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Introducing Community Policing in Aruba: Exploring Strategies and Factors for Successful Implementation
No full textIn the Aruban context, public safety and trust between the police and community remain central to social stability and development. Community policing is a strategy that emphasizes collaboration between police officers and citizens to reduce crime, build trust, and enhance the quality of life. Although Aruba introduced the concept of Polis di Bario in 2000, community policing has yet to be fully implemented across the island. This study aims to define key concepts such as community policing while identifying the perceptions, expectations, internal, and external factors that influence its implementation in Aruba. Through a qualitative research design, this thesis employed semi-structured interviews with 16 participants, both police officers and community members from the districts of Noord, Santa Cruz, Oranjestad, and San Nicolas.
Findings revealed that while there is a strong willingness to adopt a community-oriented policing model, challenges remain, including organizational culture, limited resources, and unclear role expectations. However, the study also uncovered important strengths and opportunities, such as existing neighborhood ties, stakeholder openness, and alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 16. The results provide practical recommendations to support a more transparent,
community-driven policing model and promote long-term safety and collaboration in Aruba
Exploring Aruban Visual Art Studios: Revealing Innovative Characteristics and Possible Strategies in Organizational Culture for the Creative Industry
No full textThe creative industries involve the creation, production, and distribution of goods and services, with creativity and intellectual capital as their primary inputs (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD], 2022). Given the central role of creativity and knowledge in these industries, Hervas-Oliver et al. (2014) emphasize that an innovative organizational culture aims to produce and maximize new ideas within a specific timeframe (as cited in Li & Liu, 2022). Building on this understanding, this qualitative research sought to provide insight into the organizational culture that fosters innovation within visual art studios in the Aruban creative industry. To achieve this, the study explored the key characteristics of innovation within organizational culture and identified their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to develop strategies and recommendations.
The findings revealed that while visual art studios face operational and resource-related challenges, significant opportunities exist to strengthen the creative industry through strategic collaboration and increased support from stakeholders
Recentering research in and on small island states: Island researcher methods, challenges and skills
No full textSmall islands across the globe face the direct consequences of climate change and alarming biodiversity loss. In this context, islands and islanders are sometimes framed as a “litmus test” or “the ideal laboratory” for experiments to advise larger continental areas on how to address the effects of climate change and the biodiversity crisis. Due to the specific island context, islanders are the primary problem solvers in addressing and mitigating these challenges, and finding ways to adapt to them; however, in the first place, to protect their territories, populations, ecosystems, and cultures. It is therefore crucial and urgent to adopt and integrate inter- and transdisciplinary scientific knowledge embedded within the local contexts. Given their leadership role, island-centred research by the local island-based knowledge institutes and researchers is key. Island-centred research should play a pivotal role in generating contextualized knowledge and solutions, whether or not embedded in reciprocal international partnerships with other knowledge institutes.
In this presentation, we will dive deeper into the island researchers’ operating space for such island-centred research, based on insights from semi-structured interviews and interactive sessions with island researchers from a wide range of contexts and disciplines. Our data reveal that despite the many challenges of conducting research from within the islands (incl. availability and accessibility of data, or technical and logistic challenges, funding, etc.), island researchers have found an array of ways to overcome these challenges and to produce valuable and impactful results for their societies and the rest of the world. This contribution aims to be a conversation starter amongst island researchers from insular and continental (institutional) contexts to further strengthen productive and equal collaborations in island-centred research
Promovenda Thaïs Franken ontwikkelt evaluatiemodel: Nieuwe blik op de waarde van maatschappelijke organisaties
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Crecemento y Liderazgo
No full textDen un mundo cu tur dia ta evoluciona, nos tin e deber di inspira otro pa por crece ylogra nan soño. Crecemento hopi biaha no ta bin di un area comodidad. E ta nace di momento nan cu menos no ta spera, unda bida ta strek nos mas leu cu nos a pensa cu nos por jega.
Un di e parti mas desafiante di ta un hende muher y mama na mes tempo, ta cu ora nos ta siña ta un mama, nos ta siña lidera tambe, y ta siña acepta ken nos ta den cada fase. Mi por identifica cu hopi hende muhernan: e balansa entre carera y maternidad no ta facil
Interventions for a Learning and Innovative Organization: From Knowledge to Action
Full text linkTransforming Bureau Traimerdia (BTM) into a sustainable learning organization begins with a strategic framework for leadership development, organizational learning and systems thinking. This thesis explores targeted interventions to support BTM’s transformation into a sustainable learning organization, focusing on how organizational culture, change management, and leadership styles and skills, especially servant and transformational leadership, can contribute to sustainable growth. This research is framed within the context of Aruba’s national education strategy (PEN 2030), and its alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), which promotes inclusive and quality education for all. The central research question investigates how double loop learning, inclusive decision-making, and inter-ministerial collaboration contribute to BTM development as a learning organization. A mixed methods approach was used, combining a Likert-scale survey of BTMs 47 employees, two focus group sessions, and six interviews with directors from both public and private sectors.
Findings reveal strong support for professional growth, inclusive leadership, and collaborative learning. Participants emphasized emotional connection to the mission, bottom-up engagement, and transparent communication. Challenges such as inconsistent leadership were noted in reference to past periods of frequent management turnover, which created uncertainty and disrupted continuity. However, this has since stabilized under the current director, whose leadership over the past two years has fostered a more supportive and accessible environment. The results suggest that BTM is on a promising path toward becoming a learning organization. Furthermore, recommendations are provided to strengthen leadership practices, improve communication frameworks, and expand inclusive learning opportunities, supporting BTM’s alignment with the goals of PEN 2030, SDG 4, and Aruba’s broader educational vision