In the debate about smart cities, an alternative to a dominant top-down, tech-driven solutionist approach has arisen in examples of ‘civic hacking’. Hacking here refers to the playful, exploratory, collaborative and sometimes transgressive modes of operation found in various hacker cultures, this time …

The trade-off between high forest and biodiversity loss associated with development of oil palm plantations and their extremely efficient production of vegetable oil supplied the world with cooking oil and biofuel while taking away millions of hectares of forest in Indonesia alone. RSPO certification …

Blog over het pleidooi van Kamerlid Aartsen (VVD) voor meer financiering van volkscultuur.

In today’s era of content abundance, education has to deal with changed practices for the dissemination of knowledge. Many digital resources are available, and they have the potential to take the place of textbooks. ‘The role of the classic textbook as the key, immutable reference point for any class …

Now, that the European cities are overcoming the recent economic challenges, they accelerate the development of major housingschemes to accommodate their growing urban population. Amsterdam for instance, sets out to construct 50,000 new homes by 2025. Parallel to this, the City Council presented a new …

Onderzoek naar de manier waarop instructievideo’s binnen het vakgebied rekenen kunnen bijdragen aan de zelfstandigheid van de leerlingen in groep 4. Het ontwerp bestaat uit instructievideo’s en een stappenplan probleem oplossen. De onderzoeksmethode bevat observatie van de taakgerichtheid, evaluatie …

Culture has freed us to some extent from nature, first through language and religion, and almost simultaneously through technology. From the control of the fire and the first tools until now - smart technology - technological development has taken a long cultural path, with many challenges and possibilities. …

A colomn about nurture (development) and innate brain structures. Our brain is important. A car does not drive without a motor, but the purpose of the journey is not anchored in the engine. As long as we are judged on what we do or don 't do in the world, running away on time in a conflict, for example, …

Populist parties have received a great amount of attention in the last decade. Scholars agree on the fact that populism addresses issues that are relevant for the majority. However, the established political elites do not discuss and address these issues clearly. Therefore, populist parties stir up …

The combined impacts of urbanization and climate change pose significant threats for flooding and water quality in urban areas. Research shows that on average 83% of the flooding events were caused by gully pot blockages, stating the crucial importance of gully pot maintenance. Roadside gully pots are …