Given the recent economic crisis and the risen poverty rates, sports managers need to get insight in the effect of income and other socio-economic determinants on the household time and money that is spent on sports participation. By means of a Tobit regression, this study analyses the magnitude of the income effect for the thirteen most practiced sports by households in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium), which are soccer, swimming, dance, cycling, running, fitness, tennis, horse riding, winter sports, martial arts, volleyball, walking and basketball. The results demonstrate that income has a positive effect on both time and money expenditure on sports participation, although differences are found between the 13 sports activities. For example, the effect of income on time and money expenditure is relatively high for sports activities like running and winter sports, while it is lower for other sports such as fitness, horse riding, walking and swimming. Commercial enterprises can use the results of this study to identify which sports to focus on, and how they will organise their segmentation process. For government, the results demonstrate which barriers prevent people from taking part in specific sports activities, based upon which they should evaluate their policy decisions.
Given the recent economic crisis and the risen poverty rates, sports managers need to get insight in the effect of income and other socio-economic determinants on the household time and money that is spent on sports participation. By means of a Tobit regression, this study analyses the magnitude of the income effect for the thirteen most practiced sports by households in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium), which are soccer, swimming, dance, cycling, running, fitness, tennis, horse riding, winter sports, martial arts, volleyball, walking and basketball. The results demonstrate that income has a positive effect on both time and money expenditure on sports participation, although differences are found between the 13 sports activities. For example, the effect of income on time and money expenditure is relatively high for sports activities like running and winter sports, while it is lower for other sports such as fitness, horse riding, walking and swimming. Commercial enterprises can use the results of this study to identify which sports to focus on, and how they will organise their segmentation process. For government, the results demonstrate which barriers prevent people from taking part in specific sports activities, based upon which they should evaluate their policy decisions.
This project entails a feasibility study to assess the possibility of creating an open-access, community-based makerspace in the Vietnamese city of Can Tho. The aim of the project is to kickstart the community based circular economy by utilizing residual flows from the plastic catching process. Plastic catchers trap both plastic and biomass that will be converted into new products to strengthen both the local economy and providing Dutch SME-company Orange Star Solutions with the necessary raw materials to convert into produce. The project will make use of a plot of land bordering the Song Can Tho river. The owner proposed that the plot of land could be used in a way to generate income, preferable in a way that would show environmental awareness. This could be done by using the vast amounts of (in)organic waste that is littering the environment. The collection of the waste is mainly done by local waste pickers. The waste pickers, part of the informal economy, could unleash their full potential if there is a physical location where waste is upcycled and sold, circumventing the bury, burn or bale-and-export economy. The extracted plastic will be converted into pans, cups, pots and crockery. The biomass, predominantly water hyacinth, will serve as one of the ingredients for compost hence, reducing the reliance on chemical fertilizers.
The projectThe overarching goal of DIGNITY, DIGital traNsport In and for socieTY, is to foster a sustainable, integrated and user-friendly digital travel eco-system that improves accessibility and social inclusion, along with the travel experience and daily life of all citizens. The project delves into the digital transport eco-system to grasp the full range of factors that might lead to disparities in the uptake of digitalised mobility solutions by different user groups in Europe. Analysing the digital transition from both a user and provider’s perspective, DIGNITY looks at the challenges brought about by digitalisation, to then design, test and validate the DIGNITY approach, a novel concept that seeks to become the ‘ABCs for a digital inclusive travel system’. The approach combines proven inclusive design methodologies with the principles of foresight analysis to examine how a structured involvement of all actors – local institutions, market players, interest groups and end users – can help bridge the digital gap by co-creating more inclusive mobility solutions and by formulating user-centred policy frameworks.The objectivesThe idea is to support public and private mobility providers in conceiving mainstream digital products or services that are accessible to and usable by as many people as possible, regardless of their income, social situation or age; and to help policy makers formulate long-term strategies that promote innovation in transport while responding to global social, demographic and economic changes, including the challenges of poverty and migration.The missionBy focusing on and involving end-users throughout the process of designing policies, products, or services, it is possible to reduce social exclusion while boosting new business models and social innovation. The end result that DIGNITY is aiming for is an innovative decision support tool that can help local and regional decision-makers formulate digitally inclusive policies and strategies, and digital providers design more inclusive products and services.The approachThe DIGNITY approach combines analysis with concrete actions to make digital mobility services inclusive over the long term. The approach connects users’ needs and requirements with the provision of mobility services, and at the same time connects those services to the institutional framework. It is a multi-phase process that first seeks to understand and bridge the digital gap, and then to test, evaluate and fine-tune the approach, so that it can be applied in other contexts even after the project’s end.Partners: ISINNOVA (Italy), Mobiel 21 (Belgium), Universitat Politechnica deCatalunya Spain), IZT (Germany), University of Cambridge (UK), Factualconsulting (Spain), Barcelona Regional Agencia (Spain), City of Tilburg(Netherlands), Nextbike (Germany), City of Ancona (Italy), MyCicero (Italy),Conerobus (Italy), Vlaams Gewest (Belgium)
The population in rural areas in the northern provinces are aging in a much higher pace than in other parts of the Netherlands. Many young and higher educated citizens move out of these provinces. Quality of life in rural villages decreases likewise and the inhabitants that stay behind are more vulnerable, with lower income and educational levels. Recent decentralization policies put a larger burden on local constituencies to guarantee the quality of the living environment but a lot of them lack sufficient knowledge and capacity to tackle this complex issue.The initiators of this application have joined their knowledge and experience to put together a consortium with the aim to support these smaller constituencies in rural areas in the three northern provinces with a new and innovative methodology: the GO! approach. This approach was developed in the neigborhoods of Utrecht municipality and will be used for the first time in rural communities with a comparable size .This approach consists of the following steps:• First to identify possibilities to create a healthier living environment by analyzing available data on pollution, spatial layout and social cohesion.• To discuss the result of this analysis with local citizens and other local stakeholders in order to link the data with local experiences• To prioritize into major themes as a result of the combination of all this available information.• To link these major themes to combinations effective measures available from RIVM and international databases.• To present these combinations to the local government, their citizens and other local stakeholders in order to let them choose for an effective approach and inplemant it together in order to create a local healthier living environment.The GO! approach will provide local citizens and professionals with the necessary tools and knowledge to work jointly and effectively to realize a healthier living environment. The project partners that jointly started the consortium will put in effort during this first year to build and formalize the consortium and to make arrangements with several constituencies in the three northers provinces to formulate their own specific knowledge agenda as a basis for concrete project proposals in the second stage to be implemented with the support of the formalized consortium.
