Knowledge of child development influences parental expectations of, and interactions with, children. Studies have shown that maternal knowledge supports cognitive and social–emotional development of young children and can have long-lasting benefits. Level of developmental knowledge of parents and grandparents has seldom been investigated on a population level. Our aim was to compare Canadian and Dutch samples of urban parents and grandparents in terms of normative knowledge of children’s cognitive and social–emotional development. Urban parents (n = 379) and grandparents (n = 174) from the province of Alberta, Canada (N = 553) and parents (n = 634) and grandparents (n = 96) of the city of The Hague in the Netherlands (N = 730) answered questions related to knowledge of cognitive and social–emotional development of young children, including topics such as “do children have stronger bonds with parents who stay at home instead of working outside the home?” and “do children learn more from hearing someone in the same room talk than hearing someone on TV?” Overall, the Canadian respondents were more likely to answer these questions correctly. In both samples, women were more likely than men to answer correctly. No significant relationship between age or role (parent or grandparent) and knowledge was identified, but there was a positive correlation between knowledge and level of education. Little is known about international differences in caregivers’ knowledge about normative child development. This study suggests that differences exist. Understanding differences between countries in parental knowledge may provide insight into cross-cultural variability in child behavioral and developmental outcomes. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018777027
The role of (entrepreneurial) universities as change agents in regional economic development has been highlighted before, but how they can drive regional sustainable development in developing countries has been largely neglected hitherto. Using qualitative methods, we show how being confronted with adverse poverty and pollution in the local context, can drive a university to develop a sustainability vision that accordingly becomes the driver of institutional change. We demonstrate how local campus leadership, a holistic teaching and research program, and student involvement ensued significant local effects in the short run. Yet, we also show how liabilities of smallness hinders the creation of significant sustainable local impact. Instead, the campus became an incubation space for novel institutional practices for regional development. Indeed, the most promising initiatives were spun back into the original campus for their scale-up phase. This study advances insights on the entrepreneurial university by, first, presenting universities as drivers for sustainable change through education and outreach rather than via traditional commercialization activities, notably in developing countries. Second, it shows the risks and value of creating a separate space for novel concepts for sustainable development to be tested out before bringing these back to the principal location.
Het lectoraat Energietransitie van EnTranCe, het Centre of Expertise Energyvan de Hanzehogeschool Groningen, richt zich op de systeemverandering dienodig is om de Energietransitie vorm te geven. Een systeemverandering, wantde energietransitie is meer dan het vervangen van centrales door windmolens enzonnepanelen. Het vraagt, naast technologische veranderingen, ook veranderingen binnen het sociaal-economische stelsel.Onze maatschappij is verslaafd aan energie en aan het gegeven dat het altijdonbeperkt beschikbaar is. Willen wij onze standaard van leven kunnen handhaven, dan moeten we bereid zijn om zaken aan te passen. Na de tweede wereldoorlog heeft onze energievoorziening zich sterk gecentraliseerd ontwikkeld, met grote partijen en infrastructuur (macro) die daar de regie op hebben. De groeiende wens vanuit de samenleving om zelf keuzes te kunnen maken in het gebied dat mensen zelf kunnen beïnvloeden (micro) zorgt voor een sterke ‘bottom up’ beweging rondom verduurzaming. In onze visie zullen de belangrijkste doorbraken rond de transitie nodig zijn daar waar de macro- en micro ontwikkelingen elkaar raken: het meso niveau. Hier is het dat het transitieproces zich het sterkst zal manifesteren. De onderzoekslijn ‘De rol van waterstof binnen de energietransitie’ binnen dit lectoraat richt zich dan ook op mogelijke productie en toepassingen van duurzame waterstof op dit mesoniveau. Het niveau van een dorp, een wijk , een blok huizen of een bedrijf. Ook hier kijken we naar de verandering van het gehele systeem: optechnologieniveau, de integratie met het macrosysteem, de mens, economie ende juridische praktijk. Samenwerking met andere lectoraten is dan ook van grootbelang.
