Proefschrift--Letteren--Nijmegen, 1990.

As human activity continues to cause significant global issues, such as the decline of biodiversity, there is an increasing demand to engage with desirable visions of the future. Sustainability research emphasizes the significance of participatory approaches prioritizing nature and incorporating diverse human-nature relationships to promote more inclusive and sustainable paths to a positive future. However, the involvement of youth in current future studies is limited. Urban national parks provide valuable opportunities to investigate people-nature relations and their future. This study conducted a participatory futures workshop that combined the Natures Futures Framework and the Three Horizons Framework with fifteen young individuals living in Stockholm to capture their diverse nature relationships and positive future visions of the Royal National City Park in Stockholm. The workshop identified several aspects of nature in the park appreciated by the group, such as biodiversity, calmness, and the opportunity for recreation and connection to nature. If those values are projected onto a desirable future, this group of youth envisions the park to include reduced pollution, increased biodiversity, stronger protection and regulation, and prioritization of nature, with societal involvement and better accessibility. To support value-inclusive decision-making for the sustainable future of the Royal National City Park, collected values and visions were shared with park stakeholders. By collecting diverse nature value perspectives on a local scale using the Nature Futures Framework, this work contributes to the generation of a global perspective of desirable nature futures. While the Natures Futures Framework proved effective in generating rich value perspectives, a reflection survey revealed that not all participants found the framework easy to understand, particularly the difference between the different value perspectives presented in the framework. In conclusion, this study provides insights into possible futures and inspires actions toward a sustainable future where humans and nature coexist in harmony.

abstract: With more than 70 percent of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2050, it behooves us to understand urban sustainability and improve the capacity of city planners and policymakers to achieve sustainable goals. Producing and linking knowledge to action is a key tenet of sustainability science. This dissertation examines how knowledge-action systems -- the networks of actors involved in the production, sharing and use of policy-relevant knowledge -- work in order to inform what capacities are necessary to effectively attain sustainable outcomes. Little is known about how knowledge-action systems work in cities and how they should be designed to address their complexity. I examined this question in the context of land use and green area governance in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where political conflict exists over extensive development, particularly over the city's remaining green areas. I developed and applied an interdisciplinary framework -- the Knowledge-Action System Analysis (KASA) Framework --that integrates concepts of social network analysis and knowledge co-production (i.e., epistemic cultures and boundary work). Implementation of the framework involved multiple methods --surveys, interviews, participant observations, and document--to gather and analyze quantitative and qualitative data. Results from the analysis revealed a diverse network of actors contributing different types of knowledge, thus showing a potential in governance for creativity and innovation. These capacities, however, are hindered by various political and cultural factors, such as: 1) breakdown in vertical knowledge flow between state, city, and local actors; 2) four divergent visions of San Juan's future emerging from distinct epistemic cultures; 3) extensive boundary work by multiple actors to separate knowledge and planning activities, and attain legitimacy and credibility in the process; 4) and hierarchies of knowledge where outside expertise (e.g., private planning and architectural firms) is privileged over others, thus reflecting competing knowledge systems in land use and green area planning in San Juan. I propose a set of criteria for building just and effective knowledge-action systems for cities, including: context and inclusiveness, adaptability and reflexivity, and polycentricity. In this way, this study also makes theoretical contributions to the knowledge systems literature specifically, and urban sustainability in general. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Sustainability 2012

Presented dissertation thesis deals with mentally disabled adolescents who are partially grown up in children's homes and in children's homes with school. The discussed topic is interdisciplinary and multi-layered. The aim of this thesis is to find out, describe and analyze what fulfils everyday life of adolescents with a mental disability and a marginal condition. The thesis also describes what these adolescents experience, what they encounter with, what they imagine in regards with their own future in the context of their life in children's homes. Multidisciplinary focus of the theoretical part of the thesis approaches adolescence as an evolutionary period in one's life and is based on work of Czech and foreign authors of evolutionary and social psychology. Adolescence is also considered as a period of potential risk connected with behavioural disorders which can cause child's placement in institutional education. The meaning of education is approached not only from the philosophical but also from the theoretical point of view. The thesis also covers the question of current possibilities of adolescents to complete their apprenticeship in a certain field of study. Besides other things, the text analyzes the concept of mental disability, shows the change in its definition, and presents sociological...

Molnlagring, kommunikationsplattformar med interaktiva funktioner, virtuella modeller som sammanfogas med fysiska omgivningar, datorsimuleringar, livscykelperspektiv. Så diskuteras det i BIM-världens korridorer. Men om detta nu är framtiden: varför går implementeringen så långsamt, och vad är det egentligen som ska implementeras?   Processen att hantera och förstå vad BIM är har blivit för komplex, och med denna rapport vill vi hitta åtgärder för att göra arbetssättet begripligt och användbart för fler. Vi har i samarbete med Vianova Systems undersökt hur användningen av BIM ser ut idag och vilka förbättringsåtgärder som behövs för en bredare framtida implementering i samhällsbyggnadsbranschen.   Våra undersökningar visar att nästan 80 % tror att ett arbete som drar nytta av en digital modell skulle vara effektivare: samtidigt är osäkerheten kring mjukvaror och oklarhet kring implementeringen av arbetsmetoderna begränsande faktorer. Som lösning på detta har ett användarinterface för projektsamordning och kommunikation arbetats fram.   Dessa undersökningar har genomförts med hjälp av en enkätstudie samt intervjuer och sammanställts i två delar: dels denna rapport, samt en slutprodukt av visionär karaktär kallad ”7 visions for the future of BIM”. / Cloud storage, communication platforms with interactive functions, virtual models that are merged with physical surroundings, computer simulations, life cycle perspective. This is what is being discussed in the corridors of the BIM-world. But if this is the future: why is the implementation so slow, and what exactly is to be implemented?   The process of handling and understanding what BIM is has become too complex, and in this report we want to find solutions for making the way of working intelligible and useful for a wider audience. In collaboration with Vianova Systems, we have investigated what the use of BIM looks like today and what improvements are needed for a wider future implementation in the AEC industry.   Our investigations show that almost 80 % believe that work which utilizes a digital model would be more effective: at the same time the insecurity concerning software and uncertainties regarding the implementation of the work methodologies are limiting factors. As a solution for this a user interface for project management and communication has been developed.   These investigations have been carried out with the aid of a questionnaire and interviews and compiled into two parts: partly this report, as well as an end product of visionairy nature called ”7 visions for the future of BIM”.