Maarten Verkerk

Planning and Designing Smart Grids: Philosophical Considerations

The electric power grid is a crucial part of societal infrastructure and needs constant attention to maintain its performance and reliability. European grid project investments are currently valued at over 5 billion Euros and are estimated to reach 56 billion by 2020 [2]. Successful smart grid deployment will require a holistic analysis and design process if it is to function properly and in an environmentally sustainable way. The entire system must be treated as integrated, not as isolated parts [3]. System integration and full customer engagement are crucial elements of this development. An evaluation of European smart grid projects showed that it was very difficult to grasp technological and non-technological key characteristics of this complex system [4].

Mapping user activities and user environments during the client intake and examination phase: An exploratory study from the perspective of ankle foot orthosis users

BACKGROUND: Non-use of and dissatisfaction with ankle foot orthoses (AFOs) occurs frequently. The objective of this study is to gain insight in the conversation during the intake and examination phase, from the clients’ perspective, at two levels: 1) the attention for the activities and the context in which these activities take place, and 2) the quality of the conversation. METHODOLOGY: Semi-structured interviews were performed with 12 AFO users within a two-week period following intake and examination. In these interviews, and subsequent data analysis, extra attention was paid to the needs and wishes of the user, the desired activities and the environments in which these activities take place. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Activities and environments were seldom inquired about or discussed during the intake and examination phase. Also, activities were not placed in the context of their specific environment. As a result, profundity lacks. Consequently, orthotists based their designs on a ‘reduced reality’ because important and valuable contextual information that might benefit prescription and design of assistive devices was missed. A model is presented for mapping user activities and user environments in a systematic way. The term ‘user practices’ is introduced to emphasise the concept of activities within a specific environment.

Professional Practices and User Practices: An Explorative Study in Health Care

In Western countries the health care system faces numerous challenges. We explore the potential of the normative practice approach to analyze the present system, to provide new insights in the redesign of the health care network, and to offer new concepts to understand the needs and wishes of patients. We present a case study of assistive devices in orthopaedics. This article shows that the Triple I variant of the practice model is very fruitful to understand the organizational embedding of professional practices, to understand the health care system as chains of professional practices, and to understand the influence of stakeholders. In this study we introduce the idea of user practices to investigate the social environment of patients and to make the needs and wishes of patients explicit.

Over)behandelen van kwetsbare ouderen. Een ethische benadering

SamenvattingIn deze bijdrage worden ethische vragen rondom de zorg voor kwetsbare ouderen besproken. Aan de hand van enkele casussen wordt het fenomeen overbehandelen verkend. De ethici Beauchamp en Childress presenteren vier morele principes (of waarden) die van belang zijn voor de zorg: respect voor autonomie, niet-schaden, weldoen en rechtvaardigheid. Uit deze bijdrage blijkt dat deze principes een goed kader vormen om vooraf te bespreken welke behandelopties tot passende zorg of tot overbehandelen leiden. In de praktijk blijkt dat toepassing van deze principes soms leidt tot dilemma’s die alleen in een zorgvuldige dialoog opgelost kunnen worden.

Formalization of Multi-Dimensional Responsibility Taylorism versus Socio-Technical Systems Design

We analyze the organizational structure and explain the added value and the effects of such structure on the involved agents. We argue that organizational structures should be seen along at least three dimensions, instead of just one: integrality, power and information. The main aim of the research is to provide a formal analysis of the individual responsibilities. We show how the three dimensions of an organizational structure determine the responsibilities within a Tayloristic and a socio-technical organization

An Explorative Philosophical Study of Envisaging the Electrical Energy Infrastructure of the Future

The electrical energy infrastructure is one of the key life-sustaining technologies of contemporary Western society. This infrastructure is extremely complex due to its size, its multifarious technologies, and its interweaving with societal structures. Smart grids are important in future infrastructure, yet extant literature does not adequately address this complexity. This paper argues that different elements of the philosophy of Dooyeweerd offer a key to understanding this intricate complexity more fundamentally. Key concepts are the ideas of normative practices, enkapsis (intertwinement) of practices, individuality structures, and ideals and basic beliefs. By developing these ideas in the context of smart grid engineering, our research contributes to philosophy of technology, philosophy of design, and philosophy of sustainability. It offers an ontological analysis of these infrastructures, pointing a direction to the development of workable infrastructures and supporting the transition to a sustainable society.

The Art of Living According to Ecclesiastes

Why am I working so hard? Why do I find it so important to be successful? Why am I ready to give up a large part of my personal life for my work? All of us, now and then, find ourselves asking these kinds of questions, and they make us uncomfortable; they’re questions for which we don’t have a ready answer. Sometimes we would prefer to just push those questions away from us. It appears that these kinds of questions have a dynamic of their own: they simply keep coming back, even though you try to avoid them. Even when we are continually preoccupied with them, it’s difficult to clearly formulate our thoughts and feelings. The peculiar thing about these kinds of questions is that they continue to trouble us when we try to escape them, but that simply raising them already gives a measure of peace.