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Staying on track: a bottom-up Paris-aligned pathway driven by COP initiatives
No full textThe announcement of voluntary climate initiatives during recent Conferences of Parties (COPs) underscores the interplay between voluntary initiatives and the outcomes of the Global Stocktake and COP decisions. Harmonising the collective stocktake efforts with initiative goals facilitates developing pathways across specific thematic areas (e.g., sectors, greenhouse gases) towards achieving the Paris Agreement goals. The effectiveness of the initiatives is assessed by calculating their potential impact on greenhouse gas emissions, assuming full implementation by the signatories. Their alignment with the Paris temperature goals is assessed against 2 °C and 1.5 °C pathways. Two scenarios, based on signatory and full global participation, are compared with current policy scenarios and pathways consistent with below 2 °C and 1.5 °C (high overshoot). If country signatories implemented initiative targets domestically, projections for 2030 to 2050 are generally more ambitious than current policies, potentially decreasing global emissions by about 11%. Comparing full global implementation to below 2 °C or 1.5 °C pathways, the results are mixed. By 2030, most initiative goals align with 2 °C, but certain thematic areas are missing. A number of initiatives demonstrate ambition beyond 1.5 °C pathways, questioning their feasibility. Achieving all global initiative targets by 2030 consistent with the below 2 °C and 1.5 °C (high overshoot) pathways requires 5–8% additional reductions. Realising the full potential of these initiatives necessitates increasing ambition for specific goals by 2030, increasing and clarifying long-term ambition, expanding thematic coverage, and requiring concrete climate action plans. Within the UNFCCC, this can be facilitated by making Global Stocktake goals more explicit, based on COP initiatives.</p
Psychometric Evaluation of the Attune & Stimulate-Checklist for Assessing the Emotional State of People With Severe to Profound Intellectual Disabilities
No full textBackground: In response to the lack of well-validated observation-instruments assessing the emotions of people with severe to profound intellectual disabilities, the Attune & Stimulate-checklist (A&S-checklist) was psychometrically evaluated. Method: Video recordings of 102 adults with severe to profound intellectual disabilities were scored with the A&S-checklist. Related constructs were assessed through proxy-questionnaires and physiological measurement. Results: Good inter-rater (ICC = 0.77–0.83) and moderate to good test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.70–0.81) were found, except for one seldomly scored A&S-category. Moderate to strong associations were found between observed emotional states and informant reports of emotional functioning, adaptive functioning, communication and influence, and mood (r = 0.27–0.51; p < 0.05), except for negative mood. A&S-checklist-arousal was not statistically associated with skin conductance. Conclusions: The A&S-checklist showed adequate psychometric properties, making assessment of emotion more feasible. The lack of a straightforward link with physiologically measured arousal invites further investigation. Trial Registration: This study was pre-registered on Open Science Framework in the project https://osf.io/pba92 (Doodeman et al. 2020, August 27). The link to this registration is: Doodeman, T. W. M., Sterkenburg, P., & Schuengel, C. (2020, August 27). The Construct and Convergent Validity of the ‘Attune & Stimulate’ checklist for parents and caregivers of persons with severe intellectual disabilities. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PBA92.</p
Examining Change in Non-calculus-Ready Students’ Engineering Self-Efficacy in an Introductory Course in Engineering Reasoning
No full textMaking sense of healthy and sustainable food: adolescents' voices on what it means, why it matters, and future change
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The unequal job security scars of displacement
No full textSegmented labor markets, where stable jobs coexist with insecure, high-turnover positions, make job security key to workers’ long-term outcomes. Using Dutch administrative data, we study the impact of displacement on job security and the role of cash-on-hand. One year after displacement, permanent employment falls by about one-fifth and remains lower five years later, amplifying wage losses: displaced workers who lose job security experience losses 21 % larger than those retaining a permanent contract. Exploiting a policy granting lump-sum transfers only to some displaced workers, we find that eligibility attenuates job security losses and, as a result, wage losses. Effects are larger among liquidity-constrained workers, consistent with binding liquidity constraints. Our findings highlight job security as a key channel through which cash-on-hand reduces the long-run costs of job loss, with implications for the design of unemployment insurance.</p
Paradigms of water governance:a systematic review
No full textWater resources face critical challenges globally, and the current water crisis is often described as a crisis of governance, meaning that ideas about water governance matter greatly. We argue that so-called water governance paradigms play crucial roles in shaping policy agendas, influencing decision-making processes, and ultimately determining the success or failure of water management strategies. However, why, how, and where policy paradigms matter remains unclear. To address this research gap, we performed a systematic review of studies focused on water governance paradigms, examining (1) the characteristics of this literature and (2) how and which aspects of these paradigms are studied. An analysis of 100 studies reveals that the “integrated approach to governing/managing water” paradigm is a central concern in academic literature. The role of governmental actors in promoting and implementing paradigms, as well as the existence of imbalances in water governance debates, also features prominently. The studies we analyze highlight a discrepancy between the promoted paradigms and the contextual realities, compounded by the problem of institutional layering, whereby older paradigms persist and influence actual levels of change. Finally, our results show that although many studies adopt a critical perspective, few provide empirical evidence of paradigms’ effects, and there is a lack of common terminology. Overall, this review underscores the importance of problematizing water governance paradigms, which serve as a source code for governance arrangements. It also emphasizes the need to consider contextual nuances when engaging with these paradigms.</p
Gst. 2026/12:De Afdeling zet geen streep door zakelijk samenwerkingsverband Wet Bibob (Utrecht
No full textThe Reliability and Validity of DrGoniometer, a Smartphone Application for Measuring Elbow Flexion
No full textThis study evaluated the reliability and validity of the DrGoniometer smartphone application for measuring elbow flexion compared to the Universal Goniometer (UG). Fifty-six healthy participants were assessed by two physiotherapists, with anatomical landmarks marked by an independent examiner. Intra- and inter-rater reliability were calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), and measurement error was assessed via the standard error of measurement (SEM) and Bland–Altman analysis. DrGoniometer showed excellent intra-rater reliability (ICC = 0.99; SEM = 0.69°) and higher inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.87; SEM = 1.28°) than UG (ICC = 0.54; SEM = 3.87°). Cronbach’s alpha values were also higher for DrG (0.929) than UG (0.704). Although Bland–Altman plots indicated no systematic bias, they revealed wide limits of agreement, suggesting limited interchangeability between tools. These findings support the DrGoniometer as a reliable tool for elbow flexion assessment, especially in contexts requiring high intra-rater consistency and digital precision