Green Sustainable Airport (GSA), an Interreg IVB project that is part of the North Sea Region Program, is an initiative of Groningen Airport Eelde (GAE). One of the goals of the GSA project is: The development and testing of sustainable and innovative applications that contribute to a more sustainable exploitation and increased accessibility of all partner airports. Currently a lot of research in the field of autonomous vehicles is carried out globally. In this research, named the “Flying Carpet”, the feasibility of using autonomous vehicles for passenger transfer between a future P+R facility at Glimmen and Groningen Airport Eelde is examined.Feasibility is researched on a technical, juridical and economic level. Implementing the proposed connection seems juridically feasible. -The juridical feasibility cannot be guaranteed, because it is a new situation whereby involved parties need to present a definitive answer, which at this stage is not possible. -Realizing the proposed concept has been indicated by the involved companies to be technically feasible, given that additional (existing) technologies will still need to be implemented. From a financial point of view, implementing an AGV connection is not recommendable. -The investment costs per transported passenger will be high, mainly because the transfer demand throughout a given day only has a few, if not just one, peak during arrival or departure of a flight. Therefore, choosing the AGV connection option should not be based on a financial point of view, but instead on gaining non-tangible assets in favour of GSA and GAE.
Background: A transitional care pathway (TCP) could improve care for older patients in the last months of life. However, barriers exist such as unidentified palliative care needs and suboptimal collaboration between care settings. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of a TCP, named PalliSupport, for older patients at the end of life, prior to a stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial. Methods: A mixed-method feasibility study was conducted at one hospital with affiliated primary care. Patients were ≥ 60 years and acutely hospitalized. The intervention consisted of (1) training on early identification of the palliative phase and end of life conversations, (2) involvement of a transitional palliative care team during admission and post-discharge and (3) intensified collaboration between care settings. Outcomes were feasibility of recruitment, data collection, patient burden and protocol adherence. Experiences of 14 professionals were assessed through qualitative interviews. Results: Only 16% of anticipated participants were included which resulted in difficulty assessing other feasibility criteria. The qualitative analysis identified misunderstandings about palliative care, uncertainty about professionals' roles and difficulties in initiating end of life conversations as barriers. The training program was well received and professionals found the intensified collaboration beneficial for patient care. The patients that participated experienced low burden and data collection on primary outcomes and protocol adherence seems feasible. Discussion: This study highlights the importance of performing a feasibility study prior to embarking on effectiveness studies. Moving forward, the PalliSupport care pathway will be adjusted to incorporate a more active recruitment approach, additional training on identification and palliative care, and further improvement on data collection.
This feasibility report aims to create a solid background for Savings Groups programming in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands where partner organisations of the LETS SAVEE1 project are based. This Erasmus+ funded project aims at exploring the potential of saving groups in the European countries’ context, by improving entrepreneurial skills and access to financial services and social networks of diverse target groups. This particular report provides the partner organisation as well as other interested implementing organisations with a better understanding of how the different contexts influences the setting up and/or scale up of saving groups. This report is set up as follows: The market potential is based on literature of societal developments and how they can be linked to the emergence of saving groups in the respective countries and what kind of target groups have potential for benefitting the services offered by savings groups. By mapping partner organisations, the feasibility study identifies present and potential partners and stakeholders which could play an essential role reaching out to target groups. Then, the study will inform partner organisations and other implementers about the legal framework in each country that allows them to set up Savings Groups accordingly and identify issues that might need advocacy actions. Finally, this report provides a mapping of risk factors and ways to mitigate risks for savings groups members that were applicable for all partner organizations.
The focus of this project is on improving the resilience of hospitality Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by enabling them to take advantage of digitalization tools and data analytics in particular. Hospitality SMEs play an important role in their local community but are vulnerable to shifts in demand. Due to a lack of resources (time, finance, and sometimes knowledge), they do not have sufficient access to data analytics tools that are typically available to larger organizations. The purpose of this project is therefore to develop a prototype infrastructure or ecosystem showcasing how Dutch hospitality SMEs can develop their data analytic capability in such a way that they increase their resilience to shifts in demand. The one year exploration period will be used to assess the feasibility of such an infrastructure and will address technological aspects (e.g. kind of technological platform), process aspects (e.g. prerequisites for collaboration such as confidentiality and safety of data), knowledge aspects (e.g. what knowledge of data analytics do SMEs need and through what medium), and organizational aspects (what kind of cooperation form is necessary and how should it be financed).
Students in Higher Music Education (HME) are not facilitated to develop both their artistic and academic musical competences. Conservatoires (professional education, or ‘HBO’) traditionally foster the development of musical craftsmanship, while university musicology departments (academic education, or ‘WO’) promote broader perspectives on music’s place in society. All the while, music professionals are increasingly required to combine musical and scholarly knowledge. Indeed, musicianship is more than performance, and musicology more than reflection—a robust musical practice requires people who are versed in both domains. It’s time our education mirrors this blended profession. This proposal entails collaborative projects between a conservatory and a university in two cities where musical performance and musicology equally thrive: Amsterdam (Conservatory and University of Amsterdam) and Utrecht (HKU Utrechts Conservatorium and Utrecht University). Each project will pilot a joint program of study, combining existing modules with newly developed ones. The feasibility of joint degrees will be explored: a combined bachelor’s degree in Amsterdam; and a combined master’s degree in Utrecht. The full innovation process will be translated to a transferable infrastructural model. For 125 students it will fuse praxis-based musical knowledge and skills, practice-led research and academic training. Beyond this, the partners will also use the Comenius funds as a springboard for collaboration between the two cities to enrich their respective BA and MA programs. In the end, the programme will diversify the educational possibilities for students of music in the Netherlands, and thereby increase their professional opportunities in today’s job market.
Size measurement plays an essential role for micro-/nanoparticle characterization and property evaluation. Due to high costs, complex operation or resolution limit, conventional characterization techniques cannot satisfy the growing demand of routine size measurements in various industry sectors and research departments, e.g., pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials and food industry etc. Together with start-up SeeNano and other partners, we will develop a portable compact device to measure particle size based on particle-impact electrochemical sensing technology. The main task in this project is to extend the measurement range for particles with diameters ranging from 20 nm to 20 um and to validate this technology with realistic samples from various application areas. In this project a new electrode chip will be designed and fabricated. It will result in a workable prototype including new UMEs (ultra-micro electrode), showing that particle sizing can be achieved on a compact portable device with full measuring range. Following experimental testing with calibrated particles, a reliable calibration model will be built up for full range measurement. In a further step, samples from partners or potential customers will be tested on the device to evaluate the application feasibility. The results will be validated by high-resolution and mainstream sizing techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Coulter counter.
