At the occasion of the 25 anniversary of the Dutch Cultural Policy Act, Dutch academics in cultural policy research have compiled a volume to commemorate the quarter century in which Dutch cultural policy has developed and analyse the key debates in Dutch cultural policy for the coming years.

Historically, central public authority in the Netherlands has been problematic. The country's origin as a confederation of seven independent republics, has had effect in the sense that government usually...

When the Treaty of Lisbon went into effect in December 2009, the event seemed to mark the beginning of a longer phase of institutional consolidation for the EU. Since 2010, however, the EU has faced multiple crises, which have rocked its foundations and deeply challenged the narrative of 'the end of the history of integration'. The military crisis in eastern Ukraine and the refugee crisis call for a joint approach, but in practice reveal the difficulty of maintaining even the appearance of Eu...

The traditional thematic realms of urban design, such as liveability, social interaction, and quality of urban life, considered to be closely related to urban form and specifically to public space, have long since been recognised as important, and have given the discipline a certain identity. The book Realms of Urban Design: Mapping Sustainability is certainly rooted in this fundamental urban design thinking, but its main contribution belongs to the second part of the book’s title – disco...

The purpose of this book is to present ongoing research from the universities involved in the project Creating the Network of Knowledge Labs for Sustainable and Resilient Environments (KLABS). The papers published in this book show that the recent and current research in those institutions focuses on the directions of development of IUP, the processes that support sustainable use of natural resources and their application in the Western Balkan and some other European countries. Each essay aim...

The Parana River is the third largest river in the American continent, after the Mississippi and the Amazon. Instead of flowing directly to the sea, it flows to the Rio de la Plata (located between Argentina and Uruguay) through a complex delta system.

Although this delta can be considered an extreme and particular case, many of the conflicts that can be found in this area replicate in other deltas around the world. Urbanizing deltas are subjected to pressures related to urban growth and clim...

Thinking together aloud.

Talking uninhibitedly.

Holding a non-polemic conversation.

How can you receive an idea hospitably?

You don't know what the other person is going to say.

You don't always know what you yourself are going to say.

This book provides a picture of the 'thinking aloud' that went on during several gatherings initiated by Erik Hagoort. In a series of essays, he builds on ideas on closeness that originate from Ilse Bulhof, Emmanuel Levinas and Cornelis Verhoeven.

'I don't kno...

What exactly is the tactile, in a world in which a rising technocracy exploits the designed environment we feel? Who authorises and who writes, what tradition do we stand in and how can we touch base?

After endlessly hearing that Onomatopee publications have a materiality and tactility not often experienced in recent years, Onomatopee director and curator Freek Lomme decided to create an exhibition and publication addressing the issue of tactility and print today, accommodated by the Frans Ma...

During the Battle of Arnhem Kate ter Horst-Arriëns lives with her family in the old vicarage next to the Old Church in Oosterbeek, the village where the battle is finally decided. There she and her husband are asked by the British to open their house as a first-aid post after the airborne landings on 17 September 1944. They agree, but the rapid victory that had been hoped for, fails to materialise and soon all rooms are crammed with wounded. Kate ter Horst is doing her utmost to help the oft...

The complexity of modern IT landscapes forces organizations to implement changes and innovations in a well-defined and structured way, applying architecture. But that’s easier said than done, because how do you actually bring IT architecture into practice? What are the tasks of an IT architect? What methods and tools are available to an IT architect? What products does an IT architect deliver? And how do you make sure that these products are effective and offer added value to an organizatio...

Consultants are usually invited to work in an organisation when its own managers are unable to find solutions to business problems. Then expert help is brought in – on a temporary basis. Systemic consulting is uniquely different from any other consulting approach in that it is not the consultant who is the expert, but the organisation itself.

The authors regard organisations as living systems. Their grasp of what makes a living system, its characteristics and to what degree one can recognis...