Welcome to the Radboud Educational Repository
Here, Radboud University presents publications written by its students, including theses from its bachelor’s and master’s programmes, papers by students of the Radboud Honours Academy, and contributions to various Radboud journals.
Recent Submissions
Item Bridging the Gap: Visualising Socio-Economic and Technical Data for Positive Energy Districts(2026-01-06)The Dutch energy transition faces significant structural challenges in transforming residential infrastructure, where the implementation of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) often stagnates due to a critical disconnect between technical planning and socio-economic reality. This master's thesis addresses this gap through a case study of Hengstdal, Nijmegen, a neighbourhood where a previous collective heat network project failed due to resident resistance regarding costs and a lack of transparency rather than technical grounds. The research evaluates the extent to which a Planning Support System (PSS) that visually integrates technical and socio-economic data can improve decision-making. Using a methodology consisting of a pre-scan, tool design, and post-assessment with stakeholders from the Municipality of Nijmegen, Woonwaarts, Alliander, and the Buurtwarmtecoöperatie Hengstdal, a proof-of-concept bivariate choropleth map was developed at the postcode 6-level. By merging technical indicators like gas consumption with socio-economic proxies such as WOZ-values into a single visual matrix, the tool enables stakeholders to identify new correlations, target energy-vulnerable households, and strategically "cherry-pick" areas for intervention. The study concludes that visual integration serves as a powerful catalyst for decision-making by enriching technical data with social context. However, effectiveness remains dependent on context; the tool must function as a diagnostic "conversation starter" that respects local privacy and trust rather than being used as a commercial sales instrument.Item "Stitching the neighbourhood together at BUUR West - the enactment of a social infrastructure in Nijmegen Oud-West"(2025-12-19)This research explores the labour and care practices that are put into maintaining a social infrastructure. This research is conducted during seven months of ethnographic fieldwork at BUUR West, including the shadowing of three employees during their workday. This master thesis aims to complement research done by others investigating the influence and role of social infrastructure on our cities. In this way, this thesis attempts to show why these spaces matter in the urban fabric, and why they should be maintained and protected. What makes the neighbourhood café BUUR West different from a regular café is that visitors can take a seat without any further (financial) commitments or can join an activity. Researching the infrastructural labour of the social infrastructure at BUUR West identified four broad themes: physical maintenance; activity management; communication, outreach and being facilitating; and cooperation and professional anchoring. Both employees, volunteers and visitors are needed to carry out the different types of labour. For maintaining the social infrastructure, practices of care are in many ways intertwined with the aforementioned enactments and labour. BUUR West functions as an everyday non-institutional care space, where care practices are visible among colleagues, among visitors, and between the two groups combined.Item Placemaking through the eyes of placemakers – An exploratory study of professional placemaking practice in the Netherlands(2025-11-21)This thesis examines how professional placemakers in the Netherlands understand and apply placemaking in their daily work. Although the concept has gained significant traction in planning and development, its popularity has also made it diffuse and at times superficial. Existing literature offers rich theoretical debates, yet the perspectives of those who practice placemaking remain underexplored. This study therefore asks what placemaking means to practitioners, how they operationalize it and why they consider it valuable. Using a qualitative, interpretative approach inspired by constructivist grounded theory, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with practitioners from design agencies, development firms, and cultural organisations, complemented by a mapping of the Dutch placemaking field. The findings show that practitioners approach placemaking less as a fixed methodology and more as a guiding philosophy that links social and spatial processes through intentional collaboration. Despite differing interpretations, three recurring principles emerge: intentionality, contextual sensitivity and inclusivity. The study also reveals tensions around agency, temporality, and purpose, alongside structural constraints such as limited resources and institutional rigidity. Yet practitioners remain optimistic about placemaking’s future role as a bridge between physical development and social responsibility. By foregrounding their perspectives, this thesis contributes to ongoing debates on how placemaking can evolve into a more mature and meaningful practice.Item The Art of Drinking Coffee: A deep dive into the relationship between stakeholders and development time of housing projects in the Netherlands(2025-12-15)This thesis examines how stakeholder participation influences the development time of housing projects in the Netherlands. Rising housing demand and new legal requirements under the Environment and Planning Act have increased pressure to organise participation effectively, yet its impact on project timelines remains contested. Using a qualitative case study approach, the research compares two contrasting projects: a privately led development with a relatively short timeline and a municipally led project marked by appeals and delay. Semi structured interviews and document analysis are used to examine how participation quality, governance structures, and project complexity interact. The findings show that participation does not automatically accelerate or slow development. Its effect depends on governance arrangements and how dialogue is managed. Informal, trust based engagement helps align expectations and prevent escalation, while procedural or symbolic participation often leaves concerns unresolved and increases the likelihood of legal appeals. Governance structure moderates this relationship: facilitative arrangements with clear prioritisation enable timely follow up, whereas complex municipal roles weaken responsiveness. The study refines existing theory by showing how participation, governance, and complexity jointly shape development time. It concludes that effective participation relies on clear roles, continuity, and informal dialogue, captured metaphorically as the art of drinking coffee.Item From Concept to Practice: Exploring barriers and opportunities adopting and scaling clay-in-sand in the Achterhoek(2025-12-18)This thesis investigates the barriers and opportunities for implementing and scaling clay-in-sand as a drought mitigation and adaptation measure, using a practice-based framework that focuses on materials, meanings, and competences. Based on case studies in Haarlo-Olden-Eibergen and ’t Klooster and interviews with farmers, contractors, and governmental actors, the research shows that these elements interact in complex ways and jointly determine the scaling potential of the measure. Material conditions are particularly influential. The study shows that the main issue lies in the organisation and matching of clay supply and demand rather than in actual availability. Other material barriers include the absence of machinery designed for clay spreading, and high implementation costs. Despite these constraints, farmers generally regard clay-in-sand as a worthwhile long-term investment. Meanings attached to clay-in-sand differ but reinforce one another. Farmers emphasise yield improvement and drought resilience, while water boards and provincial actors frame the measure as a hydrological intervention and a climate adaptation and mitigation strategy. However, historically dominant Dutch water-management discourses focused on rapid water discharge still limit wider acceptance. Competence development mainly occurs through learning-by-doing and pilot projects. Scaling up requires improved supply coordination, investment in suitable machinery, regulatory alignment, and more structured, cross-regional knowledge exchange.
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