** April 2024 update for our readers: The Resilience Reflections series is on hold until at least June as we line up contributors. Please get in touch if you would like to contribute a reflection.
Recognising the urgent need to respond to rapid societal and environmental change, resilience is one of the University of Twente’s spearheads. As an academic institution, we have a role to play in strengthening the resilience of the social, technological and environmental systems that support us. In this regular series by the Resilience@UT and 4TU Resilience Engineering programmes, UT researchers share their personal reflections on current events and trends that impact our daily lives, exploring their implications for resilience. The opinions expressed in these articles are those of each individual author.
- Carbon Capture and Sequestration: Climate resilience or climate problem? (#31), Sebastian Husein demonstrates that the added value of some forms of Carbon Capture and Sequestration to reduce overall CO2 levels are not all that they appear to be
- AI literacy and the future of academic work (#30), Maarten Renkema appeals for the active promotion of Artificial Intelligence literacy among academics to improve their work.
- Preparing with and for each other (#29): Sean Vrielink highlights the complex nature of vulnerability, while underscoring the significance of one's mindset in building resilience, illustrated through experiences in teaching students in Pakistan and advocating for proactive disaster preparedness regardless of circumstances.
- Transforming SMEs for resilience (#28): Engin Topan stresses the vital importance of strengthening the resilience of smaller manufacturers which are more vulnerable to fluctuations in labour and disruptions to the supply chain.
- Sustainable solutions for vulnerable communities (#27): Peter Chemweno shares his research experience within engineering and how this has led him to work with colleagues at the UT on engineering solutions for vulnerable communities.
- Resilience of Civilisations? (#26): Athanasios Votsis shares his insights on the meaning of the term Resilience and its origins in a civilisation’s foundational ingredients. This leads the reader to the more existential questions underlying human sciences.
- From Despair to Hope (#25): Derya Demirtas shares her experience of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria one year ago and how her initial feeling of helplessness turned into a sense of hope that research, including her own, is having a growing impact on many aspects of emergency response.
- Being Resilient About Resilience (#24): Michael Nagenborg recounts how nearly two decades ago, a snowstorm sparked his ongoing fascination with the relationship between resilience and equity within urban settings.
- Resilience Reflection (#23): An honest self-reflection by ChatGPT, sharing its take on being a resilient system itself.
- Sky Guardians (#22): Farzaneh Dadrass Javan describes the many roles that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can play especially in disaster prevention and response.
- Resilience begins at home (#21): Carmen Schoemaker shares her experience in raising little kids to be resilient on their bikes in the crowded Dutch streets. She makes a case for beginning at an early age and for giving the correct and green example as a parent. Resilience starts with individuals, and it starts small.
- The darker side of sports (#20): Marleen Haandrikman and Nicolette Schipper-van Veldhoven demonstrate how the perceived power of the sports industry leaves athletes open to exploitation and abusive behaviour. They make a case for collective action to counter this and ultimately the empowerment of athletes.
- Cybersecurity is not just complying with regulations! (#19): Abhishta Abhishta stresses the importance of sharing knowledge on and creating a culture of cyber security for the resilience and ultimate success of an organisation.
- End-of-year shopping (#18): Mark Brussel appeals for a return to offline shopping to revitalize and strengthen resilience in urban centres.
- A diverse, inclusive community (#17): Vinod Subramaniam advocates for cultivating diversity, inclusion, and societal engagement as integral components for resilience, urging universities to proactively contribute to societal well-being and unity amid current challenges.
- Circular economy (#16): Devrim Yazan explores the transformative potential of a circular economy in strengthening global supply chains in this 16th Resilience Reflection.
- Preparing for the worst: Building health resilience in schools (#15): Kasandra Mingoti Poague, highlights the sometimes underestimated but central role played by hygiene in limiting the spread of pandemics like Covid-19 and ultimately enhancing resilience to disease in young children and adolescents.
- A shortage of Student Accommodation? (#14:): Jodi Sturge argues for regulations to restrict short-term rentals and suggests measures to incentivize long-term rental housing to relieve the tight housing market.
- The value of not throwing away the old (#13): Caroline van Bers highlights the importance of rediscovering our skills and knowledge to prepare for and recover from disasters to which we are increasingly exposed in Europe.
- Risking internet resilience (#12): Roland van Rijswijk - Deij speculates on the looming consequences of the EU Cyber Resilience Act for open-source software development.
- When you open your window (#11): Thomas van Rompay explores how we can use imagination and creativity to increase our exposure to the healthy benefits of nature.
- All metrics are wrong (#10): Suzan Bayhan challenges our faith in metrics and introduces the Internet Resilience Index.
- Speaking each other’s language (#9): Bas Borsje reminds us of the importance of good communication to the success of projects with diverse stakeholders.
- Reconsidering Human Resilience (#8): Carmen Anthonj questions the generally-accepted view that adversity makes us stronger.
- Our future Resilience depends on children (#7): Funda Atun draws our attention to the important role of the younger generation in disaster resilience.
- Drivers of disasters and questions of a resilience researcher (#6): Baran Ulak reflects on the importance of considering multiple social and environmental factors in resilience science.
- Strengthening our resilience to extreme weather (#5): Joanne Vinke-de Kruijf highlights the value of involving stakeholders from all sectors to strengthen resilience to extreme weather events.
- Is it always desirable? (#4): Veronica Junjan reflects on how resilience could lead to societal resistance.
- Resilience research funding (#3): Norman Kerle raises a concern about the way in which disaster resilience is funded and how this is being addressed.
- Combining science domains for clean water (#2): Rob Lammertink reflects on raised concerns about our drinking water.
- The Value of Old-fashioned Community Farming (#1): Cheryl de Boer highlights the importance of community farming.
The resilience series appears in the weekly UT Employee News.