Paul
Paul van Eijk
Validated Lead Expert
Generic Skills
B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:
As environmental engineer I finished a comprehensive doctoral research project on changing water management as part of urban renewal. The research was conducted at Delft University of Technology as part of the research programme of the Delft Interfaculty Research Centre - Sustainable Built Environment. The title of the Ph.D thesis is (2003): "Renewal with Water: a participative strategy for the urban environment". During my Ph.D research I was also coordinating the sustainable development of the city of Haarlem. By doing so I was able to do a plan-making action research in the day-to-day reality of recent urban renewal programmes. I experimented with design concepts and workshop methods in different contexts of urban renewal in different cities.
B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:
I participated in several international projects such as: PURE, Planning for Urban-rural River Environments 'Planning with Water'. The PURE project was a part of the Interreg IIIB North Sea program. In this project transnational learning was the driving force (UK, Sweden (Chalmers University), the Netherlands, Finland) especially focussed on spatial and sustainable development. As dean of the Academy of Architecture, Built Environment and Civil Engineering at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen I was closely involved in setting up exchange programmes (education and research) for teachers, researchers and students. As strategic manager at the province of Drenthe (NL) it was my responsibility to organise the 10th ENCORE-conference in the northern part of the Netherlands. The ENCORE conferences (http://www.encoreweb.eu) are based on the principles of transnational learning of all kind of experiences of sustainable development and building alliances. In 2012 the theme was Soil, Energy and Climate Change.
B.3. Proficiency in English:
Level C1. As Ph.D candidate I wrote several English articles and I held presentations for example in Portland (Oregon, USA) and in (Dublin, Ireland). As lector (professor) at Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences, the meetings of the Applied Research Group are in English. I give guest-lectures in English at Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences for the domain Animals & Business, including recently for the course Eco-socio studies (March 2016). I am currently coaching students (M.Sc/B.Sc) from foreign countries and Ph.D students as well. The Ph.D students are Portuguese and our common language is English. I recently was the chairman of a session called Applied Research of Water Systems during the annual international conference of the Wetsus research institute (Leeuwarden, October 2015). As dean I am responsible for the development of an international network of knowledge institutes (China, Korea, Germany).
Expertise for the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities:
Summary Expertise for the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities:
I developed the Participative Strategy (PS). Participation is the result of intentional communication and direct interaction at the same time. In fact, the PS merges the complex concepts of the Guiding Principle Approach and the Soft Systems Method. Participants are public and private representatives; professional and non-professional disciplines. The PS can easily be used in a transnational context. In essence the PS creates conditions for a trans-disciplinary learning process. I use the PS to generate a common language to achieve shared understanding among participants for their interests and for the design-solutions they interactively develop. Design-solutions which contribute to sustainable development of urban water systems by making the transnational social learning process explicit.
Thematic expertise:
Theme / Policy:
Integrated Urban Renewal
Summary Thematic expertise:
As environmental engineer I am specialised in the sustainable development of urban water systems. Changing processes such as sustainable development of water systems are dynamic, uncertain and complex. The substantive issues of sustainable development are just as important as the process itself. Based on theoretical insights of both (ecological conditions theory and the soft systems method) my expertise is the use of the Guiding Principle Approach. This approach is similar to a toolkit in which all kind of technical, spatial and social tools can be used in different contexts to contribute or accelerate sustainable development. In this case I am an ''expert by experience' in the field. One of these tools I developed by bringing theory into practise is the Participative Strategy (PS). The PS encourages trans-disciplinary environmental stewardship of all stakeholders involved in various working procedures. The PS facilitates a collective learning process and thus stimulates cooperation in the development of proposals for a new water management regime, which are elaborated, applied and maintained in subsequent stages of the urban renewal planning process. The design proposals are, via the PS, the result of a cooperative process for which the participants are jointly responsible. They are integrated design proposals because the environmental, spatial and social aspects have all been incorporated during the various working procedures. These activities maintain continuity in the changes in water management during the planning process. As a professor Sustainable Water Systems at Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Science I have a strong 'learning by doing' attitude. I still develop the toolbox with my ''expertise by experience'' in the field of changing or transition processes in all kind of contexts.
Expertise support to local authorities and other stakeholders in designing & delivering integrated and participatory policies
E.1. Knowledge on participatory methods and tools for co-production and implementation of local polices :
Applied Science of Participation Strategies and tools is my expertise. Sustainable development of (urban) water systems is my focus. Co-creative, co-operation and supporting design processes are the key words. Main goal: to achieve a sense of joined/shared responsibility among all participants involved for the outcomes for such a participative process. As researcher, manager, director/dean and currently as professor Sustainable Water Systems it is my mission/duty to facilitate social innovation by making the collective learning process explicit. A couple of tools I use and/or developed are: - Soft Systems Method (Peter Checkland) - Guiding Principle Aproach (Sybrand Tjallingii) - Workshops such as the Water Integration Method - Xplorelabs (design studios with knowledge institutes) - Mutual Gain Approach - Citizens Science, participative monitoring - making the invisible visible such as an animation of the guiding model of event storage for re-designing canals. – etc., etc. I developed and used these strategies, approaches and methods in different contexts and projects such as the urban renewal of Schalkwijk in the city of Haarlem, the urban renewal of the Poptahof in the city of Delft, the urban renewal of Kvillebacken in the city of Gothenburg and recently in the re-designing of canals in the north of the Netherlands.
E.2. Knowledge on integrated approach for the design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies/policies:
The four strands of a DNA structure discovered in 2013 is used as a metaphor to add our society to the golden triangle – or triple helix - which is represented by the close cooperation between public, business and research parties. In this triangle they work successfully on technical water innovations. The (a)quadruple helix aims to increase water awareness among our society by bridging the innovation gap between technical and system innovations. Because of all kind reactions I received over the last months, I am more and more convinced that tools like remote operating vehicles such as underwater drones can support this goal and encourage water stewardship. Beside the use of dynamic, innovative monitoring techniques I elaborate concepts, practical tools and guidelines for the design and operation of sustainable urban water systems. Together with the local water authorities I took the initiative to monitor and to evaluate one of the first integral and sustainable urban water demonstration projects in the Netherlands, better known as Morrapark in Drachten. This water system is based on the so called circulation – guiding - model. One of the innovative tools we are using is the underwater drone with sensors and camera.
E.3. Awareness of the main policy and funding schemes for sustainable urban development at EU and national level:
Awareness of policy and funding concerning sustainable urban development through: - the review board of the chair Sustainable Water Systems - the peer group with colleagues water professors - conversations with grant writers and subsidy advisors of Van Hal Larenstein University of Applied Sciences - writing funding proposals – participating in international conferences - visiting the European Institutions in Brussels and other strategic networking activities.
E.4. Ability to understand specific local situations and adapt tools and content to different local realities:
In 2018 Leeuwarden/Fryslan will be the Cultural Capital City of Europe. Water is in the DNA of our culture so this is a great opportunity to show Europe how we deal with the challenges like climate change, water system innovations, and social innovation and vice versa. My role is to inspire and build up a community of demonstration projects. At this moment a whole game generation is unaware of the real life issues in the world. However, that generation can be used in education programs and the development of new tools, instrumental in addressing the water transition. I would like to work out a concept which combines both the use of students and their experience in the gaming world, to develop an attractive demonstration project by designing a game comprised of under water drones. For example, by doing so you can built a 3 dimensional maquette of the city of Leeuwarden, which assumes the dikes are broken covering the city with two meters of water, in which the game of real drones take place….Marketing, innovation, climate change awareness and gaming all-in one. More seriously is the monitoring of sustainable water systems which have been operating for the last two decades. For this, it is necessary to explain in brief the applied scientific approach which was developed in the early nineties, and is still actively being used. Better known as the Guiding Principle Approach introduced in this application. This approach consists of spatial planning tools supporting processes of sustainable development of water systems. There are several spatial planning methods such as the blue print approach and the open process approach. But why the guiding principle approach? This approach is explicitly based on principles derived from scientific ecological research. In interdisciplinary and interactive planning processes the GPA generates a learning process. Since its development in the 90’s, and by ‘’learning by doing’’ this approach is continually developing itself with new experiences. The GPA consists of basic concepts with a strategic and more operational character which, depending of the context, can be used in different stadia of the planning process. These are the guiding principles and guiding models. Examples of a guiding principle could be ‘’Retain or harvest water as long as you can in the area and keep it clean’’ or ‘’Use local (tacit) knowledge of inhabitants and managers’’
Informations
Residence location:
Netherlands
Languages:
Dutch - Mother tongue
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Email:
paul.vaneijk@hvhl.nl