This dissertation engages with the wicked problem of agriculture-driven nutrient pollution in transboundary basins. The Lielupe River Basin, shared between Latvia and Lithuania, provides a practical example of this issue. This thesis proposes ways forward to address this problem by crafting and using environmental models in participatory and systematic ways.

Modelling the environment with stakeholders adopts a systems perspective in connecting theory with practice. Theoretically, we investigate how participation, uncertainty and ethics can be included in model development for socio-environmental problems. Practically, we explore the added value of implementing participatory modelling in transboundary river management using the Lielupe basin as a case study.

Researchers and practitioners can find two theoretical contributions: (1) a flexible 3-phase modelling framework for addressing socio-environmental issues; (2) a structured set of ethical questions when engaging in participatory modelling.

Empirical contributions are specific to the Lielupe River Basin yet provide insights that are potentially transferable to other cases. Our results indicate that moderate cooperative land-use change scenarios outperform ambitious unilateral actions, helping to achieve basin-wide water quality objectives a decade faster – a critical finding for the Baltic region and the achievement of EU water quality objectives. We also show that model evolution and participants’ learning are socially driven across and beyond a modelling cycle.

This thesis contributes towards a more reflective and transparent modelling practice. It provides environmental modellers with practical tools for jointly developing and using models with stakeholders. The dissertation concludes with a call to modellers to consider how modelling can support broader participatory engagement processes rather than how participatory engagement can support modelling.
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Sustainable land and water management requires integrated strategies that combine technical, ecological, and socioeconomic dimensions, through cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including farmers, ecologists, hydrologists, planners, policymakers, and business owners. Within this context, the dissertation explores the role of “living labs” as innovative, co-creative approaches, using the metaphor of plant cultivation. This research advances understanding of living labs by exploring their seeds in the past to their roots in learning, their harvest as learning outcomes, and their influence on the policy landscape through Dutch case studies, particularly in climate-adaptive land and water management. ... Read more

Nature-based Solutions are increasingly promoted as a way to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and other societal challenges. Yet, many promising initiatives struggle to move from ambition to implementation. This dissertation explores why financial barriers persist and how they can be overcome. Through Dutch case studies and an analysis of international developments, it demonstrates that many financial challenges are in fact institutional challenges. The findings offer new insights into how funding, finance, governance, and collaboration can support the wider uptake of Nature-based Solutions. ... Read more

Population growth, economic development, and urbanisation are resulting in an increase in municipal solid waste, which is often landfilled in African countries. Landfill gas to energy (LFGE) projects utilise the methane emissions of landfills to generate energy. This could benefit African countries as it reduces waste and its associated emissions, and it improves energy supply. Although LFGE projects are already proven successful in other countries, they are not widely implemented in African countries.

This research investigated the reasons for the lacking diffusion and the conditions that will enable the emergence of LFGE projects in Africa. To this end, the innovation system surrounding LFGE projects, including the barriers to diffusion, was be described through the Technological Innovation System (TIS) framework. This research provides a conceptual model connecting the functional and the structural TIS approaches into a novel so called hybrid approach.

Through a literature review and exploratory expert interviews, 21 barriers to LFGE in Africa were identified. The barriers could be categorised into five categories: technical, institutional, organisational, social, and other. Eight barriers were incorporated into the conceptual model of the hybrid approach and converted into a system dynamics model, which was calibrated to South Africa. The results indicate that the wholesale price of electricity and the efficiency of the waste management system were the most important barriers to the diffusion of LFGE in Africa as they could individually cause diffusion or stagnation. These were followed by inaccessibility of the national electricity grid and public ownership of the landfill. The development of the national electricity grid and corruption turned out to have little to no impact on the development of the LFGE TIS. In terms of policies specific for LFGE, the model showed that an adequate feed-in tariff is the most impactful policy as it can create viability. This policy is followed by the obligation to generate electricity from LFGE as this can prevent the development of LFGE if implemented under the wrong circumstances. An obligation to buy the electricity from LFGE as well as a requirement to collect the LFG accelerate the diffusion, provided the most important barriers are overcome. Finally, the generation of carbon credits can partially compensate a low purchase price, which could create viability of LFGE in cases that would normally stagnate. Nevertheless, this effect is only temporary as the generation of carbon credits is not possible anymore once LFGE is considered to be the common practice in a country.

The results were synthesised into a flowchart indicating the different pathways to diffusion. This flowchart can be used by project developers to assess different countries on their LFGE potential. Additionally, the assessment of the institutional building block allows policymakers to effectively implement policies that enhance the diffusion of LFGE.
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Nature-based-solutions (NbS) are defined as strategies meeting societal challenges through the utilisation of natural features or processes which simultaneously provide biodiversity and human well-being benefits. NbS examples include vegetated foreshores or mangroves for coastal surge reduction, wetlands for water retention and/or quality improvement, and tree planting for urban heat mitigation. NbS are recognised as offering the potential for adaptation (and mitigation) to climate change while strengthening biosphere integrity and societal well-being effectively.

However, widespread implementation and realisation of NbS potential remain elusive. A significant factor contributing to this is the poor understanding of associated multi-functional trade-offs, leading the literature to urge for a systems approach to enhance this understanding. Multi-functionality concerns the three main impact dimensions of NbS: social, ecological and economic. As such, this research addresses the need for comprehensive assessment and understanding of multi-functional trade-offs associated with Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) for climate change adaptation, with a specific focus on deltaic regions, and aims to explore the applicability of a system dynamic modelling (SDM) approach in this context. To arrive at the main research objective, a mixed method approach grounded in the SDM methodology was adopted, which was applied on a deltaic case-study. Specifically, the study highlighted the complex social-ecological system of the Ebro Delta in Spain, where NbS are being considered for climate change adaptation.

Initially, an extensive literature review identified knowledge gaps related to the research objective, setting the stage for a heavily iterative exploration. This iterative approach was utilized to develop a guiding meta-model capable of capturing the multi-functional dynamics associated with NbS for climate change adaptation in deltaic regions, detail this meta-model for the case study, and apply this detailed meta-model to guide the quantitative SD modelling effort. As the object of inquiry, the case-study served to refine and illustrate the exploration, while yielding contextual insights benefiting local policy.

The results suggest that the SDM methodology is well-suited to assess the multi-functional trade-offs associated with NbS for climate change adaptation in deltaic regions. Three aspects of the methodology have been clarified: Firstly, the need for the application of the SDM methodology to this context has been strongly underscored. Secondly, the SDM methodology is able to comprehensively quantify multi-functional trade-offs, while maintaining versatility for different applications (i.e. contextual and/or case-specific) and facilitating communication and learning. Thirdly, the developed meta-model is suitable to facilitate a) problem exploration and b) guide a quantitative SD modelling effort. Furthermore, the findings illustrated that the trade-offs associated with NbS under climate change depend to a large extent on the existing social, economic, and ecological structure and associated values of the system where the interventions are intended to function. As such, it is argued that an extensive understanding of this structure and its behaviour (under changing conditions) is imperative if an accurate and comprehensive assessment of NbS impacts is desired. Moreover, in the context of regional-scale NbS, policy should be cautious of simplicity. Instead, it should embrace the inherent and systemic complexity of NbS, recognizing and leveraging the wide and multi-functional solution space that spans multiple disciplines and stakeholders
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Currently, there is no standardised process for monitoring and evaluation of nature-based flood defenses pilots in Dutch rivers and floodplains. Thus, piloted technologies cannot be compared fairly with other nature-based flood defense technologies and conventional solutions. This study developed such a process by way of a monitoring and evaluation framework, using a research-by-design approach. This monitoring and evaluation framework is incorporated into a knowledge base that was developed in parallel to store the results of monitoring and evaluating and to effectively share knowledge about each pilot for future reference. The primary intended users of the knowledge base are researchers, therefore requirements were elicited via interviews with matter experts. Findings from the interviews, combined with literature review, formed the basis of design and development for the monitoring and evaluation framework and knowledge base. A second round of interviews was held for iterative improvements of this design via feedback and subsequent revision. In total, three design-feedback iterations were done. The last provided validation results of the improved solution. The main findings indicate that a knowledge base approach has merit and it is suggested that Rijkswaterstaat adopt and improve this solution as a template within their innovation process. The innovation process at Rijkswaterstaat is being developed right now and has incorporated evaluation of pilots. Additional results are a large number of possible avenues for further development and future research. ... Read more

Coral reef ecosystems are slowly reaching their physical ecosystem boundaries. Urgent action is required by reducing carbon emissions, halt degradation, and initiate restoration and conservation efforts of coral reef ecosystems, and bring coral reefs back to a safe ecosystem operating space. This research study uses a multidisciplinary approach that aims to understand the dynamic behavior of (sub)tropical social-ecological coral reef ecosystems in the Anthropocene and provide insights for future interventions. The study combines literature reviews, expert interviews, cognitive mapping, and system dynamics modeling to determine the variables, relations, and dynamics within coral reef ecosystems, and draw implications for future intervention. The insights are combined in a qualitative and quantitative stock-flow model, through which dynamics of anthropogenic stressors effects on coral reef behavior are examined, and implications for future intervention in social-ecological coral reef ecosystems are drawn. The findings highlight the importance of considering multiple stressors, understanding social-ecological feedbacks, and taking into account as well global as local stressors to restore coral reefs in the face of anthropogenic stressors in the Anthropocene. ... Read more

This research is designed to provide a structured and comprehensive examination of the complex relationship between climate readiness, climate aid, and carbon efficiency in African countries. At its heart, the primary goal is to construct a climate readiness framework initially designed to assess developing nations and subsequently refine it to align with the distinct contexts of African nations. This framework undergoes a two-fold process, starting with its conceptualization and followed by its adaptation through a combination of theoretical examination and real-world application. It forms the foundation of this research, supplying essential insights relevant to policymakers and institutions engaged in tackling climate-related issues specific to Africa.

In the second phase of the study, a linear regression model is employed to analyze the connections between carbon efficiency, climate readiness, and climate aid. Carbon efficiency is determined using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), while the climate readiness variable is derived from the developed framework. The empirical findings underscore the critical role of targeted climate aid, particularly in countries with higher climate preparedness. This synergy contributes significantly to decoupling carbon emissions from economic growth, emphasizing the importance of strategic climate aid in fostering sustainable and environmentally responsible economic development.

Overall, this research aims to shed light on the complex interplay of factors shaping climate outcomes in African countries, providing a foundation for informed decision-making and policy development in the realm of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
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Natural disasters, related to water, in various forms have become more common in our daily lives and on our television screens. Within the past years, flooding has become a phenomenon which affects global, social, psychological and economic development. In Ghana there are major problems related to water and this has increased substantially over the years. Indeed, flooding is a major issue that is evident in urban sub-Saharan Africa and Ghana is no exception to this worrying phenomenon.
Poor and inadequate infrastructure and urban drainage systems have increased the risk of flooding in Accra, a city that has had an exponential increase in population. Flooding has affected the economy of Ghana, claimed the lives of humans and animals and has caused the outbreak of infectious diseases. However, current flood risk management approaches in Accra, which include demolishing affected buildings, have not been effective enough to reduce the impacts of Ghana’s floods.
This paper analyzes the current situation in Accra, the capital of Ghana, relating to floods, the factors that played a role in aggravating its effects, and how communities respond to flooding events. This is a main challenge Accra is dealing with and it is therefore imperative to look at the causes of flooding in Ghana as a country and propose an approach that can help mitigate the impact of floods. The challenge is to develop strategies for dealing specifically with increased vulnerability to flooding in order to reduce economic effects and save human lives, animals and properties. The study area consists of five local suburbs of Accra namely Agbogbloshie, Old Fadama, Adabraka, Weija and Alajo, which have been affected by floods. The effect of floods can be observed in an increased amount of flood events in these communities.
This thesis therefore uses the concept of resilience as the basis in solving this problem. The problem is defined using literature review, a case study, field inspections and interviews. Resilience at multi-level governance level is studied using an analytical framework to examine what policies government authorities have adopted to stimulate the adaptation of Accra into a more flood resilient urban environment. The changes need to be implemented to improve upon the flaws are also studied. The challenges involved in multi-level governance of Flood Risk Management in Ghana from the perspectives of the various actors are also examined. This will help in filling the knowledge gap in the literature on multi-level governance arrangements and the challenges involved for Ghana in the context of Flood Risk Management. To do this, a case study approach in which the interactions between the actors, stakeholders and the policy instruments are looked at, is applied.
The analytical framework is derived from the work of the five elements of flood risk management of Batica et al. (2013) and the two types of multi-level governance defined by Hooghe and Marks (2003). The findings from the analytical framework include key stakeholders in flood risk management as well as aspects of resilience and response and anticipation in flood risk management. Aspects of resilience in flood risk management strategies comprise Relief, Resist, Response, Recovery and Reflect strategies. The findings are used to analyze the effectiveness of existing strategies and recommend improvements. There are measures for resisting known flood risks, but their implementation is ineffective. Involvement of the local chiefs and key private sector organizations in flood risk management strategies in Accra would allow for advanced resilience regarding their responses to the impacts of land-use changes and the waste disposal in watercourses. This research shows that the effectiveness of flood risk management in Accra depends on implementation and enforcement.
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In this research, the creation, use and spread of knowledge acquired in Building with Nature pilot projects is researched, with the goal of providing recommendations to improve this use and spread in future Building with Nature pilot projects. To achieve this, a case study with the Sand Engine as the subject is performed. In addition to this, a literature review and interviews were undertaken, and two System Dynamics models were created which were applied to the Sand Engine case. As a results, seven recommendations for future pilots were found: First, ensuring the internal success of the pilot is crucial. 2. Including knowledge creation and spread as design factors in the pilot project design, 3. Designing the pilot project to be multi-functional, 4. Ensuring the pilot project fits the long-term policy plans and strategy of important stakeholders, 5. Involving champions of knowledge, who are able to turn over the project at the right time, 6. Implementing knowledge programs within the pilot project and 7. Ensuring the free sharing of knowledge between stakeholders and interested parties. Recommendations for further research and policy include performing complementary case studies on other Building with Nature pilot projects, expanding the number and variety of interviewees, and implementing a new format of data collection, management and storage in Building with Nature pilot projects. ... Read more

In terms of social and economic impacts, floods are the biggest climate-related disasters. Moreover, the severity of floods will increase as climate change intensifies tropical cyclones, accelerates sea level rise, and increases coastal and river flooding. The Netherlands is the world’s second-lowest country, making it vulnerable to flooding, mainly since one-third of the country lies below sea level and is surrounded by water. However, the flood defenses have never been more robust, and the technical knowledge regarding flood measures has grown. Nevertheless, the vulnerability of the Netherlands only increases with the increasing population growth, GDP, and economic value. Therefore, flood risk management plans need to be improved, which requires revising policies... ... Read more

The thesis proposes an education system that have the potential to safeguard freedom of education. Freedom of education is found to be essential for human flourishing after discussing Aristotle's Eudaimonia and different definitions of freedom. The thesis proposes that the social spheres (cultural, economic, and political) need to have an ideal allocation of freedoms: negative freedom in the cultural sphere, positive freedom in the economic sphere, and Enlightenment freedom in the political sphere. This ideal allocation of freedoms is compared to the current allocation which is derived from a broad review of educational reforms in the United States of America and the Netherlands. Ultimately, the proposed system is based of a voucher system that ensure equal funds to students regardless of the curriculum they choose. Such a system also provides complete educational autonomy for the teachers to create their own curriculum, or choose which ones to participate, and define their own quality standards outside of political and economic influences. ... Read more

The Akosombo dam in Ghana's Lower Volta River Basin provides essential economic benefits through hydropower generation, flood protection, and irrigation opportunities. However, since its construction was completed in 1965, the livelihood of the riverine communities drastically changed. The seasonal peak and low flows in the river, which provided environmental services for many downstream households, are now replaced with a stable river flow throughout the year to favour hydropower production. A study on dam reoperation is not only of interest to look into the possibilities of restoring healthy ecosystems but also to look at how current water demands in the basin can be sustained. Climate change and increased water demands for irrigation are expected to strain the water resources in the Lower Volta. Reoperation is also complicated by the absence of water treaties with neighbouring countries. This can result in lower flows from upstream riparian states due to their increasing water needs. In this study, we aim to understand the vulnerabilities of the Akosombo system while finding robust policies that can cope with challenging climate and demographic conditions. This study highlights the challenges in balancing irrigation, environmental, and hydropower goals while also identifying system vulnerabilities and opportunities for robust operations to meet the Lower Volta River water demands under future challenging conditions. This is done by reevaluating previously found optimal release policies under uncertainty. From this study, it can be concluded that the uncertainties included in the analysis will alter system functioning. Not only will floods occur with the onset of climate change, but energy production and irrigation potential will also become lower if upstream states start to use more water. The most critical abstractions are those of Togo and Côte d'Ivoire. A benefit of this is that these abstractions also provide some protection against floods. It is therefore wise to create cooperation projects with these countries to safeguard the current benefits of the Akosombo and Kpong dam and create new benefits for all parties. ... Read more

Current implementation of Quantitative Easing (QE) by the European Central Bank (ECB) contributes to global warming and counteracts a transition to a carbon-free economy. The research formulates green alternatives for current QE policy that are consistent with the ECB’s mandate. Evaluation in a stock-flow-fund ecological macroeconomic model shows that global implementation of these alternatives can significantly contribute to a mitigation of climate change. Through lowering financing costs, green QE leads to higher shares of green investment and green capital, apparent immediately after implementation. More green capital leads to higher shares of renewable energy which leads to lower levels of carbon emissions. In the most extensive policy alternative, this results in a mitigation of atmospheric temperature rise of approximately 12% compared to a baseline scenario, to approximately 6% in a limited policy alternative. Macroeconomic performance or the stability of the financial system are not affected by these policies in the short to medium term, and positively in the long term. These effects justify a consideration on whether green QE should become ECB policy. ... Read more

Our planet is witnessing an unprecedented increase in temperature that is causing frequent damages such as extreme weather conditions, acidification of oceans and extinction of species that may soon become irreparable. Various studies have reported that greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from human activities in industries that produce 'material goods' like transportation, energy, manufacturing and agriculture have been the chief drivers of the climate change crisis. Even as greener and renewable energy technologies are increasingly being adopted, since consumption of material goods in the rich parts of the world continue to increase, it may not be enough to solve the environmental problems in time. However, we may be able to solve them by adopting a different way of living. In order to do so, we need to understand the purpose of the economy. According to Aristotle, Eudaimonia or the 'good life’ which is the full development of human capabilities or virtues is the ultimate end of human life and the purpose of the economy or the production and consumption of material goods by people are simply a means towards this ultimate end. A similar idea that human beings have an ultimate end towards which all actions are directed can also be found with the more popularly known Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This essentially means that human beings need material wealth only insofar that it supports the fulfilment of their non-material needs: the development of capacities/virtues. 'Non-material' can refer to needs such as enjoying a classical dance performance, or studying philosophy or engaging in therapy. This perspective allows us to rethink growth in terms of a shift from material to non-material needs, which could also help solve the world's environmental problems as long as non-material needs can be met in less polluting ways (as compared to how material needs are met). Following this, economic activities are classified as physical (or goods-producing) or non-physical. Activities in the physical economy meet material needs and have a higher potential for productivity growth. Activities in the non-physical economy, including health care, education, research and arts, meet non-material needs and have a lower potential for productivity growth since human work is generally the final output. Based on this classification, it is observed that, in the advanced economies, the share of the physical economy in total demand is getting smaller, while the share of the non-physical economy is getting bigger over time, reflecting human development from material to non-material growth. If the non-physical economy − which consists mainly of human work such as a doctor's advice, a lesson, a concert − is relatively less polluting, such a shift could mean good news for the environment. While this looks promising, a consequence of the lower potential for productivity growth in the non-physical economy is that their activities can be expensive. Baumol (1993), termed this the 'cost disease' and argued that people in the rich parts of the world can afford the expensive 'personal services' when funds resulting from the productivity gains in the physical economy (due to labour-saving innovations) are transferred to the non-physical economy. Yet, nowadays, the standard response to the 'cost disease' is to replace human work with technology through standardisation, computerisation and robotisation of hitherto human tasks as a way to minimise costs. Due to the nature of work in the non-physical economy, the growing technology/ material-intensity can affect the quality of the non-material value created, while it may also increase the pressure on the environment. This led me to investigate the impact of the rising technology-intensity in the non-physical economy on the quality of outcome and on the environment. One of the main activities in the non-physical economy, health care, is 'an art and a science' in the sense that it takes care of the health of a human being in order to enable him to develop intellectually and psychologically and it is not just about 'fixing' what is broken. Doctors, therapists and nurses are people who possess besides clinical knowledge, interpersonal skills such as understanding and empathy to carry out complex human interactions with patients. Yet, in recent times, especially in the United States, technologies such as electronic health records (EHR), e-prescribing, tele-medicine and health apps are increasingly being adopted to displace some of the creative work performed by health care professionals. The main drivers of such trends identified are: the privatisation of health care, the systems of 'Managed Care' and government measures such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 that allocated funds to incorporate health information technologies in health care facilities across the country. Some of the common experiences found with the adoption of technology in health care are: a supplier-induced demand for drugs and medical technologies due to a 'fee-for-service' payment model for doctors, a 'technology arms race' between hospitals and ‘direct-to-consumer’ advertising of medicines and medical technologies. Some of the consequences of these trends found are: unnecessary testing leading to increased overall health care costs, 'physician deskilling' due to decreased clinical knowledge and psychological and health implications for patients due to less physician-patient interactions and more 'end-of-pipe' solutions. From a brief review, it is also found that the health care system in Canada is less technology-/material-intensive than the health care system in the U.S. with (roughly) the same quality of service which shows that different kinds of health care systems can coexist with one another. A second activity of the non-physical economy, education, is one that enhances the intellectual and spiritual development of students, guided by a curriculum. According to various studies, teachers are indispensable in this activity in terms of their personal knowledge, their pedagogical capacities and their ability to instill curiosity, enthusiasm, sympathy, and morality in students through complex and dynamic interactions. Yet, similar to health care, even the creative work of teachers are being displaced with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) such as: talent management software, digital learning technologies, MOOCs, allegedly to improve quality of education. In the United States, some of the trends commonly found to promote such technologies are: a pay-for-performance model for teachers to improve productivity of student grades, a common core standard curriculum and standardized tests for students to get them ready for college and careers. Some of the consequences of the growing technology intensity in education are found to be: teacher deskilling, lack of evidence of improved student performances and psychological implications for students such as diminished social skills, lack of creative and original thinking etc. These findings suggest that the growing technology-intensity in health care and education may have not significantly improved the quality of service provided, especially since the nature of work in these activities are different. Besides this, they could also lead to a higher environmental burden. In this thesis, I investigate whether the latter is the case, which is done in two steps. First, I investigate whether the non-physical economy is less polluting than the physical economy. Next, I examine the environmental consequences of the rising technology-intensity of the non-physical economy. The empirical research method applied is the Environmentally Extended Input-Output (EE-IO) analysis, which is used to compute the direct and indirect environmental effects of the physical and the non-physical economy. Direct effects refer to the pollution recorded at the place where it arises (for example, emissions due to health care). Indirect effects refer to the pollution caused by industries that supply inputs to health care, and for which the health care sector (as sector of use) is (indirectly) responsible. Through an EE-IO analysis, environmental effects (such as emissions) are ascribed to the sector of use, by reallocating emissions from the sector where they originate (sector of origin) to the sector that uses the goods or services supplied by this sector. The EE-IO analysis makes use of an Input-Output (I-O) table which records intermediate deliveries of goods and services between sectors in an economy, as well as each sector's deliveries to final demand. In addition, it uses the environmental accounts of each sector to compute the total emissions for which a sector can be held responsible, which consist of its own (direct) emissions plus the emissions that are related to the inputs it purchases from other industries. The two equations that guide this computation are B=b*(1-A)¯¹ and E=B*f where B= a vector of total (direct+indirect) emission intensities (per sector); b=direct emission intensity vector; (1-A)¯¹= the 'Leontief Inverse matrix' (derived from an I-O table) that represents the technical coefficients or the total (direct+indirect) inputs required per unit of a sector's output; f=final demand and E=a vector of total (direct + indirect) emissions per sector for a given level of final demand f. The results found were that the non-physical economy in the United States is less polluting in terms of global warming and acidification potential, energy use and tropospheric ozone gas emissions, even if emissions are re-allocated from sector of origin to sector of use. This result suggests that the impact on the environment will be lower if human beings become increasingly interested in non-material rather than material growth. However, this result may not come about if the non-physical economy gets more technology-intensive. To empirically investigate the increase in technology-intensity in health care and its corresponding environmental burden, two comparative studies based on the EE-IO analysis were carried out. The first one compared the health care system in the United States between 1995 and 2015. After adjusting both I-O tables for inflation (using Miller & Blair’s (2009) "double deflation" method) and regrouping them for comparable sector classifications, it is shown that the health care sector's technical (Leontief inverse) coefficients increased for 'computer, electronic & optical equipment', 'post & telecommunications', 'electricity & water supply', and 'renting & other business services' − indicating that the technology- or material-intensity (in terms of medical technology, ICT, administrative technology) as well as the electricity-intensity of health care increased from 1995 to 2015. Although the use of 'chemicals & pharmaceutical products' in the health care sector itself decreased, final demand for chemicals & pharmaceuticals per capita almost doubled between 1995 and 2015. In sum, the results found showed that technology/material-intensity in terms of ICT, medical technologies, energy use per unit of output and medicines per capita increased from 1995 to 2015. These data support, or at least do not falsify, the hypothesis of a trend towards higher technology-intensity of health care. However, the result for the environmental burden of the increased technology-intensity was found to be mixed. Firstly, total CO2 emission intensity of health care and the indirect contribution from 'post & telecommunications', 'computer, electronic & optical equipment' and 'renting & other business services' decreased from 1995 to 2015, largely due to an economy-wide switch to less carbon-intensive sources of energy. Although the shift from coal to natural gas reduced CO2 emissions, it also led to other types of environmental problems, such as those associated with increased production of shale gas. Secondly, the indirect emission contribution from 'electricity & water supply' industry to health care's carbon intensity increased due to the increase in energy use per unit of output (possibly due to increased use of medical equipment and other technologies in hospitals). This also led to higher total (direct+indirect) emissions from the health care sector in 2015 than in 1995 for the respective levels of final demand. Therefore, as long as the technology-intensity of health care keeps rising, this is likely to involve rising pressure on the environment (not only in terms of emissions but also in terms of increased use of earth's finite resources). The second study compared the health care system in the United States with the health care system in Canada for the year 2014. The results showed that the U.S. health care sector's technical coefficients were higher than those of Canada's health care for the relevant sectors examined in the previous study. This shows that U.S. health care is more technology-/ material-intensive in terms of medicines, medical technology, ICT and administrative technology than Canada's health care while reliance on human work is lower. Next, the total (direct+indirect) carbon-intensity of U.S. health care was also found to be higher than that of Canada's health care. This is mainly because the indirect emission contribution from sectors, namely, 'chemical & pharmaceuticals', 'renting & other business services', 'electricity & water supply' 'computer programming & information services' to health care are higher in the U.S.. However, the indirect emission contribution from sectors 'telecommunications' and 'computer, electronic & optical products' are found to be lower in the U.S. (in spite of a higher use of their goods per unit of output), possibly due to a lower carbon-intensity of these two sectors in the U.S. than in Canada. All in all, the important insight from these two studies is that even though increased purchase of medicines, ICT and related medical & administrative technologies by health care activities in the U.S. between 1995 and 2015 has not led to higher total CO2 emission intensity of health care, we know that as of 2014, high-tech health care in the U.S. is still more polluting than Canada's health care. This supports the argument that replacement of human work with technological solutions in the non-physical economy may lead to a higher environmental burden. In conclusion, since there is lack of conclusive evidence that the promotion of general, country-wide transition to high-tech health care (or education and arts) reduces costs while improving quality and reducing environmental burden, it may be desirable that free choice of technology in the non-physical economy is encouraged. The resulting diversity, or mix of low-tech and high-tech approaches in health care, education, arts, etc. would be less polluting than a linear high-tech approach in the non-physical economy, while leaving providers as well as recipients of services in the non-physical economy free to explore different technological paths. ... Read more

In this research, we set out to investigate the phenomenon of ‘co-design’ and explore the applicability of co-design in the complex coastal context. We have turned to investigating design-oriented, collaborative activities aimed at innovative coastal solutions (co-design) and how they strengthen the development of solutions for coastal problems. Co-design provides a means of realising various ends. We observed, for instance, co-design activities with the goal of collaboratively designing engineering solutions to coastal problems. In other situations, the goals of the co-design activities were wider or were aimed at adapting policy. In general, we see that co-design activities aid in identifying (value) dilemmas, clarifying the diversity in actor perspectives, and broadening the potential space for solutions. Co-design activities ideally give different actors the room to work together in a creative and open manner. Local, scientific, practice-based and other forms of knowledge are ideally used in an egalitarian fashion in the search for solutions to coastal management problems. The thesis ‘co-design in the coastal context’ contributes to insights in how to design the co-design activities, reflects upon insights offered by a broad range of literature on co-design in complex systems, and offers usable and practical methods to evaluate such co-design activities. ... Read more

The city of Kolkata in India is undergoing rapid urbanization and expansion. As the city expands and engulfs its neighboring areas, it threatens the sustainability of natural resources in peri-urban areas – spaces that are gradually transitioning from rural to urban areas. One such natural resource, groundwater, forms the lifeline of peri-urban communities near Kolkata, supporting their drinking, domestic, and livelihood needs. However, under conditions of rapid urbanization, industrialization and population growth, peri-urban areas witness over-exploitation of the groundwater resource. Limited capacity of formal government bodies to manage the resource coupled with ongoing trends of decentralization in India provide the basis for exploring new ways of managing groundwater in peri-urban areas. One such approach is community-based management (CBM) where local communities can craft rules and norms to sustainably manage a resource. This research studies two peri-urban areas near Kolkata to understand the groundwater problems faced by peri-urban communities, how they respond to these problems, and what challenges they face in resolving their problems. First, the Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) framework developed by Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues is used to structure and highlight the factors critical for managing groundwater in peri-urban areas. Next, the overall performance of CBM is evaluated using Ostrom’s design principles and 10 second-tier SES variables proposed by Ostrom (2009). The research shows that peri-urban communities at best cope with problems of groundwater scarcity or seek short-term solutions to delay periods of scarcity. The results from this evaluation show that although community-based management is a good strategy in theory, its realization in peri-urban areas will need to overcome barriers such as low predictability of the groundwater resource, lack of community-wide leadership, low autonomy to craft rules for groundwater management, and varied mental models. ... Read more

In recent years, Dutch wage growth has failed to keep up with productivity growth which has resulted in a productivity-wage gap. This suggests that workers have not benefitted proportionately from their increased productivity. This thesis investigates how productivity and wage have developed in the Netherlands during the past 50 years. ... Read more

As ports are important infrastructure for a countries economy, ports fulfill a vital role in society. In the contemporary global environment, one is expected to adjust its business routines to meet sustainability targets. Because of their significant importance in a port governance framework, terminal operators prove an interesting unit of analysis in the broad concept of port sustainability. This research addresses the notion of port sustainability from the angle of terminal operators' sustainable performance evaluation. The Data Envelopment Analysis technique is employed to benchmark the sustainable performance of various terminal operators active on the global market. Data were obtained from sustainability and CSR issues on behalf of the operators. The conclusions signify that the lack of a cohesive framework for the monitoring and reporting on sustainability measures jeopardize the validity of the results. Even though some interesting patterns can be inferred from the outcomes of the analysis, future research should focus on the retrieval of validated performance statistics and constructing a sustainable performance indication framework for the terminal industry. ... Read more