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Recent observations and publications have presented the possibility of a high and accelerated sea-level rise (SLR) later this century due to ice sheet instability and retreat in Antarctica. Under a high warming scenario, this may result in a sea level in 2100 that is up to 2 m higher than present and 5 m in 2150. The large uncertainties in these projections significantly increase the challenge for investment planning in coastal strategies in densely populated coastal zones such as the Netherlands. In this paper, we present the results of two studies that were carried out within the framework of the Dutch Delta Programme. The first study showed that it is not only the absolute SLR that presents a challenge but also the annual rate of rise. The latter impacts the lifetime of constructions such as barriers and pumping stations. When the rate of sea-level rise increases up to several centimeters per year, the intended lifetime of a flood defense structure may be reduced from a century to several decades. This new challenge requires new technologies, experiments, strategies, and governance. The second study explored different strategies for the long term to adapt to high SLR (>1 m) and assessed the consequences thereof on adaptation and developments in the coming 2–3 decades. We believe that strategic choices have to be made regarding the permanent closure of estuaries, the pumping or periodic storage of high river discharges, agriculture in an increasingly saline coastal area, and the maintenance of the coastline by beach nourishments. These strategic choices have to be complemented by no-regret measures such as spatial reservations for future sand extraction (for beach nourishments) and future expansion of flood defenses, water discharge, and water storage. In addition, it is advised to include flexibility in the design of new infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change will have an impact on various sectors, such as housing, infrastructure, recreation and agriculture. Climate change may change spatial demands. For example, rising temperatures will increase the need for recreation areas, and areas could be assigned for water storage. There is a growing sense that, especially at the local scale, spatial planning has a key role in addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. This paper promotes an approach to help translate information on climate change impacts into a guiding model for adaptive spatial planning. We describe how guiding models can be used in designing integrated adaptation strategies. The concept of guiding models has been developed in the 1990s by Tjallingii to translate the principles of integrated water management in urban planning. We have integrated information about the present and future climate change and set up a climate adaptation guiding model approach. Making use of climate adaptation guiding models, spatial planners should be able to better cope with complexities of climate change impacts and be able to translate these to implications for spatial planning. The climate adaptation guiding model approach was first applied in the Zuidplaspolder case study, one of the first major attempts in the Netherlands to develop and implement an integrated adaptation strategy. This paper demonstrates how the construction of climate adaptation guiding models requires a participatory approach and how the use of climate adaptation guiding models can contribute to the information needs of spatial planners at the local scale, leading to an increasing sense of urgency and integrated adaptation planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses worldwide challenges, perhaps most in coastal areas. Governments on different scales respond with planning and policy measures, many with drastic impact. In this paper we assess the role of cultural heritage in planning for climate change on the former island Goeree‐Overflakkee in the Netherlands. We do so by exploring the theoretical discourse on the nexus of climate change and heritage discourses and relating these to an analysis of mitigation and adaptation measures on the island of Goeree‐Overflakkee in the Dutch river delta. It appears that the scale and political urgency of climate change induces involvement of many different governments, resulting in an inconsistent integration of cultural heritage in these plans and policies. These outcomes demonstrate that in order to integrate heritage in climate adaptation and mitigation planning, governments cannot rely on established planning traditions for other spatial challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate change problem calls for a continuously responding society. This raises the question: Do our institutions allow and encourage society to continuously adapt to climate change? This paper uses the Adaptive Capacity Wheel (ACW) to assess the adaptive capacity of formal and informal institutions in four sectors in the Netherlands: spatial planning, water, agriculture and nature. Formal institutions are examined through an assessment of 11 key policy documents and informal institutions are analysed through four case studies covering each sector. Based on these ACW analyses, both sector-specific and more general strengths and weaknesses of the adaptive capacity of institutions in the Netherlands are identified. The paper concludes that the most important challenge for increasing institutional adaptive capacity lies in combining decentralized, participatory approaches with more top-down methods that generate leadership (visions, goals) standards, instruments, resources and monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensity and occurrence of extreme weather events are expected to change with climate change. This change necessitates adaptive responses to extreme events, which need to take into account different societal perspectives, in order to be robust. In this paper, we explore the perspectives of different social actors in the Netherlands with respect to extreme weather events and ways to adapt to these events. The paper reports on a set of 41 interviews, using the repertory grid technique. The results were analyzed, to identify (a) the perspectives that stakeholders hold as most important for adaptation to extreme weather events; (b) the determinants of differences in perspectives. We find six different perspectives, all of which prioritize different adaptive actions. Producing robust adaptive responses which include different perspectives is therefore not a straightforward matter and is likely to result in win-lose situations. Further, differences in perspectives were not closely related to different sectors the interviewees belonged to. Thus, the traditional approach of involving different sectors to discuss and produce adaptation measures may be too limiting and needs to be supplemented to involving actors with different perspectives. The level of concern and level of information influenced the ways interviewees perceive adaptation priorities for extreme weather events. Participation in information events does not always result in perceived need to prepare for extreme events, something that adaptation communication needs to take into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand why climate information is produced differently from country to country. To do this, we critically examined and compared the social and scientific values that shaped the production of three national climate scenarios in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK. A comparative analysis of documentary materials and expert interviews linked to the climate scenarios was performed. Our findings reveal a new typology of use-inspired research in climate science for decision-making: (i) innovators, where the advancement of science is the main objective; (ii) consolidators, where knowledge exchanges and networks are prioritised; and (iii) collaborators, where the needs of users are put first and foremost. These different values over what constitutes 'good' science for decision-making are mirrored in the way users were involved in the production process: (i) elicitation, where scientists have privileged decision-making power; (ii) representation, where multiple organisations mediate on behalf of individual users; and (iii) participation, where a multitude of users interact with scientists in an equal partnership. These differences help explain why climate knowledge gains its credibility and legitimacy differently even when the information itself might not be judged as salient and usable. If the push to deliberately co-produce climate knowledge is not sensitive to the national civic epistemology at play in each country, scientist-user interactions may fail to deliver more 'usable' climate information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perceived value of the integration of spirituality and religion (SR) in mental health care is growing. This study aimed to adapt an SR intervention developed in the USA (SPIRIT) for use in the Netherlands and to explore its applicability. Employing a participatory practice-based action research design, professionals, clients, and an advisory board collaborated in iterative cycles of translation, adaptation, discussion, and testing. The ongoing interfaith dialog during the adaptation process broadened the perspectives incorporated into the existing handouts. We added the term "meaning" (M) alongside SR to accommodate patients who do not identify with religion or spirituality. Additionally, several handouts were added to the original protocol: autonomy, responsibility, and liberty; loneliness and belonging; inspiring persons in the past and present; and grief and loss. Moreover, the existing handout on sacred verses was expanded to encompass versions from various outlooks on life: philosophical/humanistic, Judeo-Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, and Hindu. Finally, layout modifications and diverse exercise formats were introduced. A qualitative examination revealed that the adapted SPIRIT protocol was well received by professionals and patients, and quantitative studies on its applicability and usefulness are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Research into climate change adaptation measures has resulted in the identification of 155 such adaptation measures that contribute to making the built environment more climate resilient. These measures mainly focus on new construction. This paper assesses the feasibility of the measures for the existing social housing stock in the Netherlands. Design/methodology/approach – Interviews were conducted with 12 property managers and policy staff members from Dutch housing associations. The interviewees judged 21 measures that were designed to adapt dwellings to heat-related problems caused by climate change, and they also answered questions regarding their awareness of climate change and regarding the feasibility of the measures. Findings – Low awareness of climate change adaptations, the financing of the measures and the technical complexity of adaptation measures are perceived barriers to implementation. Several possibilities to remove these barriers are discussed. Research limitations/implications – The sample of 12 interviewees provides valuable insight into the opinions of a select group of policymakers from housing associations. The judgements were made based on the personal experiences and expectations of the interviewees. Originality/value – This paper provides valuable insight into the opinions of policy makers and decision makers in Dutch housing associations on climate change adaptation measures in the existing building stock. These insights will be of use for policy making at the local and national levels directed towards creating a resilient building stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Coastal Research is the property of KnowledgeWorks Global, Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explores how Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) can guide investment decisions in integrated water resources management (IWRM) and climate change adaptation under uncertainty. The objectives of the paper are to: (i) explain the concept of diversification to reduce risk, as formulated in MPT; (ii) discuss the conditions for applying MPT to IWRM, and provide examples of these; and (iii) analyze the opportunities and limitations of applying MPT to the design of IWRM and adaptation policies. It is shown that MPT can be applied when a case meets four conditions: (1) there is more than one possible investment at a given time; (2) these investments are subject to risk; (3) there is information about the historical and/or expected return of these investments; and (4) the same conditions do not affect all investments equally, meaning that their returns are imperfectly correlated. Analysis of a case study Noorderkwartier in the Netherlands concludes that MPT can contribute to designing portfolios of combinations of investments in flood risk management-technical measures, spatial planning and insurance-which are robust to uncertainty in long-term projections such as present in climate change scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Middle Ages the Dutch have reclaimed many lakes and parts of the sea, creating polders. Drainage is required to use the land: for the inhabitants, for agriculture and for nature. Traditionally drainage was by gravity: through open (and later pipe) drains excess rainfall was transferred into open collector drains, from where the water was pumped out to a river, lake or the sea. Since the 1950s, land use has been changing towards a more diverse and intensive agriculture, more attention for nature, recreation and continuing urbanization. On top of this, the climate is changing: significant increases in precipitation, both average and extreme. Until recently, the solution to more excess water was to increase pump capacity. Yet the combined problems of climate change, sea level rise, subsidence and urbanization require more structural changes in water management. Drainage systems have to be modified to enable the shift from a strategy of rapid removal of all excess water to one that continuously controls water levels individually in each agricultural plot. A new approach of ‘retention, storage and controlled removal’ is being used to develop climate adaptation scenarios for the three hydro-ecological zones in the Netherlands, i.e.: (1) the man-made polder areas with marine clay soils along the North Sea coast and the former Zuider Sea; (2) the low-lying peat lands in the west and north; and (3) the sandy and loamy soils areas in the centre, south and east. New approaches for tailor-made drainage solutions following this strategy are being tested in various pilot areas in the three zones. Although the research is still ongoing, this paper presents the lessons learned to date related to the challenges, risks and limitations associated with the introduction of these new drainage strategies for coping with climate change in the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Handbooks on strategic real estate management are generally based on four strategies for functional adjustment of the building: conversion, expansion, renovation and adaptive reuse. And on a strategic level, this classification in adjustment strategies does work for real estate in general. But when looking at Dutch primary schools as a specific type of real estate, reality can be and is more nuanced. Other accommodation strategies came to the fore in a study into the spatial adaptation of primary schools and children's centres in the Netherlands. An analysis of 100 school buildings studied in the Atlas of School Building (published in Dutch as Scholenbouwatlas) revealed that nine main strategies were prevalent in practice. This refinement of the strategies fits (better) with integrated conversion actions of primary schools in which several aspects are solved together. In the following article these strategies are analysed and discussed in a theoretical context. The conclusion of the analyses is that the existing general models in the strategic handling of the building stock in the case of specific real estate of primary schools can be refined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although many evidence-based diabetes prevention interventions exist, they are not easily applicable in real-life settings. Moreover, there is a lack of examples which describe the adaptation process of these interventions to practice. In this paper we present an example of such an adaptation. We adapted the SLIM (Study on Lifestyle intervention and Impaired glucose tolerance Maastricht) diabetes prevention intervention to a Dutch real-life setting, in a joint decision making process of intervention developers and local health care professionals. Methods: We used 3 adaptation steps in accordance with current adaptation frameworks. In the first step, the elements of the SLIM intervention were identified. In the second step, these elements were judged for their applicability in a real-life setting. In the third step, adaptations were proposed and discussed for those elements which were deemed not applicable. Participants invited for this process included intervention developers and local health care professionals (n=19). Results: In the first adaptation step, a total of 22 intervention elements were identified. In the second step, 12 of these 22 intervention elements were judged as inapplicable. In the third step, a consensus was achieved for the adaptations of all 12 elements. The adapted elements were in the following categories: target population, techniques, intensity, delivery mode, materials, organisational structure, and political and financial conditions. The adaptations either lay in changing the SLIM protocol (6 elements) or the real-life working procedures (1 element), or a combination of both (4 elements). Conclusions: The positive result of this study is that a consensus was achieved within a relatively short time period (nine months) between the developers of the SLIM intervention and local health care professionals on the adaptations needed to make SLIM applicable in a Dutch real-life setting. Our example shows that it is possible to combine the perspectives of scientists and practitioners, and to find a balance between evidence-base and applicability concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Scholars stress the need to bring science and policy together for effective policy making. This paper highlights an interesting site of co-production: the second Dutch Delta Committee. Consisting of representatives of science, politics, policy and industry, this state committee advised the Dutch government on adapting to climate change in 2008. Although the committee went beyond common climate projections and advocated non-incremental policy recommendations, its report provoked little opposition. Subsequently, its recommendations shaped institutional reform and policy development in Dutch adaptive governance. Using the concept of boundary organisations, this paper opens up the black box of the advisory process to explain the Delta Committee''s functioning. We conclude that the current understanding of the effectiveness of boundary organisations tends to focus on their internal organisation. The internal processing, shaped by the deliberate composition and organisation of the committee, was indeed important for the production of useful knowledge and management of multiple boundaries. However, this was paralleled by external practices of continued interaction with a range of political, departmental, scientific and public actors in which the Committee positioned the advise. While the former mainly enabled the production of a high quality advice, the latter quested for its acceptation and legitimacy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Climate change is associated with various risks, such as flooding and heat stress. So far, most research has concentrated on the identification and quantification of these risks as well as the development of adaptation measures. Yet much less is known about how planners actually perceive and deal with climate change, and why. This paper focuses on the governance of two climate change-related risks in urban areas in the Netherlands, namely heat stress and flooding from rainfall and rivers. Heat stress hardly seems to be perceived as an urgent problem, mainly because there is no clear 'problem owner'. Because municipalities are responsible for rain and sewage water management and partly for river flooding, increased flood risk is more often recognised as a (potential) problem. Despite the rather low sense of urgency regarding these two climate change-induced risks, urban planners are, or envisage, investing in more open water and public green areas. Heat stress and flood risks from rainfall are not the reasons per se, but primarily act as additional arguments to legitimise these measures, which should contribute to sustainable urban development in general. Our analysis suggests a gap between the perceived urgency of proactive adaptation to climate change by scientists and the perceptions of planners. Climate science research could enhance its contribution to urban planning by providing conceivable projections of climate change impacts as well as by developing adaptation measures that serve multiple purposes and strategies to successfully implement these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Towards 2050, climate change is one of the possible drivers that will change the farming landscape, but market, policy and technological development may be at least equally important. In the last decade, many studies assessed impacts of climate change and specific adaptation strategies. However, adaptation to climate change must be considered in the context of other driving forces that will cause farms of the future to look differently from today's farms. In this paper we use a historical analysis of the influence of different drivers on farm structure, complemented with literature and stakeholder consultations, to assess future structural change of farms in a region under different plausible futures. As climate change is one of the drivers considered, this study thus puts climate change impact and adaptation into the context of other drivers. The province of Flevoland in the north of The Netherlands was used as case study, with arable farming as the main activity. To account for the heterogeneity of farms and to indicate possible directions of farm structural change, a farm typology was developed. Trends in past developments in farm types were analyzed with data from the Dutch agricultural census. The historical analysis allowed to detect the relative importance of driving forces that contributed to farm structural changes. Simultaneously, scenario assumptions about changes in these driving forces elaborated at global and European levels, were downscaled for Flevoland, to regional and farm type level in order to project impacts of drivers on farm structural change towards 2050. Input from stakeholders was also used to detail the downscaled scenarios and to derive historical and future relationships between drivers and farm structural change. These downscaled scenarios and future driver-farm structural change relationships were used to derive quantitative estimations of farm structural change at regional and farm type level in Flevoland. In addition, stakeholder input was used to also derive images of future farms in Flevoland. The estimated farm structural changes differed substantially between the two scenarios. Our estimations of farm structural change provide a proper context for assessing impacts of and adaptation to climate change in 2050 at crop and farm level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a survey of stakeholder and scientific expert judgments regarding the impacts of climate change on water management in The Netherlands in 2001. The main methodological findings were put into broader perspective by discussing the role of stakeholder and scientific expert judgment in the context of the Dutch national research programme 'Climate changes Spatial Planning' (CcSP) in the period 2001-2007. We focus on flood risks, and impacts on freshwater resources because they were mentioned most in the 2001 survey. For the flood risks, a high degree of consensus amongst stakeholders and scientific experts was discovered about knowledge, values and aims involved. This was not the case for the impacts of climate change on freshwater resources. The approach, chosen in 2001, enabled the researchers to explore the different opinions regarding the impacts of climate change. It appeared, however, very difficult to prioritize available adaptation options and to formulate cross-sectoral adaptation strategies. Within the CcSP programme, initiated after the 2001 survey, it can be observed that stakeholders become more involved in expert judgements about climate change impacts and adaptation strategies. The interaction between scientists and stakeholders is gradually shifting from a collaborative/consultative approach towards a real participatory approach in the research and design process of combined regional and sectoral adaptation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing providers have to keep adapting their building stock to keep pace with the dynamic changes in the urban environment. One of the main drivers of adaptation is climate change, caused primarily by man-made greenhouse gases. Climate change is impacting on urban areas largely through drought, flooding from extreme precipitation, and heat stress. Climate change not only threatens the building stock, but also the quality of life of people living and working in urban environments. In the Netherlands, housing associations have strong interests in and responsibilities for managing the social housing stock and maintaining quality of life, but they seem scarcely aware of the challenge that lies ahead in terms of adapting their stock to the impacts of climate change. This paper focuses on physical adaptations to the housing stock and discusses the likelihood of the adoption of five implementation strategies for climate adaptation measures as assessed by decision-makers in Dutch housing associations in an online survey. The strategies combine conceptual approaches in policymaking, involvement of external players, and the execution of construction projects in a partnering approach, with the addition of one extra strategy that assigns a central position to the tenants. There was no strategy that stood out clearly as the one most likely to guide the implementation of measures. Many housing associations do, however, see opportunities in this area and might be persuaded to take action if they were provided with a wide palette of implementation strategies from which they could select the most suitable combination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changing role of urban planning in the Netherlands from regulatory to public-private development planning implies the need to gain insight into multistakeholder decision making in a spatial planning context. In this paper we show the importance of unravelling influence structures that affect individual stakeholder decisions. For this purpose we looked at the Dutch retail planning context, where recently the responsibility for planning decisions has been deputed to local governments and peripheral retail planning restrictions have been relaxed. As a result, at present, local governments, realestate developers, and retail firms jointly decide on the location of new retail facilities. It is assumed that each stakeholder's attitude towards peripheral retail planning is influenced by the preference structures of other stakeholders and may reflect their professional background. We focus on adaptive behaviour, the phenomenon that a decision maker adjusts his or her preferences towards specific preferences of other stakeholders in order to move to consensus. We provide a method for measuring this adaptive behaviour, based on existing random utility choice modelling techniques. To assess preferences of stakeholders for peripheral retail planning options as well as their adaptive behaviour, three groups of stakeholders (real-estate developers, retail organizations, and local governments) were invited to take part in a web-based conjoint choice experiment. It was found that all stakeholders show rather conservative behaviour regarding peripheral retail development, especially with respect to fashion. Adaptive behaviour appeared to be cooperative and significant: stakeholders tend to (temporarily) increase preferences for alternative plans preferred by the other stakeholders. Developers appeared to be the most adaptive in their decision behaviour. Taking into consideration adaptive behaviour may help to improve existing multistakeholder decision models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that temperature rise leads to an earlier onset of spring in wild plant species and that farmers are not keeping track of climate change. Crop growth models and experiments show yield gains to be obtained from earlier sowing. Why do farmers not sow earlier? We propose simple models on the relation between several weather variables and farmers’ sowing dates and test these models with 392 observed weekly sugar beet sowing percentages in the Netherlands. Data showed no correlation between spring temperature and sowing dates. However when we corrected for number of frost days in spring, we clearly saw earlier sowing at higher temperatures. Frost causes crumbling of the soil resulting in a nice seedbed; farmers sow later when there have been less frost days. Temperature rise “makes” farmers sow earlier, but the number or frost days simultaneously decreases and this “makes” farmers sow later. The combined effect is that temperature rise leads to only a small net advance in sowing date, 2 days per 1°C according to our model. Many climate change studies have assumed advances in sowing date are often larger than likely based on historical trends and models developed in this paper. Such studies may well be overly optimistic in projected yield gains that follow from earlier sowing. Our results also revealed that sowing dates were correlated with the sum of solar radiation over the preceding 7–10 months. This correlation remained significant also when other weather variables (rain, temperature, frost days) were accounted for. Our work raises the question what is the process causing this correlation and does such correlation with radiation sum also show up in other time series of phenological events or human behaviour. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study analyzes the relationships between immigrant adolescents’ ethnic identity, their first and second language proficiency and their psychological and sociocultural adaptation using three models: the ethnic identity model, the language assimilation model, and the language integration model. The study explores what model best explains adaptation processes of second-generation immigrant youth in the Netherlands and Sweden. Participants were 158 Turkish adolescents in the Netherlands and 237 in Sweden (13–18 years). As expected we found support for the ethnic identity model in the Swedish sample and for the language assimilation model in the Netherlands. We also found weak support for the integration model in the Swedish sample. Overall the findings support a notion that in terms of adaptation outcomes there is no such thing as a preferred acculturation strategy that is valid for all times and places. This paper shows that possibilities for optimizing adaptation outcomes as well as choices of acculturation strategies may vary by context with regard to immigrant language policy and corresponding experiences. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on happiness in The Netherlands In the media we read mainly about negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our subjective wellbeing, such as increased depression, anxiety and loneliness. There is less attention for possible positive effects and for this reason it is worth examining how the life-satisfaction of the Dutch population has developed during the pandemic. In the short run, this will help policy makers to balance loss of happiness against loss of lives and in the long run it will help to examine which policies have resulted in the lowest loss of happy life years. In this article, we describe observed effects on happiness in the Netherlands during the pandemic (until spring 2021) using three empirical approaches: 1) trend in subsequent survey studies, 2) analysis of a panel study, and 3) analysis of a dairy study in which mood during daily activities was measured. Average life-satisfaction declined by about 4% of which 3% between summer 2020 and spring 2021. Whereas in the early days of the pandemic, the Dutch population only reported a minor loss of happiness, the decline has become substantial at the end of the road. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we compare Dutch penny prints with Spanish Aleluyas, focusing on three specific functions of this premodern mass medium: popularising and adapting theatre plays; standardising (folk/fairy) tales; adapting and popularising literary classics. Via these functions we address the discrepancies between the two countries considering the materiality of the penny prints, the growth of the production, but also the transition from a predominantly religious, towards a more profane content. Striking was the lack of educative and edifying initiatives in Spain in contrast to the Dutch ideological strategies. We observed some interesting similarities as well. Although in both countries penny prints often conformed to current ideologies and institutions, there were instances in which penny prints and aleluyas were used as instruments of social satire or resistance. A few similar strange twists in the adaptations of literary classics, seem to suggest some form of transnational exchange or at least imitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Architectus is the property of Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Wroclawskiej and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although the literature on positive adjustment following traumatic events is growing, only a few studies have examined this phenomenon in young refugees. Using the social-ecological framework, the aim of this study was to identify factors and processes that according to young refugees promote their resilience. A total of 16 treatment-seeking refugees aged 13–21 years, living in the Netherlands, were interviewed. Data analysis revealed four resilience strategies: (1) acting autonomously, (2) performing at school, (3) perceiving support from peers and parents, and (4) participating in the new society. These strategies interacted with one another and demonstrated the interrelatedness between individuals and their social context. Having to wait long for a residence permit and being older appeared to negatively influence participants’ resilience strategies. These findings suggest that resilience refers to a dynamic process that is context and time specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Dutch cities were among the forerunners in local climate policy, a systematic overview on climate mitigation and adaptation policy is still missing. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing 25 Dutch cities using indicators for the level of anchoring in policy, organisation and practical implementation as well as multi-level relations. Since Tilburg, Amsterdam, Den Haag and Rotterdam show a higher performance than other Dutch cities, these four cities are used as reference cities. The findings suggest that structural integration of climate mitigation and adaptation is limited in Dutch cities. The study points at three recent trends in local climate governance in the Netherlands: (i) decentralisation within municipal organisations, (ii) externalisation initiatives that place climate policy outside the municipal organisation and (iii) regionalisation with neighbouring municipalities and the provincial government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change projections show that periods of droughts are likely to increase, causing decreasing water availability, salinization, and consequently farm income loss in the south-west Netherlands. Adaptation is the key to decrease a farmer's drought vulnerability and to secure the agricultural sector's performance at the aggregate level. Possible adaptation strategies include responses at the field scale, farm-level measures and joint adaptation measures. Using the results of a recent survey, we explore farmers' adaptive behaviour to drought. We give detailed insight into the influence of risk appraisal and coping appraisal factors on the current level of farmers' adaptation motivation and the adoption of three types of adaptive responses. Our findings show that behavioural factors make a significant contribution to explain the actual level of farmers' adaptation motivation. Furthermore, we find that components of threat and coping appraisal influence adoption decisions differently across three types of drought adaptation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been suggested that spirituality is associated with higher well-being, because it offers social support, improves the relationship with the partner, provides meaning, and reduces self-focus and worry. We performed a qualitative study among ten people with cancer, using the Consensual Qualitative Research method for the analysis of semi-structured interviews. Support was found for the mechanisms of meaning provision and of reduction of self-focus and worries. Participants also mentioned emotion-focused roles of spirituality: Feeling supported by a transcendental confidant, the expression of negative emotions (in prayer), acceptance, allowing feelings of misery, and viewing problems from a distance. There was no mention of a contribution of spirituality to adjustment through improved social support per se or a higher quality of the relationship with the partner. The results of the present study indicate that the role of spirituality in emotion regulation deserves attention in understanding how spirituality helps cancer patients to adjust to their disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In large-scale educational reforms, many actors play their roles. The diversity of contributions and lack of harmonization prove to be frequently found to cause educational reform failures. Many explanations for these failures focus on differences between the actors and on differences in their contributions to the reform process. In this article, we examine the effects of these differences and emphasize on the need to harmonize these contributions to the reform process. Contributions by several actors to a large-scale curriculum reform undertaken in the Netherlands in the 1990s are mapped for this purpose. This curriculum reform is part of a larger educational reform aimed to introduce a constructivist approach. Education is conceptualised as a social system, and educational reform as the manner in which this social system adapts to immanent and emmanent changes. The actors in the education system are distributed across functional subsystems. In the present analyses, teacher acting within a particular subsystem stands central. The results show adequate exchange and harmonization of the contributions from the different subsystems to be a necessary condition for successful educational reform. To achieve a good exchange and harmonization, the use of an Educational Impact Assessment is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing-in-place is the preferred way of living for older individuals in an ageing society. It can be facilitated through architectural and technological solutions in the home environment. Dementia poses additional challenges when designing, constructing, or retrofitting housing facilities that support ageing-in-place. Older adults with dementia and their partners ask for living environments that support independence, compensate for declining and vitality, and lower the burden of family care. This study reports the design process of a demonstration home for people with dementia through performing a literature review and focus group sessions. This design incorporates modifications in terms of architecture, interior design, the indoor environment, and technological solutions. Current design guidelines are frequently based on small-scale studies, and, therefore, more systematic field research should be performed to provide further evidence for the efficacy of solutions. The dwellings of people with dementia are used to investigate the many aspects of supportive living environments for older adults with dementia and as educational and training settings for professionals from the fields of nursing, construction, and building services engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Patients tend to assign higher utilities to health states compared with the general public. Several explanations have been given for this difference including focusing illusion -, caused in part by the sparseness of a health state description such as the EQ-5D -, and adaptation. Objective We investigated whether patients and the public differ in which dimensions they find important. Furthermore, we compared whether the dimensions named by patients and the public obtained higher rankings of importance compared with the predefined EQ-5D dimensions. Within each nominated dimension we investigated whether the public used a more negative frame compared with patients. In addition, adaptation was investigated by comparing patients with high levels of adaptation and patients with low levels of adaptation. Design Data were collected using semistructured interviews among 124 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 64 members of the public. Participants indicated which aspects are important to them when they think about their life having rheumatoid arthritis and rated the importance of these aspects and of the EQ-5D dimensions. Results In contrast to patients, the public named more often aspects related to sports and mobility, leisure activities and work and framed these aspects negatively. Compared with self-rated dimensions, the public ranked the EQ-5D dimensions as more important whereas patients found both groups of aspects equally important. Patients who showed higher levels of adaptation did not differ significantly from patients with lower levels. Conclusion The public is focused on life domains that are negatively influenced by the described health state whereas patients are focused on both the positive and negative aspects of their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the reciprocity between children’s literature and educational ideals in Dutch rewritings of international literary classics published for children between 1850 and 1950. It analyses the assumed pedagogical power of rewritings of international literary classics for children from the perspective of three theoretical concepts: (1) cultural transmission as a strategy of educational ambition in its capacity to serve social initiation, (2) adaptation as a transformation strategy to adjust an artefact to a specific audience, and (3) gate keepership as the determining factor in the communication situation of literature for children. Comparing original masterpieces that were originally not, or not specifically, meant for children with their derivatives sheds light on the strategies that were used to mould narratives into pedagogical examples. It shows how protagonists were educated along the lines of the ever-changing pedagogical discourse brought about by historically variable concepts of childhood and displays the transition of the educational value of subjection to external mastery to the ideal of self-mastery of the child. Moreover, it shows how rewritings not only functioned as agents in the transmission of literary artefacts, but by means of that, also provided for the transmission of culture. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Agriculture is vulnerable to climate change in multiple ways. Here, we use the northern region of the Netherlands as a case study to explore how risk assessments for climate change impacts on crop production can address multiple vulnerabilities. We present a methodology, which we call agro climate calendar (ACC) that (i) includes potential yield losses, as well as loss of product quality, and (ii) assesses the risks of a variety of climate factors including weather extremes and the emergence and abundance of pests and diseases. Climate factors are defined for two time slices: 1990 (1976-2005) and 2040 (2026-2055); the frequency of occurrence of the factors is compared for the two periods, and the resulting frequency shifts are presented in a crop calendar on a monthly basis. This yields an indication of the magnitude and direction of changes in climatic conditions that can lead to damage by extreme events and pests and diseases. We present results for the two most important crops in the region, seed potato, and winter wheat. The results provide a good overview of risks from climate factors, and the most important threats and opportunities are identified. This semi-quantitative approach is firmly rooted in farm management, which is the level where operational and strategic decisions are made. Thus, the approach is well suited to assist local stakeholders such as farmers and policy makers to explore farm-level adaptation. This work is complementary to previous modeling work that focused mainly on the relation between mean climate change factors (i.e., temperature) and crop yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

van Geel, M. & Vedder, P. (2010). The adaptation of non-western and Muslim immigrant adolescents in the Netherlands: An immigrant paradox? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 398–402. This article addresses the possible existence of an immigrant paradox in a sample of immigrant adolescents attending vocational schools in the Netherlands. An immigrant paradox is the finding that first generation immigrants show a more positive pattern of adaptation than nationals despite poorer economic conditions. Second generation immigrants regress to the nationals in terms of adaptation. A sample of 152 first generation immigrant adolescents, 285 second generation immigrant adolescents and 406 national adolescents completed self-reports about socio-economic status, psychological problems, behavioral problems and self-esteem. The results supported the existence of an immigrant paradox in this sample. This indicates that further assimilation among immigrant adolescents does not necessarily lead to increased well being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is projected to cause severe economic losses, which has the potential to affect the insurance sector and public compensation schemes considerably. This article discusses the role insurance can play in adapting to climate change impacts. The particular focus is on the Dutch insurance sector, in view of the Netherlands being extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts. The usefulness of private insurance as an adaptation instrument to increased flood risks is examined, which is currently unavailable in the Netherlands. It is questioned whether the currently dominant role of the Dutch government in providing damage relief is justified from an economic efficiency perspective. Characteristics of flood insurance arrangements in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France are compared in order to identify possible future directions for arrangements in the Netherlands. It is argued that social welfare improves when insurance companies take responsibility for part of the risks associated with climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]