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HBO/WO

MBO

October 24, 2025

Measure Sustainability: LCA

In this video, Angelica Rota explains the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and its specific application to glass products. The LCA is a standardized process that evaluates a product's environmental impact from raw material extraction ("cradle") to final disposal ("grave"). The assessment follows four phases: defining the goal and scope, conducting a life cycle inventory, assessing the environmental impacts, and interpreting the results. For construction products like glass, the life cycle is divided into modules covering production, use, end-of-life, and potential benefits from recycling. The findings of an LCA are often published in an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), a verified document that communicates transparent environmental data. For flat glass, the manufacturing stage is the most environmentally intensive, contributing the vast majority to its global warming potential due to the high energy required to melt raw materials. Increasing the use of recycled glass cullet is a key strategy for reducing this impact, as it significantly lowers the energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions of the melting process. Understanding LCA is crucial for identifying environmental hotspots and driving more sustainable practices in glass production and use. The video was produced by the Open GLASSroom project. Special thanks to Angelica Rota for contributing to the Open GLASSroom OER collection. The creation of these resources has been (partially) funded by the ERASMUS+ grant program of the European Union under grant no. 2022-1-DE01-KA220-HED-000089750. Neither the European Commission nor the project's national funding agency DAAD are responsible for the content or liable for any losses or damage resulting of the use of these resources.

Video

Angelica Rota

October 1, 2025

An analysis of the current developments and scenarios for the transition to a fossil-free energy society this century

This century, greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxides must be significantly reduced. Greenhouse gases absorb and emit infrared radiation that contributes to global warming, which can lead to irreversible negative consequences for humans and the environment. Greenhouse gases are caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as crude oil, coal, and natural gas, but livestock farming and agriculture are also to blame. In addition, deforestation contributes to more greenhouse gases. Of the natural greenhouse gases, water vapor is the main cause of the greenhouse effect, accounting for 90%. The remaining 10% is caused from high to low by carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, chlorofluorocarbons, and ozone. In addition, there are industrial greenhouse gases such as fluorinated hydrocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride that contribute to the greenhouse effect too. Greenhouse gases are a major cause of climate change, with far-reaching consequences for the welfare of humans and animals. In some regions, extreme weather events like rainfall are more common, while others are associated with more extreme heat waves and droughts. Sea level rise caused by melting ice and an increase in forest fires are undesirable effects of climate change. Countries in low-lying areas fear that sea level rise will force their populations to move to the higher-lying areas. Climate change is affecting the entire world. An estimated 30-40% o f the carbon dioxide released by the combustion of fossil fuels dissolves into the surface water, resulting in an increased concentration of hydrogen ions. This causes the seawater to become more acidic, resulting in a decreasing of carbonate ions. Carbonate ions are an important building block for forming and maintaining calcium carbonate structures of organisms such as oysters, mussels, sea urchins, shallow water corals, deep sea corals, and calcareous plankton.

Open (Access) Text Book

Folkert Koopman

September 16, 2025

The life cycle assessment of everyday objects

This educational resource has been made as part of the Digital Impressions project and has been last updated at 16.19.2025. The resource encompasses a complete guide for teaching sustainability through objects. The table of content exists of: Reason for doing a life cycle assessment...........................................................................2 Limitations..........................................................................................................................2 Target audience..................................................................................................................3 Learning objectives............................................................................................................3 Activity................................................................................................................................4 Resources...........................................................................................................................5 Variations............................................................................................................................5 Variation 1: mini LCA........................................................................................................5 Variation 2: full LCA project.............................................................................................6 Appendix 1: assignment sheet............................................................................................7 Reference list.....................................................................................................................8

Document

Sofia Zampedri, Linde Voorend

July 1, 2025

Transitioning towards a circular (healthcare) economy - BOOK

This book offers a comprehensive roadmap toward a circular and sustainable healthcare system, structured into three distinct parts. Part I describes circular principles and policy tactics. Chapter 1 outlines the essentials of sustainable healthcare and designates the paradox in daily practice of sustainability and the circular economy. In Chapter 2 the impact of leadership on policy together with best practices is discussed. The legislation and infrastructural web, in which many stakeholders and circular economy initiatives are strangled, is described. Despite the fact that politicians and policymakers are motivated to encourage sustainability, the infrastructure is designed to discourage circular economy projects. This chapter shows examples of setting-up intrinsic motivated teams of hospital staff, green teams, industry leaders and scientific motivated research teams. Swimming against the current is about the legislation paradox. In chapter 3 described as how legislation should be redesigned to accomplish the goals as set out in the green deal and the climate law. Part II serves as a practical guide to implementing circular strategies. In chapter 4 the reader is guided through the fundamentals of circular strategies by visualizing the circular economy. Chapter 5 reveals successful design strategies for products and processes which contribute to a zero-waste society. Using recycled materials by using waste as input for new products is described in chapter 6. In chapter 6 we will explore (surgical) waste as input for new products. Recycled should and could be used more. This is a fundamental concept within circular design principles but hardly used until this moment. Part III explores circular economy design principles on basis of successful examples. This part dives into real-world applications and measurable outcomes. It showcases successful circular design concepts and business models that have reshaped the market. Chapter 7: Is about leading by design. Success stories of circular concepts which have effectively changed the market with circular products and services are designated. Also entrepreneurial success stories of circular economy business models are presented. Chapter 8 investigates how to measuring effectiveness and impact of circular economy products and processes. In particular how reliable some facts are which are used by many to sell products or introduce new policies or legislation. How trustworthy is data from life cycle assessments (LCA’s)? What are the pitfalls? Is it possible to manipulate these data? Why should we characterize one-sided data from an LCA as greenwashing? Circular Economy principles, sustainability and, in broader sense, the climate discussion seem to trigger emotions. Using fundamental and reliable data is essential in order to be able to judge whether a product or process indeed reduces CO2 emissions is essential in decision-making. Chapter 9 focusses on how universities can contribute to sustainable solutions by presenting different cases which resulted in actual results which were implemented or are ready for upscaling. The role of universities as innovation hubs is highlighted through case studies with proven impact. The final chapter offers a reflective and forward-looking analysis on how circular strategies in healthcare can shape future societal developments. The authors reflect on the content in chapter 10. A final part in which a critical analysis is presented and the impact it could have on future developments and the society.

Open (Access) Text Book

Bart van Straten, Bruno Bruins, Tim Horeman

March 27, 2025

The Medieval Podcast | Medieval Africa with Luke Pepera

Although it's the cradle of our species, and a land as rich in culture as it is legendarily rich in resources, retellings of African history often place their focus heavily on the transatlantic slave trade. While this is valuable, too narrow a focus can make it easy to lose sight of how incredibly powerful, interconnected, and respected African people have been within the fabric of global history. This week, Daniele speaks with Luke Pepera about medieval Africa, what it would've been like to find yourself in one of the most powerful empires of the Middle Ages, and the famous pilgrimage of Mansa Musa. You can support this podcast on Medievalists.net Patreon page, which sells this digital map of medieval Africa: https://www.patreon.com/medievalists/shop/map-of-medieval-africa-36747?source=storefront This podcast is made possible by the generous support of listeners like you! To find out how to help spread the joy of medieval history, please visit patreon.com/themedievalpodcast

Audio

Danièle Cybulskie, Luke Pepera

December 5, 2024

The Rest Is History | 519. The World’s First City

In as early as 5000 BC the vast and spectacular city of Uruk - replete with towering walls, glistening temples and complex irrigation systems - lay sprawled across the face of Southern Mesopotamia. Not only is Uruk the oldest city in the world, but it is arguably one of the most consequential, having facilitated one of the great turning points of human civilisation. Here, in this mysterious metropolis lay the origins of urbanisation, making Uruk the predecessor and antecedent of every modern city today. It was the cradle of formidable trading networks, sophisticated craftsmanship, agricultural prosperity, the earliest examples of writing, and even home to the very first person in human history to be named. Yet, by 700 AD this once great wonder of the ancient world had been abandoned, leaving nothing behind but haunting ruins and two burning questions: firstly, how did this marvel of urbanisation come to exist, and secondly, what led to its ruin? Was it colonisation, climate change, or conquest…? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Uruk, the first city in the whole of world history and the mother of modern urbanisation, revealing the remarkable tale of its discovery, its mysterious origins, and equally enigmatic decline. Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Audio

Tom Holland, Dominic Sandbrook, Theo Young-Smith, Tabby Syrett, Jack Davenport, Tony Pastor

November 1, 2024

P2-7 VHT Bio-based materialen (studiejaar 1)

Het opzoeken van alternatieve bio-based materialen.

Website

Onbekend Onbekend

September 24, 2024

Tales of a t-shirt - Book

This book is the outcome of an experimental research and teaching project, aimed at rethinking how the garments we wear create relationships between producers, designers and wearers. The project has researched these relationships centered on the production of a dedicated t-shirt, designed, produced and put to use by the project partners, who are located in the Netherlands and India. This book provides an overview of the project trajectory, focusing on how the project has facilitated students from the vocational training colleges in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Erode (India) to engage in co-creation, and encourage conversations on design, materials, labour, social inequality (caste), gender and value. The book is a resource for students and educators working in fashion-related fields at high-school, vocational training and early bachelor degree levels. Integral to the book are a number of short video clips, dedicated to the crucial phases of the process. This book will be a resource for college students and educators who are concerned with the production and use of textiles, particularly in relation to fair trade, circularity and sustainability in the garment industry. It aims to elucidate the textile value network that supports the production of cotton garments, illustrating the processes (designing, farming, ginning, spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing, cut-make-trim, and shipping as well as wearing, customizing, and discarding). It does this by following the production of a long-sleeved, unisex t-shirt co-designed by students in the Netherlands and India. Through videos and photos, as well as texts, the book aims to make this process accessible and engaging to fashion and design students. With the book we aim to raise the awareness of future students in relation to the production of garments by enabling them to follow their peers and colleagues as they participate in the production processes. Moreover, by enabling the students to engage with the stories connected to the diverse people who are involved in the production process and to learn about the challenges they face, we aim to empower the students to become more socially and environmentally conscious fashion designers.

Document

Rachel Lee, Erik de Maaker

January 19, 2024

Water: A Dutch Cultural History

Translated by Nancy Forest-Flier To order a paper copy of this book, please follow this link: https://www.boekenbestellen.nl/boek/water Floods are a fundamental part of Dutch history. Indeed, having ‘tamed’ the threats associated with living below sea level is part of Dutch national identity. In the cultural depictions of these devastating events, however, national pride at a certain collective resilience goes hand-in-hand with the collective trauma of exposed vulnerability. All too often, the Dutch were the losers in these battles against the elements. In a time of rising global sea levels, cultural scholar Lotte Jensen dives into the stories and images of the past to unpack this paradox for today. Over the centuries, large parts of the Netherlands have been progressively reclaimed from its river delta home. Throughout that process, the country suffered countless floods, a number of which were truly catastrophic, such as the Saint Elizabeth’s Flood of 1421 or the North Sea Flood of 1953. Jensen describes how the Dutch have dealt with these disasters, in practice but also in the imagination. It is the story of babies in floating cradles, fatherly monarchs, community fundraisers, and the boy who stuck his finger in the dike. Centuries before the nation-building associated with the 1800s, the Dutch created a unifying ‘us’ – the image of the Dutch lion – against a ‘them’ – the ‘waterwolf’, the major threat which water embodied. This national feeling and narrative were crafted with a set repertoire of images; role models (heroes and monarchs); charity (national and international solidarity); and a culture of remembrance. Jensen gives particular attention to the at times funny poems, books and songs, later criticized as clichéd or melodramatic, which these collective traumas inspired. She also demonstrates through monuments and works of art how this narrative has multiplied and acquired variations with time right up to the present. Though once cast in a more religious light – the flood as punishment for a general lack of religious devotion – the waterwolf has become, for example, a collective responsibility for the environment that begins with lifestyle choices. Today the Netherlands lives with water more than it battles it, some thinkers even envisioning an ‘amphibian’ future for the country. The stories and images of the past, however, reveal that precisely vulnerability can be fertile ground for solidarity and togetherness. With rising sea levels representing a growing threat, this well-researched and highly readable cultural history shows how over time a culture’s imagination can gain new relevance beyond its borders. Acknowledging and building from a place of collective vulnerability might now be more important than ever.

Open (Access) Text Book

Lotte Jensen

February 1, 2023

The European Experience

The European Experience brings together the expertise of nearly a hundred historians from eight European universities to internationalise and diversify the study of modern European history, exploring a grand sweep of time from 1500 to 2000. Offering a valuable corrective to the Anglocentric narratives of previous English-language textbooks, scholars from all over Europe have pooled their knowledge on comparative themes such as identities, cultural encounters, power and citizenship, and economic development to reflect the complexity and heterogeneous nature of the European experience. Rather than another grand narrative, the international author teams offer a multifaceted and rich perspective on the history of the continent of the past 500 years. Each major theme is dissected through three chronological sub-chapters, revealing how major social, political and historical trends manifested themselves in different European settings during the early modern (1500–1800), modern (1800–1900) and contemporary period (1900–2000). This resource is of utmost relevance to today’s history students in the light of ongoing internationalisation strategies for higher education curricula, as it delivers one of the first multi-perspective and truly ‘European’ analyses of the continent’s past. Beyond the provision of historical content, this textbook equips students with the intellectual tools to interrogate prevailing accounts of European history, and enables them to seek out additional perspectives in a bid to further enrich the discipline.

Open (Access) Text Book

Jochen Hung