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The detection of Aedes albopictus in Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) greenhouses and Ae. atropalpus at used tire importers illustrates that the Netherlands is exposed to the risk of introductions of invasive mosquito species (IMS). In this study we implemented a risk-based and adaptive surveillance (2010–16) in order to detect introductions and prevent potential proliferation of IMS at these locations. Results at Lucky bamboo greenhouses show that interceptions of Ae. albopictus occurred every year, with 2010 and 2012 being the years with most locations found positive for this species (n = 6), and 2015 the year with the highest percentage of positive samples (4.1%). Furthermore, our results demonstrate that Ae. japonicus can also be associated with the import of Lucky bamboo. At used tire companies, IMS were found at 12 locations. Invasive mosquito species identified were Ae. albopictus, Ae. atropalpus, Ae. aegypti, and Ae. japonicus, of which Ae. albopictus has been found every year since 2010. The proportion of samples containing IMS was significantly higher before application of a covenant between the used tire importers and the Dutch government in 2013 (12.96%) than in the successive 3 years (2014 [6.93%], 2015 [4.24%], 2016 [5.09%], 1-sided binomial test, P < 0.01). It is concluded that risk-based and adaptive surveillance is an effective methodology for detection of IMS, and that application of governmental management measures in combination with mosquito control has stabilized the situation.

CONTEXT Addressing new agricultural challenges may benefit from open communication among field extension agents and other actors who hold relevant expertise, including subject matter specialists and applied researchers. OBJECTIVE In the context, this article investigates the contribution of two social media messaging platforms, in Ghana, to facilitating open information sharing and interaction amid the emergence of a new pest, fall armyworm. METHODS Using thematic content analysis and network analysis, we analysed the types of content exchanged over the platforms, the characteristics of the networks in terms of the involvement of different actors in sending and receiving messages; and through platform user surveys established how such interaction patterns were influenced by social relations, self-representational interests and organisational set-ups and rules. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that both social media platforms are characterised by relatively centralised network and communication structures, suggesting that participation in especially sending messages is non-egalitarian. Such structural features are not conducive to complex knowledge and problem solving processes such as knowledge integration and joint problem solving. In line with this, the analysis of the actual knowledge and problem solving processes taking place demonstrated that the platforms were used more for knowledge and information dissemination as well as for the distribution of notifications in support of organisational coordination. Our investigations show that social hierarchies, organisational rules and tactics related to identity management influenced these patterns of interaction and posed constraints to open knowledge and information sharing. Nevertheless, the platforms play meaningful roles in supporting knowledge processes, and are likely to generate useful input for knowledge integration and collaborative problem solving in complementary face-to-face settings. SIGNIFICANCE The study contributes to an emerging research area that relates social media (other than Facebook) to knowledge sharing, problem solving and broader forms of collaboration in professional spaces, in the African agricultural context.

A network of connected wetlands supports migratory movements of waterfowl. These networks are rapidly changing due to intensive human activities around natural habitats. Quantifying how anthropogenic factors change waterfowl movements via a reduction of habitat availability and quality can facilitate a better understanding of the dynamics of these migration networks, and provide early-warning signals for network collapse. Using satellite tracking data for greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) in the East Asian Australasian Flyway, we tested how environmental factors (i.e., anthropogenic and ecological factors) influence geese movement patterns at stopover sites. We found that these factors, e.g., percentage of farmlands in the landscape, and proximity index of wetland patches, accurately predicted percentage of flying time and the median movement distance of tracked geese at stopover sites. Farmlands may increase energy consumptions in stopover sites because the geese flew more frequently, made longer movements, and switched their behaviour more frequently in landscapes with a higher proportion of farmlands. Goose movements were constrained in natural habitats, as a higher proportion of water and wetlands increased their movements, and thereby increased flying time and median movement distances. We suggest that using environmental factors monitored by remote sensing techniques to predict bird movement patterns is a powerful quantitative tool to measure quality of stopover sites. The changes in environmental factors in these stopover sites can be used as an indicator for the probability of losing a site from a migration network, and thereby generates insights for setting priorities in conservation planning of migratory birds. (c) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Studying tourist interest on the Caribbean island Bonaire might be a good step to improving tourism management. Tourism brought Bonaire economic growth but also puts pressure on the island's natural ecosystem. Previous studies on tourist interest based on surveys are labour-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive. This paper explores whether the use of freely available social media data combined with automatic machine learning methods can function as a cheap and fast alternative to surveys. From 2003 to 2019, 13,706 geotagged Flickr data points assigned keywords, then weighted using TF-IDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency), and finally clustered with DB-SCAN (Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Noise Applications). Two factors determine whether a cluster has an associated unique activity/interest: the most relevant and least relevant keywords. Eight identified clusters are useful for interpreting Bonaire tourists' interest: urban tourism; nature tourism around the lake; in-land natural tourism; conch shell and food; unique fishes; windsurf activity; cruise and ship; carnival, parade and singing. Tourism demand was forecasted using both Flickr and CBS (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek) data. Flickr data could show which continent the tourist came from in which seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn) from 2015 to the end of 2021.

Background In the Netherlands, Aedes albopictus has been found each year since 2010 during routine exotic mosquito species surveillance at companies that import used tires. We developed habitat suitability models to investigate the potential risk of establishment and spread of this invasive species at these locations. Methods We used two methodologies: first, a species distribution model based on the maximum entropy modelling approach (MaxEnt) taking into consideration updated occurrence data of the species in Europe, and secondly, a spatial logic conditional model based on the temperature requirements of the species and using land surface temperature data (LST model). Results Suitability assessment obtained with the MaxEnt model at European level accurately reflect the current distribution of the species and these results also depict moderately low values in parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, the British islands and southern parts of Scandinavia. Winter temperature was the variable that contributed most to the performance of the model (47.3%). The results of the LST model showed that: (i) coastal areas are suitable for overwintering of eggs; (ii) large areas in the northern part of the country have a low suitability for adult survival; and (iii) the entire country is suitable for successful completion of the life-cycle if the species is introduced after the winter months. Results of the LST model revealed that temperatures in 2012 and 2014 did not limit the overwintering of eggs or survival of adults at the locations where the species was found. By contrast, for the years 2010, 2011 and 2013, overwintering of eggs at these locations is considered unlikely. Conclusions Results using two modelling methodologies show differences in predicted habitat suitability values. Based on the results of both models, the climatic conditions could hamper the successful overwintering of eggs of Ae. albopictus and their survival as adults in many areas of the country. However, during warm years with mild winters, many areas of the Netherlands offer climatic conditions suitable for developing populations. Regular updates of the models, using updated occurrence and climatic data, are recommended to study the areas at risk.

Agricultural extension in sub-Saharan Africa has often been criticised for its focus on linear knowledge transfer, and limited attention to systemic approaches to service delivery. Currently, the region is experiencing a new-ICT revolution and there are high expectations of new-ICTs to enhance interaction and information exchange in extension service delivery. Using an innovation systems perspective, we distinguish the roles demand-articulation, matching demand and supply, and innovation process management for innovation-intermediaries. The study explores literature on how new-ICT may support these roles, with specific interest in the possibilities of environmental monitoring and new forms of organisation enabled by enhanced connectivity. In order to contribute to the understanding of this area, the paper reports on a comparative study of two new-ICT platforms embedded in Ghanaian public and private extension organisations respectively. We assess the roles that these platforms (aim to) support, and document achievements and constraints based on interviews with extension staff and farmers. The findings indicate that while both platforms aim to support innovation-intermediation roles the focus areas and level of detail differ due to diverging organisational rationales to service delivery. In addition, we see that new-ICTs' potential to support innovation-intermediation roles is far from realised. This is not due to (new) ICTs lacking the capacity to link people in new ways and make information accessible, but due to the wider social, organisational and institutional factors that define the realisation of their potential. Therefore, more conventional modes of interaction around production advice and also credit provision continue to be dominant and better adapted to the situation. However, beyond the two platforms that were developed specifically by and for the extension organisations, there were indications that more informal and self-organised new-ICT initiatives can transform and enhance interaction patterns in innovations systems to achieve collective goals through standard virtual platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

To design effective strategies for sustainable urban resource management, it is essential to understand which urban characteristics underlie consumption patterns. We used multiple linear regression analyses to examine sixteen factors on their explanatory power for spatial variation in residential electricity, gas and water consumption in Amsterdam. Four models per resource were used, based on distinct spatial units aggregating high-resolution data: neighbourhoods, districts, 100 m squares and 500 m squares. We found twelve explanatory variables for spatial variability in consumption in total and nine or ten per resource. The number and relative importance of explanatory variables varies with the spatial units used. Overall, neighbourhood models explain variance in consumption data best (adjusted R² = 0.88, 0.86, 0.74). Income level and building type stand out for having high relative importance (top 4) in all four models for two of the three resources; migration history shows an important correlation with water consumption, which was not described hitherto. We conclude that explanatory variables for resource consumption are sensitive to size and shape of spatial units used. We recommend to use future high resolution studies for different resources of interest to determine which spatial and temporal resolutions of analysis can support urban planners and designers in formulating context-specific interventions.

Bioclimate envelope models have been widely used to illustrate the discrepancy between current species distributions and their potential habitat under climate change. However, the realism and correct interpretation of such projections has been the subject of considerable discussion. Here, we investigate whether climate suitability predictions correlate to tree growth, measured in permanent inventory plots and inferred from tree‐ring records. We use the ensemble classifier RandomForest and species occurrence data from ~200,000 inventory plots to build species distribution models for four important European forestry species: Norway spruce, Scots pine, European beech, and pedunculate oak. We then correlate climate‐based habitat suitability with volume measurements from ~50‐year‐old stands, available from ~11,000 inventory plots. Secondly, habitat projections based on annual historical climate are compared with ring width from ~300 tree‐ring chronologies. Our working hypothesis is that habitat suitability projections from species distribution models should to some degree be associated with temporal or spatial variation in these growth records. We find that the habitat projections are uncorrelated with spatial growth records (inventory plot data), but they do predict interannual variation in tree‐ring width, with an average correlation of .22. Correlation coefficients for individual chronologies range from values as high as .82 or as low as −.31. We conclude that tree responses to projected climate change are highly site‐specific and that local suitability of a species for reforestation is difficult to predict. That said, projected increase or decrease in climatic suitability may be interpreted as an average expectation of increased or reduced growth over larger geographic scales.

This paper tests the quality of calculated 2D isovist variables as predictors of perceived landscape openness. An isovist is the calculated field of view from a given viewpoint in space. Three isovist variables were selected to estimate openness: the minimum radial, the maximum radial and the average radial. An experiment with 32 participants was conducted to compare values of these calculated variables with perceived openness. The comparison showed that two variables, the maximum radial and average radial, explained most of the variation of perceived openness for groups and individuals. The three calculated isovist variables were strongly correlated to their measured equivalents in the field, which were obtained with a binocular with a rangefinder. The isovist variables also showed strong correlations with their perceived equivalents obtained by the perception of the 32 participants, except at very long distances. This research shows that the selected isovist variables are good indicators for perceived landscape openness. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Many spatially explicit land use models include the neighbourhood effect as a driver of land use changes. The neighbourhood effect includes the inertia of land uses over time, the conversion from one land use to another, and the attraction or repulsion of surrounding land uses. The neighbourhood effect is expressed in the neighbourhood rules, but calibration of the neighbourhood rules is not straightforward. This paper aims to characterise the neighbourhood effect of observed land use changes and use this information to improve the calibration of land use models. We measured the over- and underrepresentation of land uses in the neighbourhood of observed land use changes using a modified version of the enrichment factor. Enrichment factors of observed land use changes in Germany between 1990 and 2000 indicate that the neighbourhood effect exists. This suggests that it is appropriate to use neighbourhood rules to simulate urban land use changes. Observed enrichment factors were used to calibrate a land use model for Germany from 1990 to 2000 and the obtained neighbourhood rules were validated independently from 2000 to 2006. The results show that both the allocation accuracy and the pattern accuracy of the land use model improved for the calibration period, as well as for the independent validation period. This indicates that enrichment factors can be used to improve the calibration of the neighbourhood rules in land use models. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

In the last decade policy makers have increasingly recognized the need to include people's perceptions in methods for describing landscape quality. At the same time, a third wave of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has become available that make it technically possible to model landscape quality in a realistic manner. However, as there is often a mismatch between science and policy, it remains unclear to what extent perception-based models developed by scientists can be useful to policy makers. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness to policy making of a GIS-based procedure for describing perceived landscape openness. To this end, a workshop was organized which was attended by eight Dutch policy makers who acted as representatives of their province (region). The Group Decision Room (GDR) technique was used to elicit the policy makers' evaluations of the procedure in an anonymous and reliable manner. The procedure was presented to the policy makers using cases from their own province, which they assessed using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods. The results show that policy makers rated the procedure as being highly relevant to policy making, scientifically credible, usable by policy makers and feasible to implement in the policy making process. They especially appreciated the flexibility and transparency of the procedure. The policy makers concluded that the procedure would be of most value for monitoring landscape changes and for analysing impacts on landscape openness in land use scenario studies. However, they requested guidelines for proper implementation of the various options in the procedure. In general, the current study shows that explicit and transparent evaluation of the usefulness of GIS-based tools can aid integration at the science-policy interface and help to ensure that both scientists and policy makers are informed of interrelated options and requirements. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper presents and discusses a procedure for measuring landscape openness, which is an important characteristic of the visual landscape. The procedure aims to ensure the quality of descriptions of landscape openness while being flexible enough to produce descriptions suitable for various purposes. Geo-data and a Geographic Information System (GIS) are used to develop the procedure, which consists of five steps: 1) select road network and apply sampling strategy; 2) merge terrain and topographic datasets and create contour lines; 3) identify visual limitations; 4) compute visible space; and 5) select and calculate variables. The procedure is applied to a case study to illustrate the possibilities. The paper includes a discussion of the realism, generality, precision and sensitivity of the procedure. The balance between a high degree of realism and a high degree of generality ensures a procedure which can be used by policy-makers and planners for a wide range of purposes at various levels.

In 2008, an interactive location-based service application had been developed to offer and create cultural-historical landscape information via mobile data transmission. This article presents the results of user test, especially the usability, the tester's experiences and behaviours. The application provides location-based, partly route-dependent, multimedia-packed information (video, photo, sound and text format). Besides, it allows the user to record, store and upload their own experiences (by text, photo or video format). The stored data can be shared with others when they visit the same locations. All of these features are made available via a service-oriented architecture. The user test was carried out in the Dutch Grebbelinie area. The users hiked or biked by different routes through the area. The user test comprises three components: an online application form to find the social class stratification and demographic signature of the testers, an actual field trip by which the activities of the testers were monitored by tracking the walked or biked trajectories and logging the used functions of the application and the user requests. Finally, a questionnaire is filled in immediately after the field trip to find out the usability of the application and personal interest. Results of the user test show the technology acceptance of the respondents, impact on their experiencing of the environment and their personal behaviour. In general, from the project and especially the user test, we learnt many lessons which we summarised by what we called the PLAIT-F approach. In follow-up studies, we intend to follow this approach.

This paper introduces the STEAD approach for interpreting data acquired by a “human sensor”, who uses an informal interactive location-based service (iLBS) to sense cultural-historic facts and anecdotes of, and in the landscape. This user-generated data is collected outdoors and in situ. The approach consists of four related facets (who, what, where, when). Three of the four facets are discussed and illustrated by user generated data collected during a Dutch survey in 2008. These data represent the personal cultural-historic knowledge and anecdotes of 150 people using a customized iLBS for experiencing the cultural history of a landscape. The “who” facet shows three dominant mentality groups (cosmopolitans, modern materialists and post modern hedonists) that generated user content. The “what” facet focuses on three subject types of pictures and four picture framing classes. Pictures of the place type showed to be dominant and foreground framing class was slightly favourite. The “where” facet is explored via density, distribution, and distance of the pictures made. The illustrations of the facets indirectly show the role of the “human sensor” with respect to the domain of interest. The STEAD approach needs further development of the when-facet and of the relations between the four facets. Finally the results of the approach may support data archives of iLBS applications.

Background Prior to the commencement of a large-scale malaria intervention study on Rusinga Island, western Kenya, intensive baseline surveillance of the mosquito population was performed using odour-baited traps. The survey aimed to determine the relative abundance and species composition of malaria vectors, and to measure seasonal and spatial heterogeneity in populations. Human malaria prevalence was combined with entomological data to provide information about malaria transmission risk before the intervention began. Materials and methods From September 2012 until June 2013, mosquito monitoring took place over successive six-week sampling periods. MM-X traps baited with attractant lures and carbon dioxide were used to collect mosquitoes from inside and outside houses, and a new random sample of 80 households was drawn for each sampling round. During the baseline period, malaria prevalence was measured twice in a randomly selected 10% of the human population. A QuickBird satellite image and digital elevation map were used to describe environmental features of the island. Mosquitoes were initially identified on the basis of morphology and anophelines were processed by PCR to confirm species identifications. Results Odour-baited MM-X traps proved to be a good tool for monitoring malaria vectors inside and outside houses. Using this tool a marked temporal and spatial heterogeneity was described for the malaria vector species Anopheles gambiae s.s., An. arabiensis and An. funestus. Regions of potentially high malaria transmission intensity were identified after mapping the distributions of malaria mosquitoes and Plasmodium-positive persons. Despite studying a range of environmental and topographical features, no strong associations were found between environmental variables and the presence or absence of adult Anopheles. Conclusions Malaria vectors and malaria prevalence are not homogeneously distributed across Rusinga Island; the risk of malaria transmission is therefore greater in some areas than others. The finding that environmental features were not closely associated with adult malaria vector distribution, indicates that other factors, such as house construction or the presence of livestock, may play a more important role in the decision of a female anopheline to approach the domestic environment of a particular house in search of a blood meal. The findings of this study demonstrate how trans-disciplinary data can be integrated to provide a better understanding of mosquito population dynamics and malaria transmission risk. Intensive mosquito monitoring before the commencement of, as well as during, a large-scale malaria intervention study, contributes valuable information which will be used in describing the eventual impact of the intervention.

To take on the current and future challenges of global environmental change, fostering a widespread societal understanding of and engagement with the complex dynamics that characterize interacting human and natural systems is essential. Current science communication methods struggle with a number of specific challenges associated with communicating about complex systems. In this study we report on two collaborative processes, a short workshop and longer course, that aimed to harness the insights of interactive media designers and artists to overcome these challenges. The two processes resulted in 86 new interactive media concepts which were selected by the participants and organizers using set criteria and then evaluated using the same criteria by a panel of communication and media design experts and a panel of complex systems scientists using the same criteria. The top eight concepts are discussed in this paper. These concepts fell into the categories of serious games, group interaction concepts, and social media storytelling. The serious games focused directly on complex systems characteristics and were evaluated to be intuitive and engaging designs that combined transparency and complexity well. The group interaction concepts focused mostly on feedbacks and nonlinearity but were fully developed and tested in the workshops, and evaluated as engaging, accessible, and easy to implement in workshops and educational settings. The social media storytelling concepts involved less direct interactions with system dynamics but were seen as highly accessible to large scale audiences. The results of this study show the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration between complex systems scientists, designers, and artists. The results and process discussed in this paper show the value of more structural engagement of interactive media designers and artist communities in the development of communication tools about human and natural systems change.

Issues of scale play a crucial role in the governance of social-ecological systems. Yet, attempts to bridge interdisciplinary perspectives on the role of scale have thus far largely been limited to the science arena. This study has extended the scale vocabulary to allow for the inclusion of practice-based perspectives on scale. We introduced "dimensions," used to describe the bare aspects of phenomena, such as time, space, and power, structured by scales and levels. We argued that this extension allows for a clearer understanding of the diversity of dimensions and scales that can be used to explore social-ecological systems. We used this scale vocabulary in a practical case study to elicit perspectives on dimensions, scales, and cross-dimensional dynamics from change agents in Dutch social-ecological systems. Through a visual interview method based in the extended scale vocabulary, our participants identified a large diversity of dimensions they saw as instrumental to understanding insights and lessons about effecting systems change. These dimensions were framed by a large number of scales to describe cross-dimensional interactions. The results illustrate the value of practice-based perspectives for the development of scale theory. We also argue that the introduction of dimensions in the scale vocabulary is useful for clarifying scale theory aimed at linking different disciplines and sectors, and that the framework and methods based on it can also provide clarity for practical scale challenges.

Background As the ecology of mosquito larvae can be complex there is need to develop a rational framework for undertaking larval ecological studies. Local environmental characteristics, such as altitude, climate and land use, can significantly impact on phenology and population dynamics of mosquito larvae, and indirectly affect the dynamics of mosquito-borne diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of implementing an integrated approach to larval source management under the distinct ecological settings. Methods The study was conducted in two highland villages and one village, at a lower altitude, in the Lake Victoria basin, where malaria is endemic and transmitted by the same Anopheles mosquito species. In each village the stability of mosquito larval habitats was classified as either temporary or permanent. The productivity of these habitat types was quantified by carrying out weekly larval sampling using a standard dipping method for a period of two years. During sampling the physical characteristic of the larval habitat, including the vegetation cover were noted. Ambient temperature, rainfall and relative humidity were recorded on a 21 × Micro-datalogger in each study site. Results Anopheles gambiae sensu lato larvae were found in all study sites. Anopheles arabiensis was more abundant (93%) in Nyalenda (Lake Victoria basin) and Fort Ternan (highland area; 71%). In Lunyerere (highland area), An. gambiae sensu stricto comprised 93% of the total An. gambiae s.l. larvae. Larvae of An. gambiae s.l. mosquitoes were present in both temporary and permanent habitats with monthly variations dependent on rainfall intensity and location. Anopheles larvae were more likely to be found in man-made as opposed to natural habitats. Grassy habitats were preferred and were, therefore, more productive of Anopheles larvae compared to other habitat types. Weekly rainfall intensity led to an increase or decrease in mosquito larval abundance depending on the location. Conclusion The majority of mosquito breeding habitats were man made in all sites. Both temporary and permanent habitats were suitable for An. gambiae breeding. In Fort Ternan temporary sites were favoured for mosquito breeding above permanent sites. Significant differences in larval abundance were found depending on weekly rainfall intensity. Larval source management programmes should target permanent and temporary habitats equally and work closely with land and home owners as a majority of the breeding habitats are man made.

Livestock depredation is an important factor that contributes to low public acceptance of large carnivores, and it is often used as an incentive to reduce large carnivore populations. In central Sweden, brown bears Ursus arctos coexist with a traditional cattle husbandry system that allows daytime free-ranging of dairy cattle. Despite a growing brown bear population, depredation on cattle remained stable during the last decade and is among the lowest rates reported worldwide. Nevertheless, major stakeholders argue for a substantial reduction in brown bear numbers, among other reasons, to safeguard the traditional husbandry system. Based on satellite tracking data, we assessed and correlated the resource selection of nine brown bears that were sympatric with six daytime free-ranging cattle herds during the freeranging season (i.e. June-August) in 2008. We found a significant and negative relationship between resource selection of brown bears and free-ranging cattle during the study period, mainly because of inverse relationships between the species towards vegetation density and human-related infrastructure, such as forest roads, buildings and settlements. We predict that the probability of an encounter between these species, given that there is no directed predation, is highest in dense vegetation patches close to the human habitation-related variables. Because of the low reported depredation rates and the apparent habitat segregation between the species, our results provide no support for the argument to reduce brown bear numbers to safeguard the traditional cattle herding system.

This research presents the Digital Dowsing Rod (DIWI1) a framework of a Interactive Location Based Service (iLBS) to explore the cultural heritage of a region. The DIWI consists of a service oriented architecture (SOA), a web-client, a content management system and a mobile client based on smart phones and windows mobile technology. Users can generate their own POIs (called Parlance Points) at a location and share them immediately with other users reaching these locations. An extended user test was carried out in the “Grebbelinie” area, the Netherlands. The testers hiked and biked via different routes through that area using the application. Despite a number of technical shortcomings of the UMTS transmission in a rural area, the DIWI was positively valued by the testers, but the added value of the information of the Parlance Point was limited. But for personal use the PP does have an additional value.

This paper discusses the validation of an agent-based model for simulating a multi-actor spatial planning process. After a general discussion about the pitfalls of validating agent-based models that simulate complex spatial systems, we briefly present a validation method based on role playing. The method is designed to generate insights that can improve our understanding of the behaviour of socio-spatial systems in a planning context. The method was tested by carrying out an experimental role play to validate individual agent tasks, focusing on the ability of agents to generate beliefs and preferences about their environment. We conclude that using role play as a validation technique can provide valuable information about the performance of the model. The insights gained aid identification and understanding of those parts of a multi-actor spatial planning system that are currently poorly understood and poorly represented by the agents.

The increasing complexity of spatial planning issues and pressure from citizens to takepart in designing and deciding on spatial plans result in a need for improved methods to aidcommunication between governmental actors and citizens. These developments put high demands onparticipatory Planning Support Systems (PSS); instruments that can aid planners in doing theirplanning tasks. By using the accessibility of the internet, e-participation offers opportunities as a PSS.Although many advantages are attributed to participatory PSS, its use in the planning practice remainsmarginal until now. It is argued here that this is partly caused by the lack of empirical studies thatdemonstrate potential benefits and problems when applying PSS. This paper provides guidelines fororganizations that contemplate on using a participatory PSS. In order to do so, a framework isdeveloped, identifying obstacles that could block effective participation in a PSS. Three planningprocesses are evaluated to investigate the importance of these obstacles. It is demonstrated that,although e-participation has potential as PSS, the lack of political will blocks effective participationand a more profound link between the citizen input and the decision-making is needed

This research presents the Digital Dowsing Rod (DIWI1) a framework of a Location Based Service (LBS) to explore the cultural heritage of a region. The DIWI consists of a service oriented architecture (SOA), a web-client, a content management system and a mobile client based on smart phones and windows mobile technology. The chosen set-up allows for an easy management of the content and allows for a relative easy extension of the system by additional data-sources.

The Netherlands has enjoyed a relatively free state of vector-borne diseases of economic importance for more than one century. Emerging infectious diseases may change this situation, threatening the health of humans, domestic livestock and wildlife. In order to be prepared for the potential outbreak of vector-borne diseases, a study was undertaken to investigate the distribution and seasonal dynamics of candidate vectors of infectious diseases with emphasis on bluetongue vectors (Culicoides spp.). The study focused primarily on the relationship between characteristic ecosystems suitable for bluetongue vectors and climate, as well as on the phenology and population dynamics of these vectors. Twelve locations were selected, distributed over four distinct habitats: a wetland area, three riverine systems, four peat land areas and four livestock farms. Culicoides populations were sampled continuously using CO2-baited counterflow traps from July 2005 until August 2006, with an interruption from November 2005 to March 2006. All vectors were identified to species level. Meteorological and environmental data were collected at each location. Culicoides species were found in all four different habitat types studied. Wetland areas and peat bogs were rich in Culicoides spp. The taxonomic groups Culicoides obsoletus (Meigen) and Culicoides pulicaris (Linnaeus) were strongly associated with farms. Eighty-eight percent of all Culicoides consisted of the taxon C. obsoletus/Culicoides scoticus. On the livestock farms, 3% of Culicoides existed of the alleged bluetongue vector Culicoides dewulfi Goetghebuer. Culicoides impunctatus Goetghebuer was strongly associated with wetland and peat bog. Many Culicoides species were found until late in the phenological season and their activity was strongly associated with climate throughout the year. High annual variations in population dynamics were observed within the same study areas, which were probably caused by annual variations in environmental conditions. The study demonstrates that candidate vectors of bluetongue virus are present in natural and livestock-farm habitats in the Netherlands, distributed widely across the country. Under favourable climatic conditions, following virus introduction, bluetongue can spread among livestock (cattle, sheep and goats), depending on the nature of the viral serotype. The question now arises whether the virus can survive the winter conditions in north-western Europe and whether measures can be taken that effectively halt further spread of the disease.

The character of a landscape can be seen as the outcome of people's perception of their physical environment, which is important for spatial planning and decision making. Three modes of landscape perception are proposed: view from a viewpoint, view from a road, and view of an area. Three sampling methods to calculate visibility measures simulate these modes of perception. We compared the results of the three sampling methods for two study areas. The ROPE method provides information about subspaces. The road method enables the analysis of sequences. The grid point method calculates visibility measures at almost every location in space, providing detailed information about transitions and pattern change between original and new situations. The mean visibility values for the study areas reveal major differences between the sampling methods. Combining the results of the three methods is expected to be useful for describing all the facets of landscape perception.

Constraints are important elements of every modelling process, but until now they have been treated in an ad hoc manner, depending on the specific application domain and the capabilities of the tools used. In GIS and GeoVR applications, constraints are conditions which always have to be valid (true) within the model populated with real geographic object instances. This paper argues that constraints should form a systematic part of the object class definition, similar to other aspects of the definition, viz. attributes, methods and relationships. Also, the implementation of constraints in all GIS and GeoVR subsystems (at front-end, database and exchange (I/O) level) should be derived automatically from the constraints specified by the framework. The paper therefore puts forward a framework for modelling constraints comprising (1) a classification and clarification of constraints, (2) a formal description using the unified modelling language/object constraint language (UML/OCL) and (3) implementation characteristics. The components of the framework are illustrated and applied to SALIX-2, a geo-virtual reality (GeoVR) landscape modelling system.

This chapter describes a research project that aims to improve the quality of physical plans on a local level and to create a basis for communication between disciplines and stakeholders that are dealing with environmental and spatial planning. A GIS tool for integrating environmental aspects into planning procedures has been developed. Although the research shows the potential for the use of the tool in practice, we still are very far away from supporting participatory planning. The research clearly indicates that the current planning practice is not well equipped to deal with real-time participation.

Summary Since 1945 to date the governance of the rural water sector in Tanzania has passed through multiple phases, from the colonial era to the times characterized by liberalization, decentralisation and privatization. Generally, changes in the policies and governance strategies reflect a correspondence with national and international reforms in the political and economic spheres. In turn, these changes made the sector to experience pendulum swings over time in terms of policies and achievements. The main objective of this study was to examine how gender, household and community shape the appropriateness, accessibility and sustainability of domestic water schemes in rural Tanzania, and to explore whether and in what ways domestic water services take women’s gender needs into account. The study aimed at a critical analysis of the policy-practices nexus in terms of appropriateness, accessibility and sustainability in the contexts of the household and the community as representing the water users and hosting local water management structures, respectively. The theoretical pillars of the study are ecological modernisation theory, gender theory, the concept of users’ perspective, and the community management model. These were blended into one theoretical framework. The fieldwork for the study was conducted between October 2011 and September 2012 in the rural districts of Kondoa and Mpwapwa in Dodoma region, in central Tanzania. It consisted of three overlapping phases in which quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to collect data from multiple units of analysis. Data collection for primary data was done through the household survey, focus group discussions, interviews with key informants, village and women case studies, participatory sketch mapping, and field observation. Secondary data was collected through the analysis of information from relevant documents at the village, district and national levels. Overall a total number of 334 respondents were involved in the study. The study found that accessibility to the improved domestic water services is associated with seasonality and that, surprisingly, the average distance to the water distribution points increases during the rainy season. This is because then few water distribution points are operational. The mean number of users per water point is higher than the standard set by the policy guidelines, because the planning and designing of the water schemes rely on population projections and do not take migration and the spatial distribution of the population into account. It was found that there is a difference between the existing water policy and practices related to domestic water uses and management at the micro levels of the household and the village. Within the household, the provision and use of domestic water is organised based on the gendered division of labour in domestic production. At the community level, the same pattern of the gendered division of labour influences men’s and women’s participation in the management of the public water schemes. At both levels the gendered division of labour and performance of men and women is shaped by social norms and traditions that are rooted in patriarchal culture. Women relate to domestic water more closely than men because they are the managers, providers and users of water for carrying out their reproductive roles in the household. This makes women knowledgeable about the appropriateness of water for domestic uses. However, women’s preferences and perceptions on the appropriateness of the domestic water are rarely integrated in the designing and planning phases of water projects. The government, in collaboration with the international community, has established women quota to ensure women’s participation in local decision-making spaces and management structures. However, the informal structures which are embedded in the normative traditions within and beyond the household, explicitly and implicitly deter women’s involvement in the public management of the water schemes. Water users’ participation, and women’s participation in particular, was very minimal in the pre-implementation phase of village water projects. Hence, the users’ perspectives are poorly represented in the early stages of the water schemes. In general, there was low community participation not only before but also after implementation of the water schemes. Additionally, the sustainability of the rural water infrastructures is endangered mainly because water using communities have been assigned technical and managerial roles without being equipped with the corresponding capabilities. The district water departments which are responsible to provide technical support to the villages, are also confronted with shortages of human and financial resources plus inadequate transport facilities. The findings from this study reveal the need to review the existing water policy and change the current community management approach. This thesis concludes by identifying ways forward through research, programs and policies to improve the rural domestic water provision in Tanzania.

An appreciation of the complexity and uncertainty that characterizes linked human and natural systems - or social-ecological systems - has proliferated throughout the sciences in recent decades. However, dominant societal images, mental models and discourses frame the complexity of social-ecological systems in biased and simplified ways. Interactive media show much potential to help move beyond the current limitations of societal communication about complex systems. The objective of the research in this PhD thesis is to harness the potential of interactive visualization for the elicitation and communication of societal perspectives on complexity in social-ecological systems. The thesis takes on two fundamental challenges: 1. eliciting and sharing analytic perspectives (addressed in chapters 3 and 4); and 2. combining analytic understanding with experiential engagement (chapters 4 and 5). These challenges are discussed in chapter 1. We take on these challenges through designing and evaluating a series of new communication tools. Throughout the thesis, accessibility, flexibility and feasibility of communication tools and concepts are crucial preconditions. To frame the research,chapter 2 uses the challenges from the introduction chapter as a guide and touchstone to identify and evaluate the tools and strategies currently being developed and employed in different fields of environmental science communication. Starting with scenarios communication, the chapter goes on to explore the fields of landscape visualization, serious gaming, and visual analytics/information visualization. An evaluation of these fields concludes that as currently used, the tools and strategies from each domain had different strengths and weaknesses in terms of the communication of social-ecological systems change. To move beyond these limitations, the chapter proposes a design framework that was based on several new elements. Firstly, the use of web 2.0 technology that allowed for the fluid integration of multiple platforms. Secondly, pervasive gaming design that focused on user-generated sources of analytic communication and engagement instead of on realistic environments. Chapter 3 reports on our first strategy to take on the challenge of eliciting and sharing analytic perspectives on social-ecological systems. The System Perspectives Scope is a tool to explore how participatory models could be used to capture societal actors’ perspectives on the spatial and temporal dimensions of complex systems. The application of this tool in two case studies demonstrates that it is possible to focus explicitly on spatial and temporal system levels and cross-level interactions, different understandings of temporal change, and different basic perspectives on the nature of change in social-ecological systems - all through a relatively simple and accessible format in an on-line context. Results indicate significant relationships between different perspectives on spatial and temporal system levels and different myths of nature. Chapter 4explores a different analytic strategy with which key societal actors’ mental models could be captured more extensively and fundamentally. We start from the premise that change agents in social-ecological systems, in this case the agricultural innovators in the TransForum project, would have to be experienced at linking many conceptual dimensions in their efforts to create accepted change, including the biophysical dimensions but also the dimensions of institutions, networks, knowledge, power and so on. We also propose that these dimensions and the scales that change agents used to frame them would allow them to capture cross-scale dynamics that they saw as crucial in their systems. We conducted a series of in-depth interviews using the Scale Repertoire, a method that helped create multi-dimensional perspectives on change agents’ storylines that showed cross-scale interactions between these different interpretations of the project. This research confirms that change agents were in fact able to produce a wide range of scales which they could use to capture the cross-scale dynamics they saw as crucial. Based on these results the chapter argues that key societal actors should be involved in interdisciplinary research on the role of scale in the governance of complex systems. Furthermore, consciousness of scale in societal debates should be stimulated. In chapter 5 we take on the second challenge, evaluating the complementary benefits of communication tools focused on analytic understanding and on experiential engagement in an interactive live setting. In an Oxfordshire, UK case study, we conducted workshops with local sustainable development groups where we combined a live version of the System Perspectives Scope (chapter 3) with ScenarioCommunities, an interactive storytelling tool. ScenarioCommunities proved engaging and vivid to the participants and able to motivate them into creating their own vivid storylines. The System Perspectives Scope elicited individual mental models and facilitated analytic reflection. These benefits are complementary and were perceived as such by the participants. The highly participatory nature of both tools was an asset both to the participants’ experience of the process and the methods’ ability to generate results. The workshop that started with the engagement-oriented tool produced more and better results and was seen as more successful by the participants than the workshop that started with the analytic tool. Though the case study was small, these results are consistent enough to suggest that the transition from experiential engagement to analytic understanding is more natural than the reverse order. An alternative take on the challenge of combining the facilitation of analytic understanding and experiential engagement was to consider how these modes of communication could be fused. To explore this question, in chapter 6 we sought collaboration with multi-media designers and artists outside of science communication through a series of workshops. The collaborations with designers and artists generated ideas for serious games, group interactions, metaphors and social media storytelling. The computer game concepts and group interactions produced in the workshops proved to capture the widest range of complex systems dynamics, were engaging and focused on strategic knowledge. While the group concepts used participants’ physical experience, the game concepts are potentially limitless in the scale of their application. The social media storytelling concepts were rated highly in terms of engagement and intuitiveness, but less complex systems characteristics. The exploratory nature of this research meant that we were not able to test the actual effects of most concepts. Instead, we relied on expert opinions of their potential. Still, this research project indicates that experiential engagement and analytic understanding can be fused and that games and group concepts can lead to the development of strategic knowledge. Finally, this case study makes a strong argument for collaborative efforts between science communicators and multi-media designers and artists. In the synthesis (chapter 7) I conclude that interactive visualization can be developed to focus directly on the elicitation and communication of analytic perspectives on social-ecological systems change. Also, combining analytic understanding and experiential engagement can be achieved through separate methods or through full integration to aim for the development of strategic knowledge. The preconditions of flexibility, accessibility and feasibility were turned from limitations into guidelines that focused the design of communication tools clearly on complexity while avoiding complicatedness. Our design-based research provided specific insights and an in-depth learning experience. I believe that focus on the diversity of individual perspectives provides an essential basis for more consensus-oriented work.Through our collaboration with artists and designers, it became clear that modes of communication can themselves represent new spaces for perspectives. I recommend that science communicators focus directly on the characteristics of complex systems and translate and integrate analytic and experiential and conceptual and practical modes of communication. Demands for accessibility, flexibility and feasibility should be turned into benefits. Artists and scientists should be collaborating on complex systems communication; design and art communities have to be informed and inspired. I recommend a conscious recognition of the role and goals of the communicator in a given context. Finally, I suggest that opportunities must be sought to institutionalize complexity-conscious communication strategies to up-scale their impact.

The landscape is an important contributor to quality of life. People identify with landscapes and landscapes contribute to a sense of place and wellbeing. Changes in land use activities, such as agriculture, and in current spatial planning policies and practice accelerate the transformation of landscapes as many new elements are superimposed upon traditional landscapes, altering their visual appearance. These changes may have profound influences on people?s quality of life. The visual landscape should therefore be given explicit attention in landscape planning and policy making. An important landscape characteristic is landscape openness. It is defined as the amount of space perceivable to the viewer which illustrates the importance of the interaction of people with their environment. Landscape openness is an important characteristic and a measure of attractiveness. In the Netherlands landscape openness is one of the features of the visual landscape and is also one of the core qualities of the National Landscapes, which have to be protected or enhanced. Landscape openness is vulnerable for changes is the landscape and monitoring the effect of landscape changes on openness is therefore essential for policy makers and planners. Current methods to measure landscape characteristics such as landscape openness either are suitable for policy makers but not reflect essential characteristics of the phenomenon, or accurately reflect the phenomenon but are not suitable for policy making and planning. Current improvements in measurement techniques, enabled by GIS, and the availability of highly detailed topographic data covering large areas make it feasible to describe landscape openness with a higher degree of realism, while making few concessions to generality and objectivity. Procedures and methods used in previous studies to describe landscape characteristics like landscape openness for policy making and planning purposes do not take full advantage of these improvements. The objective of this thesis is to develop a procedure which takes advantage of these improvements, but also produces a sound description of landscape openness and meets the required standards for policy making and planning. We formulated three research questions: 1: How can landscape openness be measured? 2: How well does the measured openness correspond with perceived landscape openness? 3: Is the measured openness relevant for landscape policy makers? Nieuwe ontwikkelingen, zoals stedelijke en infrastructurele projecten en de uitbreiding van grootschalige landbouw introduceren veel nieuwe elementen in traditionele landschappen die de visuele kwaliteit veranderen. Deze veranderingen kunnen aanzienlijke invloed hebben op de kwaliteit van leven. Om het visuele landschap te beschermen of te verbeteren, moeten veranderingen van visuele landschappen expliciet aandacht krijgen in landschapsplanning en beleid. Openheid manifesteert zich anders in verschillende culturele landschappen en de ontwikkeling van prototypes voor openheid voor elk landschapstype kunnen worden gebruikt als richtlijn voor planning en beleid. Op Europees niveau worden landschappen doorgaans geclassificeerd door experts met behulp van een top-down benadering. Er is behoefte aan een koppeling tussen deze Europese top-down aanpak en de perceptiegebaseerde bottom-up benadering