Personalised medicine represents an increasingly used practice using a patient’s biology to guide their treatment. The implementation of personalised medicine possibly increases the quality of health care and life of the patient by minimising side effects and increasing effectiveness. Personalising medicine can be implemented through a platform which facilitates model-informed precision dosing (MIPD), including various models describing the pharmacokinetics of a specific drug. To make MIPD become clinical practice, wider interdisciplinary collaborations, for example, between pharmacometricians and pharmacists should be studied to learn about their communication and collaboration when using a MIPD platform, and to generate data evaluating the cost–benefit of MIPD in healthcare to motivate professionals to use a MIPD platform. Barriers to implementing these MIPD platforms into clinical practice are not thoroughly studied. However, the functionalities of the MIPD platform should align with the needs of the practitioners as they have to base their dosing regimen on that MIPD platform. As an exemplar for identifying barriers and facilitators of MIPD and corresponding MIPD platforms, this study focuses on the alkylating agent busulfan. Busulfan was chosen because it has a narrow therapeutic index, which often necessitates dosing to a target plasma exposure, while the use of MIPD is beneficial compared to the current clinical practice. Thus, busulfan dosing highlights the importance of using MIPD to improve patient outcomes. Identifying the barriers and facilitators of the MIPD platform, and the interdisciplinary collaboration between pharmacists and pharmacometricians will hopefully give insight on how to stimulate their collaboration and the use of MIPD. This research, therefore, aimed to explore and describe 1) the obstacles in the interdisciplinary collaboration between pharmacists and pharmacometricians, 2) why MIPD platforms are not widely used in clinical practice and what practitioners would need to implement these platforms, and 3) what pharmacists and pharmacometricians need to establish an effective interdisciplinary collaboration using a MIPD platform and thereby create a learning environment. Through conducting a literature research and interviews, collaboration and technology acceptance aspects were studied more in-depth to define the problem and subsequently explore ideas to address this problem. Both disciplines perceived building a connection and keeping their own expertise as important in their collaboration. They also needed their roles in the collaboration and the MIPD platform to be clear in terms of knowing what to expect from the other and how to handle the MIPD platform. Because of these perceptions and needs, we proposed two ways to improve the collaboration and the MIPD platform to subsequently contribute to establishing a learning environment through the MIPD platform. Those two implementations are: 1) the implementation of an introductory course where the disciplines collaborate through the introduction, and 2) tailoring the MIPD platform into two discipline-specific portals, which are based on their skills and tasks. The implementations were tested in interaction through conducting a focus group where pharmacists and pharmacometricians were asked to rank codes retrieved from the interviews on their relevance based on hypothetical scenarios, representing real-world cases. Pharmacists and pharmacometricians perceived connection and trust as important aspects of their collaboration and did expect these to be sufficiently stimulated through the implementation of the introductory course. Regarding the MIPD platform, they perceived the efficiency, in terms of easiness and time-effectiveness in use, as its most important aspect. Thus, efficiency should be ensured in the development of the MIPD platform. To adopt the MIPD platform, it should cover a lot of different patients highlighting the extensive research necessary when building the models within the MIPD platform. To stimulate the implementation of MIPD platforms and the collaboration between pharmacists and pharmacometricians using the MIPD platform, further research should focus on introductory MIPD courses,the MIPD platform design, and including other disciplines in the collaborations around MIPD and MIPD platforms. ... Read more

Sometimes seaport capacity is a bottleneck during disaster relief operations. This research investigates a flexible, floating and modular seaport. This seaport is stored all around the world and when necessary it ships seaport handling capacity from those storage facilities to the disaster area in order to help with the disaster relief effort. After usage of a mathematical optimization model and the determination of several possible future disaster scenarios we propose that an applicable logistical design of this seaport stores 1,950 TEU/h of handling capacity of this flexible seaport at Kuala Lumpur and 812 TEU/h at Algiers. Next to the logistics contribution the way in which the possible usage of such a seaport influences the communication process of actors involved in a disaster relief effort is studied. We propose that the collaborative sensemaking in disasters is the object of interest. With the help of an emergency simulation role playing game experiment it is concluded that the usage of the seaport leads to, among other things; more equally distributed participation, quicker start of sharing of information, increased awareness of the role of others and more agreement on the common goal. The hypothesis is that this is because of an increased complexity. Integrating this complexity with the logistical applicable design leads to storing a smaller amount of seaport handling capacity at a lot of facilities. This results in a design of opening facilities in Kuala Lumpur (with 1350 TEU/h stored), Algiers (with 356 TEU/h stored), Dakar (with 57 TEU/h stored), Maputo (with 279 TEU/h stored), Berbara (with 35 TEU/h stored) and Corinto (with 332 TEU/h stored). ... Read more

This thesis has been written to conclude the master’s programs Design for Interaction and Communication Design for Innovation. The focus of this thesis is on the digital transformation within the de Volkskrant organisation and was commissioned by DPG Media, de Volkskrant’s parent company.
Since the digital transformation started, de Volkskrant has been struggling to keep up with technological developments. Partly because they rely on DPG Media to facilitate the infrastructure of their digital products, but within the de Volkskrant organisation, there is a lack of vision on what de Volkskrant should be as a digital medium. Therefore, this thesis explores the possibilities and challenges de Volkskrant currently faces and how the context, readers and organisation all play a role in that.
I used two methods; Human-Centred Design(UCD) and Design-Based Research (DBR). From this research, I concluded that the service that should be designed for de Volkskrant should be a mobile application. The interaction vision for this mobile application is the following: The mobile app guides the de Volkskrant reader through the articles and archives of de Volkskrant. It supports them in learning new things and exploring new perspectives. After reading digital news, readers feel in control, empowered, and accomplished. Additionally, some advice to the de Volkskrant organization was developed: By becoming a digital-first organisation, de Volkskrant can accelerate its digital transformation. It should play to its strengths of being a brand that readers go to for its good analytical articles and columnists. Additionally, it should use the development of its digital products as opportunities for change by involving all levels of the organisation into the design process. Thus, the result of this thesis is a proposal for a mobile app design as well as advice for the de Volkskrant organisation on how to accelerate the transition to a digital-first mindset and utilise the design process along the way to incite change within the company. To summarise, de Volkskrant should implement features into the mobile implication such as Dossiers, that bundle articles, and Overview, which provide a visual overview of articles, to not only create a better reading experience but to increase collaboration between departments as well.
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In the Netherlands, the frequency and severity of extreme rainfall events are expected to increase. This can result in severely detrimental effects. It is complicated for municipal actors to effectively manage these events, as it requires judgement on probabilities, costs, and uncertain impacts. As a result, obtaining scientific knowledge through climate tools and model results has become increasingly important in informing policy-making processes. While model results and climate tools have been shown to create an imperative to act for municipal actors, a clarification of how a certain approach might offer support in a specific context is scarce. By simplifying model simulations for municipal actors, information gets lost and becomes (unconsciously) framed, leaving room for the personal interpretation of municipal actors. Framing can change the actor’s perception without altering the scientific information they were initially provided, which might result in different decisions taken on water management. Decision-making is not an individual process. It involves interaction between a multitude of stakeholders of various disciplines, all with own individual contextual factors. It is essential for effective decision-making on extreme rainfall events that interaction is well-coordinated.

This integrated master thesis for the master’s degrees in International Land and Water Management and Communication Design for Innovation, therefore, aims to explore the influence of visually framed extreme rainfall model results on the interaction between municipal actors. This is explored in the Municipality of The Hague and the Huygenspark neighbourhood. The model results have been adjusted to two contrasting frames: in terms of gains or losses and psychological distant or near impacts.

These two contrasting frames have resulted in the development of four visually-framed extreme rainfall model results, hereafter named maps. For the distant loss map, water nuisance has been assessed in the Tygron Geodesign Platform. The water nuisance map shows that especially the Stationsweg, the tunnel at the Rijswijkseweg, and the tunnel underneath the train tracks will have water nuisance issues during extreme rainfall events. For the near loss map, the framing of adaptation tipping points has been applied. Adaptation tipping points frame the issue from the socio-political objectives and show the moments in time at which a change in the current management strategy no longer meets the municipal actors’ objectives. The socio-political objective has been identified to focus on maintaining the accessibility of roads for cars and ambulances. The model shows that the Stationsweg and the tram tunnel cross this threshold during a once a 25 years rain shower (40 mm/hour), while the Rijswijkseweg tunnel reaches the threshold already at a rain shower of less than once a 10 years (30 mm/hour). This return period will become more frequent to once every 13 years and an unspecified low non-extreme return period in the upper scenario of 2050 respectively. The two main chances to tackle this issue are either spatially, in the Oranjeplein and Huijgenspark or through adaptation mainstreaming opportunities.

The four maps were interpreted by fourteen municipal actors within the Municipality of The Hague through semi-structured interviews. Visual framing was found to have a profound effect on the interpretation of municipal actors. The near-framed adaptation tipping points map made the issue more concrete and expressed urgency as well as the necessity to take action compared to the distant-framed water nuisance map. The chance maps created a more positive interpretation than the loss maps. Besides, the interpretation of maps was also determined by the pre-existing knowledge structures and ways of looking at the issue, resulting in three distinct interpretations for the adaptation tipping points map. While every map has its own main interpretation, most municipal actors emphasised that the maps should be combined to create an overall story. This story can be used during interaction to convince others, but it can also be to start a discussion or to weigh different options. The visual maps can, therefore, be seen as a ‘story support tool’ for interaction. ... Read more

Collaborations are often transdisciplinary whereby people with different backgrounds need to be able to work together and therefore share knowledge. This means people have to cross knowledge boundaries. Crossing these boundaries can be done with boundary objects that help to transfer knowledge across these boundaries (Carlile, 2002, 2004). Touch can expand the vocabulary that people have at their disposal and therefore contribute to making transferring experiential knowledge and crossing boundaries easier.

To make the research of how touch can be applied to enhance transdisciplinary learning more concrete, a specific context has been chosen, namely the organization ‘Centre of Expertise Societal Innovation’. Within this organization, they want to create learning communities whereby knowledge is shared and preserved between students and others stakeholders in consecutive projects. This has led to the following research questions:

“How to improve the transition between graduation projects within the Urban Innovation program of EMI with a haptic language design to preserve knowledge within the different communities of practice.”

The knowledge that the organization wants to preserve is so-called tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is hard to express in words. Therefore, guidance is needed to help people express their tacit knowledge. From the theory of transdisciplinary learning, it is retrieved that the 7 habits of the mind are important to foster transdisciplinary learning. These habits also include using the senses of the human body. Therefore, it is interesting to combine transdisciplinary learning by expressing tacit knowledge with the senses of the human body. Especially the sense of touch is interesting to use because touch can deepen communication and is one of the most versatile senses.

The literature study in combination with exploratory research on how touch can be used in communication, has resulted in 6 haptic design principles for transdisciplinary learning. These principles can be used by designers that want to create physical haptic designs for transdisciplinary learning. The 6 haptic principles are:

1. Haptic design triggers people to touch it
2. Haptic design makes people conscious of touch
3. Haptic design enables different touch experiences
4. Haptic design translates and adjusts between different disciplines by providing the same meaning for everyone
5. Haptic design evokes interaction between users
6. Haptic design gives people the tools to make their thoughts and ideas tangible

With the principles, a final concept design has been created, called MIMIC. MIMIC is a haptic language design that helps users to express their internal thoughts, ideas, and feelings by providing tools to make these internal thoughts, ideas, and feelings tangible. Translating to external forms will make it easier for others to understand. MIMIC consists out of two sets of cubes, the basic set made of wooden cubes with different weights, and the haptic set of cubes with different materials from 10 categories on each side cubes. Furthermore, a guide, an instruction sheet, and warming-up exercises are created to give guidance to users for sharing relevant knowledge and the use of the haptic language in general.
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This Master Thesis project was the last assignment in obtaining a MSc degree in Science Communication at the Delft University of Technology. The focus of the project was on finding fitting leadership styles, structures, or behaviors that stimulate learning and help develop a learning mindset in a transdisciplinary collaboration context.To deal with the increasing complexity and urgency of societal issues – such as the aging population, climate change, and the energy transition – a new collaboration revolution has taken shape. This revolution, also referred to as convergence, is still very new. Articles available on what convergence, and the transdisciplinary collaboration as the new collaboration type therein entail, are rather vague and abstract. The HOW of the matter is not yet clear. Learning is inextricably linked to transdisciplinary collaboration due to its novelty. However, explicit attention has not been given to building in learning and a learning mindset in relation to transdisciplinary collaboration. Leadership and learning have had an existing link in literature, but have not been regarded in a setting of transdisciplinary collaboration. Taking leadership into account will enable the formulation and implementation of more concrete actions to move away from a still rather vague idea of transdisciplinary collaboration and towards actionable steps. Therefore, the combination of transdisciplinary collaboration, learning, and leadership is not only interesting and relevant from a research point of view but it will also directly influence the effectivity of convergence endeavors of the Erasmus Medical Centre (EMC), Erasmus University of Rotterdam (EUR), and Delft University of Technology (TUD) that are currently taking place. Research on the relation between transdisciplinary collaboration, learning, and leadership has not been conducted, and thus forms the main focus of this Master Thesis project. The main research question therefore is: What leadership styles, structures, or behaviors, suited for the transdisciplinary collaboration context of the Digital Twin project of the Health & Technology branch of the Convergence Agenda of the Erasmus Medical Centre, the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and the Delft University of Technology, stimulate and facilitate learning and help develop a learning mindset?Based on an extensive literature study, a qualitative study composed of semi-structured interviews with people involved in My Digital Twin – one of the flagships of the Health & Technology theme of the Convergence agenda of the TUD, EUR, and EMC – and analysis of the qualitative data using structural coding in Atlas Ti 9, core elements of transdisciplinary collaboration and core elements of learning in a transdisciplinary collaboration context were found. Based on these elements, a long list of appropriate behaviors for leaders to portray to stimulate learning or work towards transdisciplinarity was established. Appropriate leadership styles and structures were concluded to be rotational distributed leadership consisting of formal and informal leaders. The discussion shows ideas for tools to stimulate learning and help develop a learning mindset, discusses the quality of the research, and provides recommendations for future research.Key words: transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary collaboration, learning, leadership, duality, distributed leadership, convergence ... Read more

To deal with increasing complexity and connectivity of socio-technical systems it becomes unlikely for individuals to be able to oversee all possible changes. These systems are riddled with a plurality of actors with differing interests, disciplines, institutions and ecological limitations. Examples of systems like these are energy and gas grids. If one wants to tackle problems on these systems one would ideally understand possible results of changing things in these systems as a change in one part of the system can lead to results in other subsystems. If a tree falls down on an energy pole, for example, chemical plants can stop functioning. This in turn can cause orders to be late, influencing a whole production chain.
To this end one would ideally one would ideally apply systems thinking: ”Systems thinking is a set of synergistic analytic skills used to improve the capability of identifying and understanding systems, predicting their behaviors, and devising modifications to them in order to produce desired effects. These skills work together as a system.”
However, because the earlier pluralities it unlikely for a single individual or organisation to have all the required information for this. Processes are required where information is collected and co-created with multiple parties in such as system to enable the creation of comprehensive solutions for these problems. What is required is social learning. Social learning (SL)is learning that happens by people participating in so called communities of practice. A community of practice can be seen as a group of people with converging interests and skills. An example would be a grid operator, which have their own sub-communities (E.G. cable technician or systems manager). They can be smaller groups, E.G. a family, and participation is often not mutually exclusive. Rather than being part of a community of practice one could be seen as being part of the landscape of practice, consisting out of multiple communities. By partaking in these communities people gain experiences by both learning and expanding on a communities’ knowledge.
The aim of this thesis is to gain insights into: 1. mechanics shaping and steering social learning 2. how to measure social learning processes for in vivo experimentation 3. design mechanics for participatory modelling processes and Social learning in general to improve development of such processes 
To do this a theory has been made on the mechanics and behaviour of individuals in a SL process. This has been done in chapters 4, 5 and 6. To do this a PM perspective has been used as this give a structure on the actions someone can take and requires shared information to be structured. Additionally it is seen as a useful tool for tackling socio-technical problems.
The theory thus focussed on the main action of PM, namely sending information, receiving and processing information and deciding upon the model. To develop the theory knowledge from multiple disciplines is needed. To this end a theory has been developed using supersynthesis. This is a research method where multiple theories are combined to make a new on to explain something. The aim is not to supersed the combined theories, but to explain something new. The fields that have been the focus are communication science, helping understand how information is processed and sent, and social psychology, helping understand why and when individuals take certain actions. The theories have been synthesised in two rounds of conceptualisation, with the first focussing on conceptualising every possible action and mechanic. The ones that were deemed most interesting or useful have been conceptualised more in depth. To this an additional conceptualisation of knowledge and information is made. The final theory is as follows:
Knowledge takes the shape of a knowledge graph. In this graph fields of expertise are called topics. One can think about the weather as such a topic. These topics consist out of information items, think cloudiness or temperature, and links between these items indicating their relation, think cloudiness leads to lower temperatures. These items may have links to items from other topics. For example cloudiness is related to sun hours and yields of Photovoltaics from th topic of Photovoltaics.
It is assumed that a complete knowledge graph exists. Each individual knows part of this graph, signifying knowledge or expertise in the topic. The larger part of a topic they know the more expertise they have in that topic. This includes both information items as their links (relationships). All these items, links and topics also have a perceived relevance for people. This is based on interests or affiliation. Affiliation means relationship with a group of people, for example, meteorologists. Something is also seen as more relevant if it is discussed often, attributed to common knowledge effects. In a social learning process there are several individuals. Each round they are able to share information. Information is seen as information items and/or their links. A topic as a whole can also be discussed, but this is not seen as actual information for learning. What they share is based on the amount of energy they have and are willing to spend on sharing information. This is dependent on perceived relevance of the item they are considering to share, their expertise on the related topic and their tiredness. It is assumed that the energy one has decays over rounds.
Shared energy is received by others and they start to process it. Here something is integrated or learned if they are able or willing to invest enough energy in the processing. This is dependent on their expertise of the related topic, their perceived relevance of what is shared and their attitude with regards to the sender. If expertise, relevance and attitudes are high enough someone will process and integrate information. Processing energy is also assumed to decay each round.
In addition to information on knowledge, individuals can also share relational information. These are details like hobbies and other personal details. These are processed as either positive or negative and influence attitudes.
Processing of shared information may also happen during breaks or downtime. Here one has more energy to spend and attitudes are less relevant. Total recall of information is assumed in the whole model (I.E. people do not forget anything).
To allow for further reflection on the theory and to act as a proof of concept of the theory the theory has been translated into an agent based simulation model. This model has been analysed in a sensitivity experiment using LHS and extremely randomised forest in addition to a variety of plotting techniques in R. 
Additionally two experiments are designed, inspired by real cases. These are used to reflect on the theory and find less noticeable quirks from the ABM. 
Based on the theory and ABM the following things have been concluded:  -While communication science theories and social psychology theories have been used for theory development, they are not a be all end all. One can apply other fields if one wants. This specific combination, however works especially well for an individual perspective.-The theory can be used to reflect on SL by practitioners as it tells why and how people can act. Furthermore the idea of the knowledge graph can be connected to landscapes of practice, with topics relating to a community and links between items of these topics to those of other relating places where boundaries interact -Matters like conflict and increasing conflict, coalitions, personal inhibitions and norms are some of the values that would make sense to include in the theory. This would make the theory less usable for simulation modelling, however and would add a lot of behaviour that is not directly related to the learning process. To implement these additional behaviour could be conceptualised and added, making the theory more complete but less comprehensive. The most important addition that could be made according to me would be an extension on the actions influencing attitudes and the actual definition of a process result (a participatory built model or a plan). -This new theory is valuable as this individual based perspective has not been taken before, inviting to reflection on practice.-The knowledge graph could be used as a means for building new theories that are comparable. Additionally it is a way to explicitly learning. -The combination between social learning and Participatory modelling has not been made this explicit before. It would allow participatory modellers to reflect on their practice.-The ideas of energy for sharing and processing are quite influential in the ABM. They are interesting as they give clear reasons why learning may not happen or happen suboptimally. For learning to happen information need to be shared. If people lack the energy or the willingness to spend energy sharing will not happen. If they do not have the energy to process this they will also fail to learn. This highlights the need for keeping energy levels in mind when designing these processes. It is assumed that these energy levels decay linearly. While arguably too simplistic still it does show how intensive processes or boring processes can fail.
The following design mechanics are proposed:1. Usage of a knowledge graph to keep track of what is learned by researchers 2. Usage of knowledge graph to steer the process order that makes learning more likely (topics that closely relate to all participants first and expand that towards specific participants later down the line). 3. Use set structures, conceptual modelling, drawings and other tools to make information sharing and processing easier and less intensive. This would make the process spend less energy if the used tools are chosen well (I.E. a conceptual drawing of what is said or what someone wants to explain using causal diagramming is probably better to explain ideas than doing so via live programming of a simulation model). 4. Use actions like summarizing what has been said to slow down the process if it becomes to quick, leading to a processing energy deficit. 5. Use means like using an agenda to ensure the speed of the process does not become to slow, leading to boredom and potential energy decays ... Read more

This study has researched what are defining factors on the attitude toward a new technology within the group of Area Control (ACC) at Luchtverkeersleiding Nederland (LVNL) and how these factors shape an Air Traffic Controller’s (ATCo) attitude toward the technology in an exploratory way. The outcomes of the research suggest that dominant factors are result demonstrability, output quality, job relevance, subjective norm and (timeliness of) involvement in the development process. First, the work domain of air traffic control and the functioning of holding patterns were researched and a description of these things was given, based on interviews with air traffic controllers and on literature. It was found that the largest challenge when holding at LVNL is adherence to Expected Approach Time (EAT), and that this is caused by two things: the first is a lack of accurate and integrated information on the impact of a control decision on EAT adherence, the second is that current practice of ATCos is to aim for a 2:00 minute deviation from the EAT, which is the current error margin they are allowed to operate on. It was found, based on interviews with two professional area controllers and one other expert from LVNL, that in current practice an ATCo makes estimations of when to give a turn-to-IAF command based on a rule of thumb with a holding loop timing of four minutes and by extrapolating the history dots of the aircraft. However, analysis of historical holding pattern data shows that lap times often take six or seven minutes and that wind severely influences the in- and outbound ground speeds, making both the four-minute loop time and history dot extrapolation unreliable estimators. A support tool was designed that gives a prediction of the time it takes to reach the IAF from different locations, taking into account aircraft characteristics and wind. The new tool was designed such that it is in accordance with the layout and style of present LVNL systems. It involves two things. First, a prediction of the EAT adherence error upon giving an immediate turn-to-IAF command in the form of a delta-T in the aircraft label. Second, and a prediction of the turn-to-IAF locations at which an EAT adherence error of +120s, +110s, ..., 0s, 10s, ...-120s will be achieved, in the form of colored dots (ECOL dots) on the vertical view and the top view radar screen. The social situation at LVNL was described based on interviews with two professional area controllers and one other expert from LVNL. Indications were found for two opposite things. On the one hand, that (some) ATCos are willing to innovate and actually take initiative in innovation processes, and on the other hand, that (some) ATCos have a strong resistance toward technological system innovation. Regarding collaboration between groups, itwas found that the relation between ACC and Approach Control (APP) that is characterized by skepticism on the skills of the other party. Finally, it was found that ATCos take pride in the way they execute their job and are willing to work hard to achieve the goals they believe match their job description. In doing this, ATCos have indicated to value their autonomy and the idea that the effort they put in actually adds value for the full Air Traffic Control (ATC) process. Besides interviews to describe the situation at LVNL, case studies were done to research innovation in other organizations that showed similarities to the context of LVNL. Three things were found. First, ensuring people can contribute and influence the innovation from early stages of the innovation process is a promising factor that seems to influence a person’s attitude toward using the innovation in a positive way. Second, the lack of implementation of innovations has caused skepticism under ATCos. Third, the TAM is a suitable framework to further explore how area controllers at LVNL’s attitude toward innovations manifests itself. To be able to use the TAM in the framework, first, literature on the TAM has been reviewed. It has been found that there are different versions of the TAM that include or exclude several variables. For the present research, the most suitable version of the TAM was determined to be the TAM2, using the following external variables: result demonstrability, output quality, job relevance, image, subjective norm, experience, voluntariness, age. Next to the TAM in the framework, literature was reviewed on several factors surrounding the interaction with support systems, where autonomy and trust were found to be of a valuable contribution to the framework in the present research. The operationalization of the framework was done using survey questions, a semi-structured interview, and results from letting ATCos interact with the system innovation concept (the tool). It was found that some factors of the TAM could be questioned straightforward in either the survey or the interview, while for other factors it was necessary do design multiple questions and depend on the type of answers given by the participants. Since the research is exploratory, it was decided to keep the interview setup semi-structured to ensure participants would be able to outline defining factors for their attitude toward innovation relatively freely, instead of needing to keep them within a predefined set of factors. From the performed case study, where 10 ATCos participated in an experiment in which they had to manage two holding scenarios, with and without the tool, the following things were learned. First, three of the external variables defined in the framework played the largest role for participants’ perceived usefulness of the tool were result demonstrability, output quality and job relevance. Second, it was found that subjective norm impacts the attitude towards use for the participant group. A mismatch was found between the participants’ attitude toward innovation in general and the way the participants thought their colleagues viewed system innovations. Subjective norm was also found to be of influence on the participants personal objective in the level of EAT adherence they aim to obtain in their day-to-day work. Third, participants linked the external variables not only toward perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, as is the case in the TAM, but also to attitude towards use. Finally, it was found that participants appreciated being part of an innovation process rather than being presented with the final solution, which was further improved by the fact that the concept was visibly not perfected yet (even though it was functioning, it was clear it was still under development and showed some minor issues in e.g., the stability of the computer program). ... Read more

Decision-makers in low-lying coastal zones are confronted with uncertain developments around flood risk.These drivers are surrounded by large uncertainties, which requires delta management to be adaptive. This research offers insights about adaptive delta management for the Rhine-Meuse estuary from three perspectives: a physical, a socio-political and a integrated perspective. In the physical perspective, the effect of pump capacity on the water system of the Rhine-Meuse estuary is quantified; one of the adaptation options against sea level rise. To assess the adaptation potential of pumps, the case study Delta21 is used; a plan to construct an artificial lake with an area of 35 km2 next to the Maasvlakte 2 in combination with a pump capacity of 10 000 m3/s. The Rhine-Meuse estuary is divided into four sub-areas depending on the
dominant hydrodynamic process: storm surge dominant area, flood storage dominant area, discharge dominant area and transition area. For each sub-area, the effects of Delta21 are computed on 1) water flows, 2) hydraulic loads and 3) failure probabilities. Delta21 succeeds in lowering the hydraulic loads and corresponding failure probabilities. At the same time, reductions are disproportionately over the Rhine-Meuse estuary leading to low reductions in some sub-areas. In the socio-political perspective, the focus is on decision-making and learning processes in management in delta management. The Rhine-Meuse estuary is characterized by a network structure, which means that knowledge and decisions do not belong to one single actor, but those decisions come about during interactions between various groups of actors. Not only the decisions need to be adaptive to cope with uncertain circumstances, but the learning process itself must also become adaptive. To achieve this aim, a conceptual mode is developed. Two case studies are used; the Delta Program and Knowledge Program Sea Level Rise. A longitudinal analysis of the Delta Program resulted in different narratives over time and various learning types. Subsequently, the Knowledge Program Sea Level Rise is analyzed with semi-structured interviews, process-tracing and the conceptual model. Observations and challenges are translated into a roadmap of learning activities. Moreover, the DEALTa learning handbook is developed, to support actors in designing learning activities. The physical and socio-political perspective are united in the integrated perspective. On the level of technical studies, insights are shared about the relation between both aspects and how the integration can be improved in the future. ... Read more

In the highly uncertain environment of conceptual aircraft design and technology assessment and selection, making good decisions is of utmost importance. Aiming to contribute to improving decision quality, the problem was researched from both a technical as well as a socio-psychological perspective. In the technical perspective, the uncertainty associated to three two-dimensional aerodynamic solvers -- following from physical flow model assumptions or numerical solution method differences -- was quantified and propagated. It was found that the influence of flow model clearly outweighs the impact of solution method. Although the aircraft synthesis program used for uncertainty propagation showed very little sensitivity to the effects of the assumptions investigated, these results raise critical questions about the currently observed push for higher-fidelity analysis methods in aircraft conceptual design. In the socio-psychological perspective, document review, interviews and observations were used to define what socio-psychological factors negatively impact group decision making in an international public-private research consortium aiming to contribute to aircraft fuel burn reduction through R&D concept development. Based on vigilant interaction theory and (the conceptual foundations of) effective intercultural workgroup communication theory, a theoretical framework was used to develop the TARE-model, which helps groups balance task (TA) and relationship (RE) outcomes in an uncertain environment. Using a thought experiment, the inherent integration and inseparability of the two perspectives was found. Uncertainty was put forward as the primary variable impacting the interwovenness of the two perspectives. Applying this conclusion to the results from the technical and socio-psychological domains, the question is raised whether increased computational power and additional models are the most effective way to substantially improve the quality of decisions in conceptual design and technology assessment and selection projects. ... Read more

The world’s population is aging and as a result chronic illnesses become more widespread. The disease dementia will play a major role in the future of the Netherland. Moreover the people with dementia have to stay at home for as long as possible, which is also in line with their wishes. Ommoord is one of the neighbourhoods which can expect an increase of the amount of people with dementia. This thesis investigates how Ommoord should be adapted to improve the quality of life for people with dementia. Design-based research has been used, because the help of stakeholders is needed to solve this complex problem. The tool “Hersenspinsels” has been designed to facilitate co-creation with the involved of the stakeholders. This tool helps the stakeholders to set up a collaboration and to broaden their view. The result is that a better problem statement can be formulated. The developed problem statement can be used by the urbanist to realize a first design. The advantage of using the tool is that the developed solution fits better in the wishes of the stakeholders, it helps to develop a timeframe and it gives information about which solutions should be implemented and in which way. The urbanist has an important role because he or she is the facilitator of the sessions and has to bundle all the information. To make Ommoord dementia-friendly, it should change in a more accessible, comfortable and safe neighbourhood. This thesis describes the development and use of the tool (Hersenspinsels) and the application in Ommoord that resulted in an initial plan for Ommoord. ... Read more

This thesis explores how strategic and communication design can have an influence on the adoption process of blockchain or distributed ledger technology. It does so through dividing the thesis into four parts: Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver. In short: Discover: What is found is that distributed ledger development is a technology push development. Companies only explore the technical possibilities and the viability and desirability of the technology are underexposed. This has caused for a chasm to appear between the enthusiasts and the rest of business and society. Define: Through a set of interviews it is discovered distributed ledger technology can grow the fastest if it is developed in a collaborative setting. For this to happen, more people need to join in the movement. It is determined that a new mindset needs to be created. A mindset that is daring, bold and experiment friendly. Failure should be seen as a learning moment. Develop: To make sure companies can engage in mindset development, a tool is created. This tool is based upon the realisation that an immersive and playful experience is the best way to reach an audience. Thus, a workshop is developed, based on a set of canvasses. Define: As this thesis follows a lean development cycle, a simple prototype is developed. This prototype is then iterated upon through testing, reflecting and redesigning. In the end, a design of four canvasses and a booklet is created that help companies to on-board new partners. What was found, is that strategic and communication design are two fields that compliment each other in just right way to influence the adoption of DLT. Through the iterative and user focused process of strategic design, tools were created that help people to understand the complexity of DLT through a simple and smooth experience. At the same time, communication design provided the exact approach needed in guiding a group of people through the multiple layers of complexity of DLT-ecosystems. By understanding the abstraction of their own context in contrast to the technological possibilities, new understanding and appreciation of networked-collaboration was created. This new-found appreciation should ultimately result in a foundation of common ground and understanding, upon which the adoption of DLT can be built and spread. ... Read more

This study tries to find a way of motivating regular citizens to participate in scientific research. By means of literature research, expert interviews and experiments a prioritised list of incentives is comprised that citizens perceive as motivating them most and via which basic psychological needs these incentives influence motivation. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

Connectivity within residential diversity is seen of high importance in current times of increasing polarization around economic and ethnic diversity. Due to an (1) erosion of institutions such as family and churches, (2) an increase of homogeneous networks, (3) a rise of urban places without clear links to each other, and (4) an upcoming tendency of high-income and high-educated residents to close themselves off within the built environment, the capacity of space to facilitate face-to-face interactions within residential diversity is questioned. Therefore, the project ‘Hier en Daar, a design-based research, explores the potential of urban design processes to foster the value of connectivity for a context with a high level of residential diversity. The research used multiple methods; literature, reflection, fieldwork, mapping and design. Results are illustrated for the case study area of Schiemond and surrounding areas in Rotterdam West. The research resulted in a roadmap for urban designers that explains four steps which could be taken to go for assignment to spatial intervention. The first step, named explore intention, involves a reflection on own motives and develops a definition of the value of connectivity. The second step is named adapt attitude and requires the development of an attitude towards residential diversity that does justice to its complexity. In the third step, analyse, urban conditions related to connectivity in residential diversity are explored. At last, during the fourth step, design, these findings can be translated into new type of connecting spaces by applying design principles, with help of design guidelines. All steps are supported by design mechanisms that can ease the urban design process, observed from author’s own value-sensitive design process.
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Participatory processes have become unexceptional in Dutch planning. Due to the communicative turn in urban planning, collaborative planning moved up on the local and national government agenda: in 2021 the new environmental act will come into place, which firmly encourages participation in an early stage of the process. Within those participatory processes, face-to-face contact is currently indisputably the most used method. Practitioners believe that increasing the moments of contact is the best strategy to quickly reach consensus, even though only half of the participating citizens say that it indeed contributes to mutual trust and understanding. And although citizen participation is not something new in the Netherlands, its effectiveness leaves much to be desired. Despite the increase of attention for citizen engagement, the actual interaction between citizen and urban planner has not been studied extensively. Why and how to arrange a productive interaction with citizens is not clearly stated in literature nor known from practice. This leaves spatial planners with a large uncertainty on how to employ dialogue in daily practice. Therefore, the central question in this double degree thesis revolves around the face-to-face interaction between urban planners and citizens. It researches the gap between the ideal but rather theoretical concept of dialogue with citizens and the unruly reality of practice. It focuses on how the urban planner should manage the dilemmas of dialogue and how he/she could facilitate this interaction in an effective way, in order to let the process contribute to something constructive. Dialogical principles were taken as starting point and experts were consulted about dialogue in participation’s functioning in practice. The generic framework which results from this, is applied in the case of the redevelopment of Delft Campus station. That is done by developing a game for the interaction between citizens and planner, which served as input for the spatial design which followed. By developing and reflecting on these three different products - the general framework, the game and the spatial design - the thesis provides practitioners with an advice how to deal with the complex conversations which they have to deal with today. ... Read more

Algorithms are all around us. Based on large amounts of data and through automated decision-making processes, they increasingly exercise power over us. As a way of governing this power, we should be able to hold these algorithms and those responsible for implementing them accountable. This research posed the following research question: How can algorithmic accountability be implemented by design?

A literature review of the theory related to algorithmic accountability was executed, which led to a framework of five aspects that are required for achieving it: responsibility, explainability, debatability, auditability and sanctionability. Within a design case study, the implementation of these five aspects was investigated.

Based on the insights from research and design activities in this research, I conclude that the following guidelines will structure the process of designing accountability mechanisms:

(1) Understand the context in which the algorithm is created and employed;
(2) anticipate unwanted developments or effects of the system;
(3) design context-specific accountability mechanisms based on these findings. ... Read more

Patients are becoming more involved in scientific projects, as evaluators, advisors or partners of academic researchers. From a science communication perspective, these experiences are a fascinating laboratory about the challenges of knowledge sharing and exchange between stakeholders with very different perspectives. Little is known about those who facilitate the blending of the experiential knowledge of patients and the scientific knowledge of researchers within these initiatives.

This thesis explores the professional profile of practitioners within patient organizations that are responsible for patient participation in research projects. Their position is analyzed from the perspective of the theory of knowledge brokering, which puts them at the center of the flow of science communication between the stakeholders. While existing literature has studied the emerging role of knowledge brokers in the transfer of scientific knowledge to decision-makers in healthcare, this thesis offers an original perspective on the context of patient participation, and compares the activities, professional knowledge, skills and personal attributes of the practitioners with that of knowledge brokers in healthcare. The needs that the practitioners express in terms of improvement of both their own profession as well as the process of patient participation have been analyzed using the concept of professionalization, which puts the focus on the development of new professional profiles.

A predominantly qualitative approach was chosen to gather reflections of nine practitioners on their current and desired professional profiles. They were selected after identifying Dutch patient organizations involved in participatory research projects. The methodology included semi-structured interviews and a card-sorting exercise inspired by Q methodology in which they were invited to rank skills and personal attributes related to knowledge brokering. The practitioners emerge as “enthusiastic connectors,” who put an emphasis on knowledge brokering activities and skills that foster the interaction between stakeholders, rather than on knowledge management. Many of the aspects they report as being part of their professional profile are consistent with those reported about knowledge brokers in the healthcare sector. However, the particular context of patient participation shapes their specific characteristics mainly related to their closest stakeholder, the patient. The practitioners confirm that academia, policy makers and funding organizations are increasingly interested in patient participation, and call for organizational changes in order to face this demand: increased recognition as a partner by external stakeholders, further internal recognition within their organization, as well as adequate human and financial resources.

The thesis serves to gain both academic insight, useful for developing measures of effectivity of knowledge brokering and further study, as well as practical insight, useful for recruitment of knowledge brokers and further professionalization of knowledge brokering and patient participation processes.
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Water scarcity is a growing issue across the globe (Rijsberman, 2006) and because agriculture is the main consumer of water, investing in irrigation efficiency seems like a good solution to this problem. However, local gains in efficiency can reduce runoff and hence, have an adverse effect on downstream water availability (o.a. Perry (2018, 1999) and Simons et al. (2015)). The core of the water efficiency paradox lies in the positive connotation of efficiency, even though increasing irrigation efficiency can have negative consequences. On this paradox and how basin analysis can be included in World Bank financed irrigation projects. This is done in two parts.

The first part of this research looks into irrigation water consumption in the Amu Darya river basin in Central Asia. With the research question: ‘To what extent is it possible to analyze irrigation water consumption in Central Asia using a locally developed model combined with open source remote sensing data?’. Global open source data for evapotranspiration (ET), precipitation (P), areas equipped for irrigation and storage change are combined with outputs from the Aral Sea Basin management model (ASBmm). These are used to determine the actual irrigated areas, check the model data with water balances and calculate consumed fractions. The results show a trend of increasing CF with increasing irrigated area and larger CFs in downstream areas compared to upstream areas. It shows a big difference (40%) without and with complete reuse of upstream drainage water in downstream irrigated areas. These trends conform to the expectations.

The second part of this study investigates why basin analysis is not structurally included in World Bank financed irrigation projects. Knowledge exchange is crucial for innovation and adopting new paradigms (Filieri et al., 2014; Walter et al., 2007). This is researched with the research question: «\’To what extent can a social capital analysis of knowledge exchange between academic hydrologists, World Bank staff and World Bank water and irrigation consultants aid the incorporation of the basin scale perspective on water consumption in World Bank financed irrigation projects?’. The social capital perspective provides a systematic way to look at the dimensions of knowledge exchange in a social network (Adler and Kwon, 2002). The results from semi-structured interviews are compared to the conceptual framework which was deduced from a systematic literature review.

One of the main obstacles in knowledge exchange and including basin analysis in World Bank financed irrigation projects is lack of time and resources. Proper basin analysis is not conducted because it is not a formal requirement. Additional issues are: ambiguity of the term efficiency, spatial distance between people and differences goals and perspectives within the Bank and between the Bank and client countries. Client countries are leading in project development and the moment the Bank has a background role. The application of basin scale analysis in World Bank financed irrigation projects should be formalized. This does not mean that investments in irrigation efficiency must stop, it means that a basin analysis is necessary to make an informed decision about that investment.
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Door middel van het vak Onderzoek & Ontwerpen, opgezet door de Stichting Technasium, ontwikkelen leerlingen vakoverstijgende competenties. Het is noodzakelijk dat leerlingen deze competenties zelfregulerend leren ontwikkelen; dit verhoogt de effectiviteit van het leerproces. Doel van het onderzoek was om een bijdrage te leveren aan de ontwikkeling van praktische handvatten, voor leerlingen en docenten, om het zelfregulerend ontwikkelen van competenties in groepen binnen het technasium te kunnen ondersteunen.
De ontwikkelde handvatten bestaan uit een combinatie van een Competentiemonitor en een POP-formulier (persoonlijk ontwikkelplan). De Competentiemonitor wordt gebruikt om de ontwikkeling van de leerling visueel in kaart te brengen, over een langere periode, om sterke en zwakke punten te identificeren en leerdoelen te kiezen. Voor deze Competentiemonitor is gebruik gemaakt van een indeling in zes competentieclusters, en twintig daaronder gegroepeerde competenties, zoals opgesteld door de Stichting Technasium (Van den Brink, 2016). Het POP-formulier ondersteunt het leerproces tijdens een projectperiode door middel van prompting op drie momenten tijdens het project, volgens de drie fasen (forethought-, performance- en self-reflection phase) van het cyclisch proces van zelfregulatie volgens Zimmerman (2000).
Het onderzoek is gedeeltelijk uitgevoerd in samenwerking met de Stichting Technasium. De methode is getoetst in de lespraktijk op het technasium van het Calandlyceum in Amsterdam, door middel van design-based research (DBR). Met het oog op triangulatie is gebruik gemaakt van een mixed-methods opzet. Voor het kwantitatieve deel van het onderzoek is dezelfde anonieme vragenlijst drie keer afgenomen onder 200 technasiumleerlingen van het Calandlyceum. De interventiegroep (3e en 5e klas) heeft gedurende twee projectperiodes (kwartalen) gewerkt met de nieuwe methode, en de controlegroep (2e, 4e en 6e klas) heeft gewerkt met de methode die voorheen al werd gebruikt op het Calandlyceum. Het kwalitatieve deel van het onderzoek bestond uit semi-gestructureerde interviews met 16 leerlingen van de interventiegroep over hun ervaring met het werken met de nieuwe methode, en groepsgesprekken met 8 leerlingteams, waarin hun leerproces en het ingevulde POP-formulier werden besproken.
Uit de resultaten blijkt dat de methode een positieve invloed heeft op alle vier gemeten dimensies: (1) metacognitieve kennis over de competentie-ontwikkeling, (2) attitude jegens werken aan competentieontwikkeling met aangereikte methode, (3) volgen van drie stappen van cyclisch proces volgens Zimmerman (2000) en (4) intensiteit van samenwerken ten behoeve van persoonlijke leerdoelen. Resultaten van het kwalitatieve onderzoek hebben de resultaten van het kwantitatieve deel van het onderzoek bevestigd. Belangrijke aspecten van de methode zijn de specifieke gedragsbeschrijvingen in de monitor, visuele weergave van het niveau van competenties en de progressie van de ontwikkeling, structuur en prompts in het POP-formulier en het daardoor effectiever in groepsverband samen kunnen werken aan de persoonlijke ontwikkeling – leerdoelen werden (in de succesvolle gevallen) binnen het team bij de start besproken en de taakverdeling werd hierop aangepast door de teamleider.
Het praktisch nut van, onder andere, de theorie van Zimmerman (2000) is bevestigd door de gemeten positieve effecten van de methode. De methode is geschikt voor de O&O-lespraktijk. In de discussie worden aanbevelingen gedaan voor doorontwikkeling van de Competentiemonitor en inzet van de methode in de lespraktijk. ... Read more