Urban renewal and urban area development projects are by nature highly complex processes involving a multiplicity of professionals, stakeholders, and conflicting interests. Adding to this complexity are the formulated ambitions and societal challenges projects have to answer to. One of these ambitions …

Social media users can be forgiven for feeling dissatisfied. ‘Old media’ news, based on the perpetual celebrity comeback, has hit a conceptual impasse with new cancel culture. Geert Lovink calls for the renewal of social networking tools giving users a constructive voice.

The emergence of exponential technologies, along with the affirmation of a collective intelligence paradigm, is creating new competitive pressures and entrepreneurial opportunities for organizations aiming to generate a spectrum of diverse outputs ranging from product innovation to large-scale corporate …

Renewing agricultural grasslands for improved yields and forage quality generally involves eliminating standing vegetation with herbicides, ploughing and reseeding. However, grassland renewal may negatively affect soil quality and related ecosystem services. On clay soil in the north of the Netherlands, …

The theme of multi-voicedness in the search on the path of life is explored. It will be argued that we, as human beings, not only live within an ambiguous world, but also have to deal with an ambiguous self. In the quest for happiness it is the challenge to acknowledge all inner positions, each with …

Most higher education alumni work in professional fields, making higher education responsible for the provision of high-quality professionalism throughout society. However, higher education does not yet fulfil its role as a provider of methodologies for the renewal of professionalism. In this lecture, …

This paper includes the research conducted towards the SME businesses’ ability to adjust with the help of students. The research question of the Business Booster project is four-fold: 1. To what extent do SME businesses focus on the future? 2. To what extent can students boost (strategic) renewal at …

Amsterdam strives to combat a shortage of homes by launching an ambitious housing development scheme for 32 designated most deprived neighborhoods. After decades of urban renewal projects, the local communities still suffer from difficult to resolve socioeconomic problems. Aside from a minimum of 40% …

In 2017 the municipality of Amsterdam launched a programme to combat a housing shortage and realise ambitious societal goals for 32 of its most deprived neighbourhoods. After decades of urban renewal projects, these areas still scored poorly on most socio-economic indicators. The programme aims to develop …

Wilms tumour suppressor gene (WT1) is essential for normal development of a kidney, it was also discovered as a major controller of mesenchymal-epithelial balance in general development of organs. In this project we use Wt1 and its role in the mesenchymal-epithelial balance to study the mechanism of …