This approach offers a pathway to a more sustainable and fair coffee sector by aligning environmental, economic, and social goals.

The Northern Campine is experiencing depletion. Various forms of this phenomenon are already evident; natural areas are suffering due to intensive agriculture, resulting in a loss of biodiversity. Coupled with climate change, this depletion will worsen. Villages are experiencing a drain on services and a shift in population. This study seeks to develop a regional strategy centred on regenerative sustainability. Rather than focusing on a single aspect, the multiple dimensions of soil, production, society, and history are taken into account. Through spatial and policy analysis, as well as spatial and institutional imagination, the main research question, “How could regenerative sustainability counter ecological and social depletion resulting from intensive land uses and rural shrinkage in the Northern Campine region?” is addressed. Building on the regional strategy, a simulation is conducted across three stages of implementation. This simulation illustrates the various levels at which choices are made, the effects these might have on policy and design, and includes a potential framework for participation. The most significant finding concerns the implementation of regenerative sustainability. The spatial choices made in alignment with it primarily resolve spatial issues. While policy and governance matters can be addressed through spatial design and analysis, they are not entirely resolved. Nevertheless, this study investigates the possibilities arising from a focus on soil as a foundation and regenerative sustainability.

Flood resilience in the Global South remains hindered by the direct transfer of technocratic frameworks from the Global North, which often overlook local socio-geographic contexts. This mismatch creates a resilience deadlock, where rigid, top-down approaches fail to produce sustainable or inclusive outcomes. This thesis investigates how paradoxes emerging from frugal innovation, defined as low-cost, adaptive and community-driven solutions, can help overcome this impasse. Using the Dynamic Equilibrium Model (Smith & Lewis, 2011), the research frames flood resilience as a system of competing but interdependent tensions: . A qualitative methodology was employed, combining literature review with 19 semi-structured interviews from stakeholders across eight countries. Grounded theory coding was used to identify patterns and build a theoretical framework. The study then introduces the concept of Legitimacy Convergence, arguing that frugal innovations become impactful only when they simultaneously achieve technical, institutional, financial and social legitimacy. When any one of these is lacking, innovations risk remaining marginal or short-lived. This framework is validated through a comparison of the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods in Brazil with Odisha’s successful resilience model in India. Ultimately, the thesis proposes a governance-sensitive approach that embraces paradoxes rather than eliminating them. It demonstrates how frugal innovation, when properly legitimized and institutionally supported, can help transform resilience planning in the Global South.

There is a growing emphasis on reducing the amount of carbon that is embodied in buildings, a huge contributor of greenhouse gas emissions is the real estate sector. Despite this, a number of challenges, primary among them economical limitations, obstruct the advancement of meaningful carbon reduction. Interestingly, there is an absence of research that focuses on these financial issues from the perspective of developers, and what little study there is sometimes lacks thorough analysis and practical answers. Reevaluating developers' investment decision-making is crucial, especially in light of the industry's recognition of the need of reducing carbon emissions, especially with regard to embodied carbon. But incorporating these fresh viewpoints into useful models is still a challenging task. Therefore, "How can developers manage the paradox between profitability and embodied carbon reduction?" is the research question. By answering this question, knowledge of the ways in which developers' perspectives are influenced by financial factors when integrating embodied carbon reduction strategies into investment decision-making is improved. The goal of this study is to guide developers and the broader system surrounding this subject to profitable Paris Proof projects. This change is anticipated to enable the installation of new, ecologically friendly dwellings while considerably lowering the building and construction sector's carbon footprint.

Industrialised Construction gains traction as it is seen as a solution to create resource efficiencies in the Built Environment. In practice, this increase in industrialisation leads to an increase in standardisation efforts. Meanwhile, the Circular Economy is incrementally being introduced to the Built Environment. Circular Building is often applied through designing or constructing buildings made out of modular components. The combined efforts of Industrialised Construction and Circular Building, often depicted as standardised modular building or Circular Industrialised Construction, are being researched. However, we know very little about the operation and end-of-life strategies of these buildings.

This research examines the strategies three case companies apply for their standardised modular buildings' operation and end-of-life phases. The research is carried out by conducting interviews with employees of the three case companies. The initial selection of case companies, CitizenM, Daiwa Modular Europe, and Home.Earth, is based on their utilisation of industrialised building methods and their assertions regarding circularity. Additionally, the companies are selected by a few diversifying characteristics, such as whether they are owner/developer, the type of real estate they develop, and the type of components they manufacture (volumetric or planar). After the initial within-case analysis, a cross-case analysis is carried out.

The case studies demonstrate that there exist many differentiating approaches to the operation and end-of-life phases of Circular Industrialised Construction buildings. A reason for these varying methods is on which building layers significant efforts are made to circularise the buildings. An important enabler of circularising the operation and end-of-life phase is to appropriate the design phase and extensively collaborate in or with the manufacturing phase. Additionally, some pitfalls are identified for the application of Circular Industrialised Construction.

Based on the initial results, a Circular Industrialised Construction framework is being proposed. The framework combines the different Shearing Layers Concept and the different phases associated with Industrialised Construction and design. The framework categorises the identified strategies in the different phases based on the Shearing Layer Concept. The aim is to provide a directory that allows companies to incrementally implement circularity efforts or adopt an Industrialised Construction approach.

The Dutch government's 2050 initiative to transition all buildings from natural gas to sustainable heat systems underscores the critical role of stakeholder alignment in energy transition projects. Despite its importance, existing literature lacks a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms required for effective stakeholder collaboration in heat grid projects. This study addresses this gap through an explorative qualitative analysis, employing interviews and a representative case study to examine: How can collective decision-making be orchestrated to overcome the barriers of low carbon heating grid projects in mixed-use neighbourhoods? The findings identify the primary barriers to project success as political-legislative uncertainty, lack of transparency & trust, and lack of participation & cooperation, and propose a collective decision-making framework for enhancing stakeholder decision-making processes outlining which stakeholders should be involved during barrier/stakeholder intensive moments. The research contributes to the literature on collaborative innovation for heating grids by outlining strategies for overcoming obstacles in heat grid project implementation, highlighting the significance of coordinated action among diverse stakeholders for achieving energy transition goals.

The Dutch government has set climate targets to reduce carbon emissions by 49% by 2030 and 95% by 2050 with respect to the 1990 levels. The construction sector contributes to 38% of national emissions making it a major contributor to climate change. The significant stock of existing buildings in the Netherlands presents a vital opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly as many of these buildings were constructed before the adoption of sustainability standards. Real estate institutional investors, who manage large portfolios of these older buildings, are key to driving this transition. While their current renovation practices focus primarily on operational carbon reduction, a whole-life carbon (WLC) approach incorporating embodied carbon is essential for meeting the Netherlands' climate targets. Despite recognizing WLC's importance, investors lack practical guidance for implementation. This research investigates how real estate institutional investors can incorporate embodied carbon considerations into their current energetic renovation processes in the Netherlands.
Through literature review and semi-structured interviews with leading real estate institutional investors from the Dutch Green Building Council working group, followed by expert panel validation, the study identifies their strategic roles in driving market demand and shaping sustainability practices, examines their current energetic renovation processes, analyzes key barriers and explores enablers for embodied carbon integration into their current energetic renovation processes.
The study develops a dual-level approach at strategic and project levels to address these barriers while leveraging identified motivators. Key findings reveal that successful WLC integration requires: (1) alignment with current renovation practices through phased implementation, (2) critical stakeholder engagement across the value chain, (3) market-driven strategies as enablers, and (4) knowledge and capacity-building. The research contributes by developing a systematic approach to integrate whole-life carbon into renovation processes, addressing barrier interconnections and stakeholder dynamics, while also offering practical, actionable strategies that align with existing workflows to help investors balance immediate needs with long-term sustainability goals.

To prevent global warming, CO2 emissions must be reduced by 95%. The
building and construction industries account for over 15% of all direct CO2
emissions. However, currently there are no regulations for carbon net-zero
developments. Investors adhere to current sustainability requirements because
there are many barriers develop carbon net-zero. To achieve carbon net-zero,
buildings have to be energy-neutral, and climate-friendly as possible all other
emissions must be minimized and compensated. What we now often see is that
a forest is planted somewhere else to compensate for the carbon emissions.
Instead, urban areas themselves could be a solution to compensate for carbon
emissions. Furthermore, the UN argues that plans against global warming are
still inadequate and also other parties have to take responsibility to reduce
carbon emissions. Yet, how they should act is unknown. The one thing that is
known is that private parties have a steering role in sustainable urban area
developments. Based on this problem statement, the following main research
question is formulated: What can developers do to influence carbon offsets in
the development areas in the Netherlands? To answer this question, a literature
review is conducted. Moreover, case studies with semi-structured interviews
and an expert panel have been used to validate. Developers could translate
indirect and direct influenceable barriers into opportunities and thereby
influence each phase with the necessary parties and the necessary tool. The
framework provides a structured approach to navigate complexities and
maximize impact, resulting in a greener future with less carbon.