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Here, Radboud University presents theses written by students affiliated with various bachelor’s and master’s programmes at the university, as well as papers from students of the Radboud Honours Academy and publications in the Radboud journal Ex Tempore.
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Item “smart specialisation strategy in the cleantech region”(2024-06-10)innovation strategy. This strategy has resulted in several limitations, such as growing disparities between member states and bureaucracy. To address these limitations, the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) was developed. S3 focuses on leveraging place based capabilities for economic growth, recognising that regions have distinct (socio-economic and institutional structures. S3 aims to balance between the bottom-up identification of promising economic areas on one hand, and top-down selection and prioritisation on the other. A critical aspect of S3’s success is the relationship between the public and private sectors. While top-down policies can strategically shape the market, policymakers rely on bottom up knowledge creation and innovation in prioritised sectors. Continuous cooperation and coordination between these sectors are essential to achieve S3 goals and drive structural change. This research is concerned with elucidating the cooperation and coordination between the public and private sector in the eastern Netherlands’ Cleantech region (alternatively: Stedendriehoek).Item Mobility policy success stories? A comparative case study analysis of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht(2025-02-14)This master thesis assesses the extent to which the inner city sustainable mobility transitions of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht could be considered ‘policy success stories’. Through comparative case study research, it compares the inner city mobility transitions of the three cities corresponding to their mobility policies Agenda Amsterdam Autoluw, Rotterdamse MobiliteitsAanpak and Mobiliteitsplan 2040 (Utrecht). The thesis applies theory from transition, transport, policy and public participation studies. It helps to address an existing academic gap - the lack of a ‘success’ assessment methodology focused on mobility transition policies. For that, it developed a state-of-the-art mobility policy success assessment matrix with 14 success factors to consider when assessing the success of mobility transitions evoked by dedicated mobility policies. Semi-structured interviews with policymakers and other experts involved in the transitions were conducted alongside a literature review and desk research. The generated knowledge could aid policymakers and implementers from Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht to 1) gain an understanding of the gaps in their approaches, 2) understand which aspects of their approach could be considered already successful, and 3) gather inspiration from the other two cities on ‘what works’ and ‘what does not’ in the Dutch context.Item Anticipating the Future: Understanding Matches and Mismatches between Future Narratives of Climate Change Adaptation and Housing(2025-01-27)The urgent need to adapt to climate change and the environmental pressure resulting from the housing shortage in the Netherlands underscore the importance of understanding to what extent these issues are concurrently addressed. This insight is essential for effective policy making and addressing the transdisciplinary challenges of climate adaptation and housing provision. By studying how future narratives in the governance systems of climate change adaptation and housing create (mis)matches, this research aims to gain these insights. Future narratives, consisting of preferred futures and future assumptions, which are grounded in literature on anticipatory governance, the use of futures and the expected future are used as central concepts. The research strategy entails a case study, qualitative policy document analysis using Atlas.ti and semi-structured interviews with policy makers. Policy documents and policy makers are selected at the Dutch local level, within the municipality of Arnhem. The results show how future assumptions in preferred futures lead to various matches and mismatches between future narratives of housing and climate change adaptation. These (mis)matches can arise when divergent preferred futures are envisioned as when similar preferred futures considered. Matches as well as mismatches between both policy fields occur on various themes, yet no clear patterns emerge. Keywords: transformative governance, governance system, future narrative, preferred future, future assumptions.Item Framing Sexual Violence(2024-08-07)This thesis examines how four Dutch newspapers frame the alleged sexual violence by Hamas during the attack against Israel on the 7th of October 2023, over six months. In this study, the use of media frames is examined, including sexual violence, rape, terrorism, and the victimisation of Israelis, to justify Israel’s subsequent military actions and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Initial reports, such as one by the New York Times, claimed widespread sexual violence during the attack but were later critiqued. A UN report described preliminary findings and limitations on their research into conduct of sexual violence during the attack. This research investigates how these frames differ across the four different Dutch newspapers – De Telegraaf, De Volkskrant, Reformatorisch Dagblad, and Trouw – and before and since the UN report. The analysis reveals that, while all newspapers emphasized the terroristic nature of Hamas and the victimization of Israelis, their focus varies. The thesis concludes that these media frames contribute to the dehumanization of Hamas, contributing to a narrative that justifies Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.Item Who decides? (A lack of) changes in interest group influence over the EU’s normative ambitions in trade agreements(2024-09-04)This thesis examined how the relative influence of civil society organisations and business interests on the outcome of trade negotiations has changed over time. It considered the influence these actors can exert through both the European Parliament and the Commission. The expectation was that, due to the increased institutional powers of the European Parliament following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the revised orientation of the Commission in response to the politicisation of CETA and TTIP, civil society organisations would have experienced a greater increase in influence than business interests, even in the absence of politicisation. Using process-tracing methods, the influence of these two types of interest was compared for two trade agreements negotiated by the EU with Mexico, signed in 1997 and 2018. In these trade agreements, the provisions on human, labour and environmental rights were analysed. There was little evidence of business mobilisation on these issues, while civil society organisations mobilised more, but were largely unsuccessful. Contrary to what was expected, this paper found no relative increase in civil society influence through either the Commission or the European Parliament.
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