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Artikel
Understanding the Chinampa system to identify opportunities for better governance
The thesis identifies, maps and critically analyses the different sub-systems that compose the area of Mexico City known as the Chinampa System. This system is a peri-urban cultivated wetland famous for its autochthonous agricultural techniques and the indigenous species that live in it. The objective is to formulate an understanding of that system that helps recognize the knowledge gaps that challenge its governance and the threats it faces: the interests of the real estate market of Mexico City and its government, and the stress of the waterscape that feeds the system. These threats are exacerbated by Climate Change and lead to rising conflicts over the use and management of this space. In this thesis I map the interscalar and intersystemic actors and factors that interrelate and affect this system to find the knowledge gaps, vulnerabilities, challenges and strengths in the representation of the system and its governance. The thesis concludes that there is a general lack of cohesion and dialogue between the institutions that govern the Chinampa system, worsened by the obsolete paradigm of the urban-rural divide and the systemic rejection of local, anticolonial knowledge and practice.
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Artikel
Understanding the Chinampa system to identify opportunities for better governance.
The thesis identifies, maps and critically analyses the different sub-systems that compose the area of Mexico City known as the Chinampa System. This system is a peri-urban cultivated wetland famous for its autochthonous agricultural techniques and the indigenous species that live in it. The objective is to formulate an understanding of that system that helps recognize the knowledge gaps that challenge its governance and the threats it faces: the interests of the real estate market of Mexico City and its government, and the stress of the waterscape that feeds the system. These threats are exacerbated by Climate Change and lead to rising conflicts over the use and management of this space. In this thesis I map the interscalar and intersystemic actors and factors that interrelate and affect this system to find the knowledge gaps, vulnerabilities, challenges and strengths in the representation of the system and its governance. The thesis concludes that there is a general lack of cohesion and dialogue between the institutions that govern the Chinampa system, worsened by the obsolete paradigm of the urban-rural divide and the systemic rejection of local, anticolonial knowledge and practice.
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Artikel
Fast Food, Slow Sustainability?
The current food system has a large impact on global greenhouse gas emissions and freshwater use. Shifting towards a sustainable food system is becoming increasingly important, and individuals can contribute by making sustainable food choices and avoiding excessive consumption. However, consumers face challenges in making sustainable choices due to the prevalence of unhealthy and unsustainable fast-food outlets. The association between fast-food outlet exposure, specifically the proximity and density of fast-food outlets, and environmentally sustainable food choices is not well understood. This study aimed to fill this knowledge gap by examining the association between fast-food outlet exposure and sustainable dietary intake and food-related behavior. Statistical and GIS analyses were performed to explore the influence of the fast-food environment. The study's findings did not demonstrate a significant association between fast-food outlet exposure and sustainable food choices and food-related behavior. This suggests that factors beyond fast-food availability may have a stronger influence on sustainable dietary choices. Although the study did not find a significant association between fast-food outlet exposure and sustainable food-related outcomes, it provides valuable insights into the fast-food environment and sustainability. Future research should address limitations such as sample size, representativeness, and the consideration of other contributing factors. By doing so, the fast-food environment and its influences on sustainable food choices and behavior can be better understood, thereby guiding the development of more sustainable diets.
Author: Antonia van der Grinten
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Artikel
Implementing community urban agriculture in Bonaire
Bonaire is a Caribbean Island that is part of the Dutch Kingdom. The island is currently facing serious challenges. One of the defined issues is the lack of local food production which leads to expensive fruit and vegetables in the supermarket. This results in unhealthy diets of the citizens which leads to 60% of overweighted inhabitants in Bonaire (Verweij et al., 2020). To fight this problem, the local government of Bonaire is starting agricultural projects such as community gardens. However, there is a need for examples and knowledge on how to set up successful agricultural projects. This information is currently missing in Bonaire, which makes providing guidance in such projects the main aim of this thesis.
To achieve this goal, I in my role as a researcher, became a member of an ongoing communal food initiative project in the agricultural department of Bonaire called “Nos mes por”. My integration into the community created a unique opportunity to gain real-world experiences by using participatory action research (PAR) as a methodology. In short, there are two objectives namely (1) implementing actions for “Nos mes por” (gaining action) while also (2) generating information for the process and product design of community gardens in Bonaire (gaining knowledge).
This research methodology in this dissertation is compiled by using interviews, observations, and focus groups as research methods. This study resulted in both real-world actions which are applied in “Nos mes por” and specific guide-lines defined by the members of the community garden to make the project successful. Moreover, strategies to set up and design communal urban agriculture initiatives in Bonaire specifically and SIDS generally are developed. However, future research in Bonaire and SIDS should test the guidelines to see how they work in practice. -
Artikel
Acquiring insights into the sustainability of future diets
Our current food practices cause numerous environmental, social, cultural, and economic externalities. Yet while the challenges arise in these seemingly different dimensions, the solutions to finding a sustainable diet, might be found in the interplay between them. Striking a balance between components of the food system to ensure a future sustainable diet requires a tangible framework as a starting point. This research developed scenarios using expert interviews to draft future food acquisition practices for the city of Amsterdam in 2050. By employing and expanding upon the DESTEP methodology, a glimpse of the future lifestyle practices, system of provision, and food acquisition arose. Seven trends were drafted, which are expected to affect future food acquisition practices significantly. 1) A dichotomy in society between those well-off and those badly-off, 2) a potential increase in plant-based food consumption, 3) a dichotomy in society regarding food orientation, with on the one hand those seeking convenience while a growing number of people look the context behind the food they eat, 4) robotization, 5) water and nutrient scarcity, 6) an increased awareness by governments as to what people eat, and lastly, 7) the ongoing battle for space within the city. The different scenarios point out that the government's role can significantly affect how the future pans out.
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MSc Thesis AMS Institute - How the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam could source a quarter of its food from the region by 2030
This master's thesis explores four future scenarios for short food supply chains in the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam in 2030 and their potential spatial impact. Agricultural land in the Netherlands has been decreasing in recent decades, especially within the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam. This trend is likely to continue in the coming decades (Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving, 2015; Lesschen et al., 2020). Alongside this, there is an ambition from both regional government bodies and non-government actors to source twenty-five percent of the food consumed from their own region. This research looks at opportunities for achieving this ambition and how the objectives can be accomplished despite the scarce space in the metropolitan region. Four future scenarios have been drawn up for 2030, based on two axes, with each scenario describing the measures that can be taken to achieve this future scenario. The first axis is focused on governance of the food chain: either by a strong directing government or by polycentric networks. The second axis addresses the use of space: either conventional agricultural land use remains dominant, or alternative forms of food production break through and change the demand for space. By describing the four future scenarios, this master's thesis attempts to highlight multiple paths to the different future scenario’s and to map the possibilities for short food supply chains for the future. As such, this thesis falls within the discussions surrounding the alternative food geographies paradigm.
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Artikel
From ambitions to reality. Understanding and quantifying the relations between food, energy & water for a neighborhood sustainability hub, the green tower in Amsterdam
Sustainable food, energy, and water (FEW) provisions are essential to creating sustainable urban communities. However, there are only few examples of decentralized systems that support the generation, distribution, and recycling of FEW at a neighbourhood level. Let alone examples of a neighbourhood sustainability hub that processes all three at one location. Motived by the Green Tower in the Bajeskwartier, a tower with the intention to become the ‘sustainable heart of the neighbourhood’, this thesis aims to improve the understanding of the interrelations in FEW for neighbourhood sustainability hubs.
References can be found inside the document.In this, emphasis is placed on creating a flexible and interactive tool that helps improve this understanding to help designers and developers in the initiation phase of designing the hub. The Green Tower is used as case study for this research and the designers as test group for the tool. Design thinking was applied as overarching methodological approach and the FEW Nexus used as theoretical basis for creating this tool. First, a stakeholder analysis and power relation mapping helped identify the types of involvement of the main stakeholders. Then, a literature study and a series of SWOT analyses helped understand the preliminary design of the Green Tower and the strengths and weaknesses of its planned systems from a FEW Nexus approach. Afterwards, a system diagram and theoretical model were created to visualize the planned and potential relations in FEW among the Green Tower’s systems. By means of prototyping, an interactive quantitative model was made in Excel that calculates the FEW balances of the sustainability hub based on a scalable floor plan. Last, the outcomes of the model were tested in a focus group with representatives of the main stakeholders involved in designing the Green Tower. The tool created in this thesis exists of the visualization method and quantitative model. The results of the quantitative model showed that the current program of the Green Tower has a negative energy balance, limited availability in food supply and a lack of water treatments systems from a FEW Nexus perspective. The design team of the Green Tower positively received the tool and results. An elaborate set of recommendation for operationalizing the tool have been documented.
Author: Jesse Bergman
Want to read more about this topic?
If you are interested in this topic, it is recommended to also visit the collection Healthy Urban Living. This Living Lab project by students in which a database is used to monitor how clean, safe, comfortable, sustainable, and wealthy living environments are, in order to help cities and their local policymakers, urban planners, or project developers in decision-making processes.
Visit the page here.
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Artikel
MSc Thesis AMS Institute - Bottom-up modelling of urban food-systems and their environmental impacts
The aim of this research is to explore the bottom-up modelling approach for consumption-based accounting of urban food consumption. Almere is used as a case-study to explore how a robust bottom-up model can be designed. Hereby, the study aims to contribute to the debate on suitable modelling approach and the otherwise lack of urban food-systems studies.
Lastly, it aims to provide recommendations for Almere to develop sustainability strategies. The hybrid UM-LCA method is utilized to develop a bottom-up model for Almere. The associated food-system is modelled around dietary data. Primary data acquisition on the food purchasing behaviour of the citizens of Almere was done by means of a survey (N=663).
References can be found inside the document.The current food-system is highly unsustainable as it is responsible for up to 50% of all anthropogenic environmental pressure. Therefore, there is a need to transform the current food-system, in particular the demand-side. Cities form the agglomeration of food consumption with limited capacity for food production. Addressing urban consumption and the inherent environmental impacts are considered key factors for climate change mitigation. In order to develop sustainability strategies for a city, a baseline assessment of urban food consumption and environmental impacts is required. A bottom-up approach is suggested to be suitable for consumption-based accounting of urban food-systems. However, there is no consensus on this approach nor the implementation of it due to a lack of modelling experience and data on urban food-consumption.
Author: Rianne Stelwagen
Please find the link to this document on our Figshare repository here.
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Artikel
MSc Thesis AMS Institute - Practices in Out-of-home Food Consumption: Health, Sustainability, and Adolescence in a School Context
Obesity among adolescents is increasing, and as of today one in five adolescents in Amsterdam is either overweight or obese. This increase is inextricably linked to a shift towards lose-lose diets, which are characterised by being bad for human health and the environment. Inadequate access to nutritious food as a result of transformations in the food environment and an increase in out-of home food consumption are considered the driving forces behind this shift. This research looks at the out-of-home food consumption practices of adolescents in an effort gain a deeper understanding of why they make the food choices they make. And as adolescents spend most of their time away from home at school, the focus is on the school context. This research uses a social practice approach. Individual adolescents are not the object of study, but rather the practices they engage in, and the corresponding materials, meanings and competences which make up these practices.
References can be found inside the document.A mixed methods case study research design was adopted as it allows for the opportunity to study the out-of-home food consumption practices in a real life context. Data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews, a survey, and dual interviews. In total, six school employees and or experts participated in the semi-structured interviews, as well as 105 secondary school students in the survey and ten in the dual interviews. After analysis, five distinct out-of-home food consumption practices among adolescents were identified. And although there are some differences between them, these practices have many elements in common. The defining materials of adolescents’ out-of-home food consumption practices are time, financial means and the food environment. Competences in relation to healthy and sustainable consumption, although present, feature little within these practices. Finally, the single most important meaning is the sociability of adolescents’ out-of-home food consumption practices.
The research also found that bringing lunch from home results in the adoption of healthier and more sustainable food consumption practices, and that parents play an important role in this. These findings indicate that focusing on individual behaviour alone or on promoting healthy and sustainable consumption among adolescents is unlikely to result in adolescents adopting healthier and more sustainable food consumption practices. Instead, the social aspect of out-of home food consumption practices should be closely considered, and emphasis should be put on educating parents and encouraging secondary school students to bring food from home.
Author: George van der Raaij
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Artikel
MSc Thesis - Imagining possible farm futures
With the aim of accelerating the transition towards a desirable and sustainable future, this case study explores the possible futures of the Amstelscheg area. This is done by developing a set of indicators deriving from already existing visions for the area, and the planetary boundaries framework. These indicators form a multi-stakeholder lens through which the area is spatially analysed. The results of the analysis are presented as “urgencies” and “potentials” for future development in the area.
Urgencies that were found include: the current ownership of the agricultural land, the demands of the global (food) market and changing climatic conditions. Potential developments regard new ways of land-ownership, connecting the consumer and the landscape and research on technical solutions.
References can be found inside the document.Author: Josephine Schuurman