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Financing green innovation startups: a systematic literature review on early-stage SME funding
Get PDFThis paper investigates the critical issue of financing early-stage green startups, examining the types of investors and finance models available, the challenges these startups face, and how the green finance ecosystem can better support early-stage investment. Utilizing a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the current landscape. Our findings reveal a significant paucity of data and a bias towards well-established North American and European ecosystems, while highlighting an emerging diversity in private finance sources post-Global financial crisis (GFC), including grants, equity, and crowdfunding. Despite this, there remains a heavy reliance on public funding and a lack of evidence regarding its impact. The inherent characteristics of cleantech – high capital expenditure, long investment horizons, and disruptive nature – necessitate innovative public financing instruments and policies to reduce risk and attract private investment. Our theoretical contribution highlights the necessity for interdisciplinary research and policy collaboration to develop a holistic entrepreneurial finance (entfin) ecosystem. This approach should integrate quantitative economic and qualitative behavioural finance research to address information asymmetries and improve the green economy policy mix. Such a framework will support public-private co-financing, enhance stakeholder engagement, and provide evidence for policy decisions, facilitating more rapid commercialization of cleantech innovations for environmental sustainability
Tailored flood risk communication: residents’ perspectives as starting point
Get PDFFlood risk is increasing and residents are expected to undertake adaptation measures to minimise flood damage. This requires them to be aware of the risk they face and how they can adapt, but this is often not the case. Through risk communication, residents’ relation to their flood prone environment could be strengthened, but the effect remains limited. This article aims to understand how residents across countries prefer flood risk communication and provides a basis for developing communication strategies that manage to raise awareness on risk and adaptation. Residents living in flood risk areas in England and the Netherlands were interviewed on their preferences for flood risk communication. The Q-methodology, consisting of 34 Q-sorts, resulted in four significantly different sets of preferences, namely; (1) Localists, (2) Sufficientists, (3) Imperfectionists and (4) Conventionalists. Moreover, cultural and individual factors, such as country of residents, flood experience and responsibility division, prove potential determiners for these distinctly different perspectives. The novel results of this study contribute to developing flood risk communication tailored to residents’ preferences
Ecogothic
No full text'Ecogothic' is a speculative poem by A J Dalton that appeared on the blog page of Gothic Nature journal, on 19 July 2024. The poem exemplifies the sub-genre of the ecoGothic, naturally, that sub-genre one of the main concerns of the journal, along with ecohorror. The poem served as a 'teaser' for four more poems by A J Dalton appearing in issue V of the journal
A generalized evolutionary metaheuristic (GEM) algorithm for engineering optimization
Get PDFMany optimization problems in engineering and industrial design applications can be formulated as optimization problems with highly nonlinear objectives, subject to multiple complex constraints. Solving such optimization problems requires sophisticated algorithms and optimization techniques. A major trend in recent years is the use of nature-inspired metaheustic algorithms (NIMA). Despite the popularity of nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithms, there are still some challenging issues and open problems to be resolved. Two main issues related to current NIMAs are: there are over 540 algorithms in the literature, and there is no unified framework to understand the search mechanisms of different algorithms. Therefore, this paper attempts to analyse some similarities and differences among different algorithms and then presents a generalized evolutionary metaheuristic (GEM) in an attempt to unify some of the existing algorithms. After a brief discussion of some insights into nature-inspired algorithms and some open problems, we propose a generalized evolutionary metaheuristic algorithm to unify more than 20 different algorithms so as to understand their main steps and search mechanisms. We then test the unified GEM using 15 test benchmarks to validate its performance. Finally, further research topics are briefly discussed
A heuristic enquiry of being “Alaq,” suspended in liminality as a convert to Islam
Get PDFThis thesis explores the lived experience of liminality of converts to Islam through a heuristic enquiry of the state of being “Alaq,” characterised by liminality and inner conflict, particularly concerning identity formation, psychological impasse and spiritual development (tazkiyat-un-nafs). Drawing on both Islamic and Western psychological perspectives, the study offers deep self-enquiry into the challenges faced by converts, providing insights into integrating Islamic practices within psychotherapeutic frameworks.
The methodology employed is heuristic enquiry, chosen for its resonance with both the experiential nature of the study and the spiritual objectives of tazkiyat-un-nafs. Through immersive phases of self-reflection, including immersion, incubation, illumination, and creative synthesis, the researcher engaged in personal religious practices such as prayer, meditation, and supplication. This process facilitated a profound exploration of both the researcher's and co-researchers' experiences, revealing nuanced understandings of liminality and psycho-spiritual transformation.
A significant and unique finding of this research is the researcher's personal revelation and recognition of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a contributing factor to prolonged experiences of her liminal stuckness. This intersection of neurodivergence and spiritual practice underscores the potential of integrated psycho-spiritual approaches in addressing complex identity and mental health issues.
The conclusions highlight the parallel processes between the liminality of religious conversion and the journey through heuristic enquiry, demonstrating how these experiences can foster both personal healing and professional development. The research underscores the critical role of converts as “bridge builders” in multicultural and interfaith contexts and advocates for the utilisation of heuristic enquiry by Muslim psychotherapists to deepen self-awareness and authenticity in their practice.
Recommendations from this study emphasise the importance of integrating religious and spiritual practices into both research methodologies and therapeutic interventions. It calls for tailored support frameworks for neurodivergent individuals within academic and professional settings, acknowledging the unique cognitive and emotional landscapes they navigate.
This study contributes to the evolving field of Islamic psychology by illustrating that the pursuit of knowledge and well-being benefits profoundly from a harmonious blend of rigorous academic enquiry and committed personal embodiment of tazkiyah principles, thereby promoting holistic healing and enriched understanding across diverse contexts
2002–2022: 20 years of e-waste regulation in the European Union and the worldwide trends in legislation and innovation technologies for a circular economy
Get PDFWaste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE or e-waste) has emerged as a formidable global waste stream, reflecting the mounting demand for technology in our interconnected world. Over the past two decades, besides a world facing a rapid digital, e-mobility, and green energy transition, there has been a growing recognition across the globe, among both society and industries, regarding the hazards and opportunities linked to e-waste management. This collective consciousness has driven the adoption of best practices, including the implementation of circular economy (CE) models, fostering environmentally sustainable production and recycling processes. With a rate of around the 72% of the global population (81 countries) reached by specific regulations by 2023, this review explores the evolving landscape of international legislation and emerging technologies designed for e-waste prevention and valorization, emphasizing low-environmental impact and sustainability. Despite a prolific scientific community (papers published on e-waste grew over 1000 times in the period 2002–2022) and the rise in good practices in different countries, the modest increase of innovation patents (rate of around 50% increase) and the limited number of industrially established innovation processes demonstrates that while the advancing technologies are promising, they remain in an early, embryonic stage. This paper offers a concise review of life cycle assessments from existing literature to underpin the technological advancements discussed. These assessments provide insights into the reduced environmental footprint of various innovative processes aimed at enhancing the circular economy and incorporating them into the emerging concept of safe- and sustainable-by-design. Meanwhile, global e-waste production rose from an estimated 34 Mt in 2010 to 62 Mt in 2022, while documented proper collection and recycling only increased from 8 Mt to 13.8 Mt over the same period. This shows that e-waste generation is growing nearly five times faster than formal recycling. Furthermore, if waste management activities remain at 2022 levels, a projected economic (benefit – costs) deficit of 40 billion USD is expected by 2030. It is time for communities to reverse the trend by expanding good practices and implementing technology-economic-environment sustainable and efficient circular economy models
A current DAC based current generator with fourth-order current-mode filter for electrical impedance tomography
Get PDFThe current generator is one of the most essential parts in electrical impedance tomography (EIT) systems. State-of-art current generators suffer from the trade-off between current efficiency, linearity, output impedance and well-controlled output current level. To address these challenges, a current DAC based current generator with a fourth-order current-mode filter is proposed. The current generator was designed and simulated in a 65 nm CMOS process. By utilizing the proposed current-mode filter and the master and slave current DAC, the current generator achieves a well-controlled output current leveling with 255 tunning steps, 83.9% current efficiency, 0.11% THD at 1 mA pp output current and 2 MΩ output impedance at 500 kHz
Die Entwicklung von Prozessen und deren Standardisierung bei expandierenden Automobilzulieferern in Deutschland – Theoretische Konzeption und Untersuchung im Rahmen einer Fallstudie
No full textThis research examines the requirements for a process-orientated organizational structure for automotive suppliers in Germany under the dynamic change of environmental influences, such as globalization, technological advances and social factors.
Performing an environmental analysis of the automotive supplier industry in Germany and evaluating typically portrayed concepts of process-orientated organizational structures, the research gap in this work was identified as the lack of a concept suitable for the specific requirements of the industry.
Based on a literature analysis, four success criteria for the process management were identified: customer orientation, employee orientation, innovation orientation and continuity. Synthesizing the success criteria and suitable elements extracted from the evaluated concepts, the model of extended dynamic process management was developed, aiming to fill the identified research gap.
This was followed by the conduction of a case study research in a medium-sized automotive supplier company, performing expert interviews and a grounded theory analysis. From the data obtained, the developed model was enriched and expanded.
The model consists of an organizational design as a planning perspective, an approach of implementation and a conception for continuous process establishment and dynamic process management. The findings show that standardization (to ensure the stability of processes and the organization) and flexibility (to continually fulfil customer-specific requirements) can be put into effect simultaneously by a clearly defined scope of action for process deviations and passing responsibilities.
Hereby, the continuous adaption of core processes could be realized, allowing the companies to improve their competitiveness while overcoming the challenges of their dynamic environment
Coda
No full textThe book offers a wide range of approaches and contexts from which an understanding of compassion and a praxis of compassion emerges for higher education. This chapter will seek to reveal themes of commonality, if not universality, in the works presented. In drawing from the chapters but also considering views of compassion that might not be overly investigated in them, the chapter will offer further insights into the nurturing of compassion as a proactive, purposeful and constitute part of effective learning gain ethos. To this end the chapter will make pedagogical, institutional and policy recommendations that reflect the revealed themes of the chapter
Breaking down barriers: the moderating role of organizational support in facilitating knowledge sharing among software developers
Get PDFEffective knowledge sharing among software developers is crucial for maximizing software development output throughout the software development lifecycle. Building upon Triandis’ Facilitating condition, this study explores the moderating impact of two factors, namely Organizational support and Technological support, on the relationship between knowledge sharing intentions (KSI) and knowledge sharing behavior (KSB). Specifically, the study investigates the impact of KSB on individuals’ job performance in global software development organizations. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 302 Malaysian participants working on global software development projects. The collected data was analyzed using Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) through SmartPLS. The results reveal that only organizational support, among Triandis’ Facilitating conditions, moderates the relationship between KSI and KSB. Moreover, the study finds that KSB mediates the relationship between knowledge sharing intentions and job performance. The findings of this study provide practical and theoretical implications for software developers