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Abstract

Wildfires increasingly threaten critical infrastructure in Flanders—from healthcare facilities and industrial parks to airports and high-voltage power grids. Climate change and the risk of eco-terrorism make an integrated risk assessment more urgent than ever. Recent incidents demonstrate just how real the danger is for Flanders. 14.8% of Flanders is a wildland-urban interface (WUI). That is twice as much as in Greece and three times as much as in Spain. FireMap is a COOCK+ project of PXL University of Applied Sciences, KU Leuven, and the University of Antwerp, funded by VLAIO, with active involvement from fire departments, the healthcare sector, airports, energy companies, and government agencies. In Work Package 3, carried out by the Chair of Crisis Governance, we focus on the "cold phase" (i.e., before a crisis situation arises) to enable the actors involved in an integrated risk assessment—with a focus on fire prevention in the broader vicinity of critical infrastructure—to collaborate at the network level, while maintaining a strategic perspective and taking operational realities into account. Recent scientific findings (including Nowell et al., 2018; van den Oord et al., 2020; Vanlaer et al., 2022; Nowell et al., 2025) demonstrate that the ad hoc establishment of a network tasked with managing a crisis at the strategic level and coordinating the various (sub)tasks is invaluable for successfully combating disasters with a major societal and/or economic impact. For a variety of reasons, individual organizations are unable to cope with the complexity of crises, let alone assess them in advance and establish coordination among different actors. By collaborating within an organizational network (Kenis & Cambré, 2019), information, resources, and competencies can be shared and linked, enabling the realization of cross-boundary solutions. To cope with complex risks and environmental dynamics, emergency services, government organizations, and businesses must establish systems that enable adjustments. This ensures that they can better absorb shocks, remain effective, and achieve objectives when one or more organizations find themselves in an extreme or life-threatening situation. This does, however, require us to view crises in a fundamentally different way from traditional crisis management, where disruption is not a sudden, unexpected event but something that has been simmering for some time and is triggered either suddenly or very gradually. The key question, then, is: how can we prepare ourselves to anticipate disruption and turbulence appropriately? We aim to answer this question through this research. References:

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Albers Sascha
• Co-promoter: Marynissen Hugo

Research team(s)

• Management

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The Chair of Crisis Governance aims to further our understanding of crisis anticipation, management, and governance in an age of increased turbulence. The Chair will create and disseminate knowledge on how crisis governance principles and insights can help science and practice at the strategic and operational levels to appropriately develop, govern, and adapt to changing circumstances. The Chair wants to study how insights in different domains challenge existing paradigms and theories and valorize that knowledge for organizations and their members.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Marynissen Hugo
• Co-promoter: Albers Sascha

Research team(s)

• Management

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The TeC@ses project aims at helping teachers at vocational schools to enhance their competences of using digital information and tools to develop more problem-and-practice-oriented case studies. It is supported by two levels of digitalization: teachers' awareness and acquaintance with digital supported case studies designing and teaching, and an online-based training for teachers. Therefore, a web-based self-learning tool for teachers at vocational schools on case study teaching is being developed and evaluated.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Albers Sascha

Research team(s)

• Management

Project type(s)

• Research Project
• Education Project

Abstract

The Chair of Crisis Governance aims to further our understanding of crisis anticipation, management and governance in an age of increased turbulence. The Chair will create and disseminate knowledge on how crisis governance principles and insights can help science and practice at the strategic and operational levels to appropriately develop, govern and adapt to changing circumstances. The Chair not only wants to study how insights in different domains challenge existing paradigms and theories, but also wants to valorize that knowledge for organizations and their members.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Albers Sascha
• Co-promoter: Marynissen Hugo

Research team(s)

• Management

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Airports will play a major role in transition towards climate neutral aviation. Sustainable energy production and use (both airside and landside) as well as a shift towards greener multi-modal transport options will reduce GHG emissions and improve local air quality around airports. Bringing together a highly competent and complementary consortium of 29 partners supported by an external advisory board, TULIPS will accelerate the implementation of innovative and sustainable technologies towards lower emissions at airports. At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol alone, TULIPS will realise an estimated 800kT/year CO2 savings based on the sum of the expected benefits of the 17 demonstrations by 2025 with further savings scaled with technology roll out. 17 real-life demonstrations of green airport innovations (technological, non-technological and social) will be performed at the Lighthouse Schiphol, and some also at fellows Oslo, Turin and Larnaca airport. Measuring and quantifying benefits and forecasting their impact on EU climate goals should they be implemented extensively across European airports, results in hands-on robust roadmaps which present how these technologies and concepts should be deployed to different sized airports (international hubs down to regional level) considering economic, geographical, and political scenarios across Europe and beyond. Topics covered include a) improved multi-modal shift for passengers and freight, reduce traffic congestion and offer seamless green travel options, b) improved airside infrastructure for future electric/hybrid aircraft infrastructure, c) smart energy solutions to manage airport operations, d) integrating hydrogen fuel cell technology into current ground support equipment, e) enabling large scale supply of SAF fuel along with the preparation of an EU clearing house, f) circular economy, and g) UFP mitigation.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Buyle Sven
• Promoter: Macário Rosário
• Co-promoter: Albers Sascha
• Co-promoter: Buyle Sven
• Co-promoter: Dewulf Wouter

Research team(s)

• Transport and Regional Economics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In this research project, the researchers aim to provide evidence-based insights to stimulate and support student entrepreneurship of higher education students in Flanders. The project consists of two research tracks aimed to yield actionable outcomes: A qualitative research track which involves gathering in-depth information and practical proposals for fostering and facilitating student entrepreneurship and students' entrepreneurial mindset in higher education institutions. The study will develop (a) ideal type(s), informed by a thorough analysis of existing models and frameworks, to serve as (an) effective blueprint(s) for Flemish educational institutions and their entrepreneurship centres. The qualitative research track will be progressively phased out in 2024. A quantitative research track which aims to achieve the following objectives: Mapping entrepreneurial activities and intentions: Through data collection (participation in the GUESSS data gathering wave) and analysis, we gain a comprehensive understanding of the current entrepreneurial landscape among Flemish higher education students. This includes identifying the activities being pursued and the motivations driving their entrepreneurial aspirations. International benchmarking: By comparing the entrepreneurial activities and intentions of Flemish higher education students with international data (thanks to our participation in the GUESSS data gathering waves), we gain valuable insights into the relative performance and position of Flanders on a global scale. This benchmarking exercise enables us to identify areas for improvement and implement effective measures in line with international standards. Creation of a unique Flemish panel dataset: This dataset enables the targeted and informed development of long-term policies by providing a platform to track and analyze the evolving entrepreneurial activities of Flemish students over time. By utilizing results based on this dataset, policymakers can make informed decisions and adapt their strategies based on the changing dynamics of the student entrepreneurship landscape.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Vanderstraeten Johanna
• Co-promoter: Albers Sascha
• Co-promoter: Wynen Jan

Research team(s)

• Management

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The objective of this project is to contribute significantly to the horizontal EC priority of Higher Education. The priority is expressed as "innovation, developing, implementing and testing the effectiveness of approaches to promote creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and skills." In higher Education (HE) case based teaching has become a common practice especially in business schools and universities. By now a whole industry has developed that designs, writes, and distributes teaching cases around the globe. However, concerns have been raised with regard to the level of didactic standards and their consideration in the design, teaching, and evaluation of business cases for case based teaching. In order to explore these concerns, this project develops 12 didactically designed HE business cases. We aim to evaluate their effectiveness in the classroom setting, and, based on this develop a manual on how to design and teach business cases along high didactic standards and through the use of an online planning guide for digital case teaching.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Albers Sascha

Research team(s)

• Management

Project website

Project type(s)

• Education Project
• Research Project