sustainability

Purpose of the document

Human and ecosystem health are inextricably linked, yet strategies to improve both are addressed in siloed ways (Wakwella et al., 2023). For instance, the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector focuses on the provision of services for safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene to improve human health and wellbeing. However, although there is substantial evidence to show that unsafely managed sanitation degrades ecosystems and makes them more vulnerable to climate change (Wear et al., 2023), and that ecosystem loss and degradation negatively impacts human health (Herrera et al., 2017; Wakwella et al., 2023), the sanitation and conservation sectors rarely work in a coordinated and strategic way to achieve their interconnected goals.

The Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP) Improving Coastal Health working group formed in 2020 to develop resources to help marine conservation and sanitation practitioners work together on integrated conservation and sanitation programs. Informed by the outcomes of a needs assessment launched in 2021 to better understand the challenges and opportunities related to integrated programs, we created this document as a first step towards providing advice on implementing integrated conservation and sanitation programs.

The purpose of this guide is:

• Biodiversity conservation: To ensure the protection and sustainable management and use of biodiversity, so as to maintain threshold levels that allow diverse organisms to thrive in the future through natural processes, such as natural selection and evolution (Jaisankar et al., 2018).

• Blackwater: A waste stream from toilets that is the mixture of urine, feces, flush water, and cleansing materials (e.g. toilet paper) (Fig. 1). Blackwater contains pathogens (mainly from feces) and nutrients that are diluted in the flush water (Tilley et al., 2014).

• Coastal and marine ecosystems: Ecosystems located in the land-sea interface (Ayyam et al., 2019). The present guide focuses primarily on tropical ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass, and coral reefs, but refers to other coastal ecosystems where relevant.

• Contaminants vs. Pollutants: Contaminants are considered chemical elements or compounds that are present at concentrations above background or that should not be present. A pollutant is a contaminant that is found at concentrations that cause adverse biological effects in living beings (Chapman, 2007).

• Ecosystem health: The state or ability of ecosystems to maintain their organization, structure, and functions needed to deliver ecosystem services, and manage external stress through time (Costanza, 1992).

• Ecosystem services: The ecological functions or processes that directly or indirectly contribute to sustainable human wellbeing (Costanza, 2020).

• Excreta: Urine and feces combined with any flushing water (SuSanA, 2018).

• Fecal sludge: Excreta collected via non-sewered sanitation systems, such as pit latrines, leach pits, and septic tanks (SuSanA, 2018).

• Greywater: Water generated from washing food, clothes, and dishware, as well as from bathing, but not from toilets. It may contain traces of excreta (e.g., from washing diapers) and pathogens (Tilley et al., 2014).

• Latrine back-end: The containment facility where fecal waste is stored, treated, or disposed (Tilley et al., 2014).

• Natural resources: Materials or substances occurring in nature which can be exploited for economic gain. This term differs from ecosystem services in that ecosystem services are the benefits provided to humans through the transformation of resources (or environmental assets, including land, water, vegetation and atmosphere) into a flow of essential goods and services e.g. clean air, water, and food. As an example, an ecosystem service provided by coastal marine ecosystems is the support and maintenance of fish populations, which can then be extracted as a natural resource.

• Nature-based solutions: For this guide, it refers to the planned and deliberate use of ecosystems and ecosystem services to improve water quality or quantity, and to increase resilience to climate change (UNEP-DHI et al., 2018).

• Non-sewered sanitation systems: All on-site sanitation systems that are not sewered. This typically includes leach tanks, septic tanks, aerated treatment units, cesspools, and pit latrines. In the sanitation sector, all excreta that is collected in on-site systems is called fecal sludge, but for septic tanks an additional term of septage is sometimes used. Fecal sludge can
be removed/ transported and treated in fecal sludge treatment plants or other treatment facilities, such as sludge drying beds. The term wastewater is used in this guide to describe excreta from on-site systems. In the case of septic tanks, any treated septage discharged via drainage fields is termed treated wastewater in this guide (Fig. 1).

• Pharmaceutical and personal care products: These include numerous groups of chemicals used to treat or prevent animal and human disease, or chemicals contained in personal care products such as shampoos and deodorants (Boxall et al., 2012). They are consistently associated with sewage and wastewater (Meyer et al., 2019) and are classed as Contaminants of
Emerging Concern (Hoyet, 2018).

• Receiving environment: the natural environment that receives any discharge of waste, including from leaching, runoff, and discharge of treated and untreated wastewater.

ABSTRACT

SISSTEM “Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics” is a higher educational programme created in 2019 at the University of Aruba in response to the need for engineering education and research in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In this contribution, the SISSTEM programme is introduced, and how SISSTEM equips engineering students with hard and soft skills while addressing local sustainability challenges is showcased through two case studies.  The first case study presents a bachelor course that combines sustainability theory with a teamwork project in which students conduct an energy audit to a local institution. With this course, students acquire skills to support the energy transition in Aruba. The second case study focuses on the involvement of university students in the creation of a citizen science mobile phone app to tackle waste challenges. This case study presents how students can become agents of change to contribute solving waste management challenges on the island. Overall, these two case studies showcase how by combining theory and project-based education, students learn to integrate STEM knowledge into multidisciplinary solutions to complex sustainability challenges. In fact, given the cross-cutting nature of sustainability transitions, educating students in integrating the natural environment, technical, social, and economic aspects in engineering solutions is key to increase resilience of islands. As such, at SISSTEM, students acquire hard skills related to their engineering specialisation, as well as soft skills such as integration of disciplines, contextualization, and collaboration.   

Abstract [en]
By addressing the study's two research questions, what impact tourism destination development strategies might have on visitor behavior and attitudes, and whether they might promote sustainable behavior, this study investigates the contribution of a destination's development strategies towards developing a sustainable blue tourism industry and their impact on tourists' attitudes and behavior. The study is then a case study, with its case being Bonaire using a questionnaire based survey in order to provide a understanding of how destination development strategies could be used for obtaining a blue economy and the effect these might have on tourist behavior and attitudes.

A blue economy is an economy that relies on marine ecosystems and coastal resources to support its economy while preserving them for future generations (Clegg et al. 2021). By implementing a blue economy strategy an island can work with highlighting human-ocean-related activities and the impact these have locally and globally as they would try to strategically use coastal resources to promote economic development while safeguarding ocean and coastal ecosystems. The study found that destination development strategies, for obtaining a blue economy, could contribute by providing tourists with a learning opportunity. This could provoke higher levels of attitudes towards destination development strategies with tourists. If this is combined with proper behavioral guidelines, this could increase tourists' self-awareness of behavior and impact, and could increase tourists' self-ascribed responsibility towards the destination to act sustainably and minimize harm.

Abstract

This report will give an in depth view on the technical feasibility of placing an offshore platform from which watersports can be practiced in the waters surrounding the island of Bonaire. The feasibility research is done by appointment of two entrepreneurs on the island of Bonaire. The report will give an answer to the research question: Can an offshore floating platform, aimed at fast watersports, be built as sustainable as possible within the context of Bonaire? This research question can be divided into multiple sub-questions, being: 1. What is the context of Bonaire? 2. What is, for this report, the definition of sustainability? 3. What facilities are needed on the platform? 4. How can 100% renewable energy be generated for the platform? 5. What would such a (conceptual) platform look like? To answer these questions, the method as described in Kossiakoff (2011) is used. This method gives structure to the design of a system that has not been used before, but tries to combine older systems in new innovative ways. From this method, three important stages in the design process have been identified: The needs analyses, the concept exploration and the concept definition. This report follows that structure, starting with the chapter: Needs analyses. In this chapter, the report answers the first two sub-questions. The context of Bonaire can be described as: an island with opportunities for every-one, but the local environment suffers from the exponential growth of people and tourists that visit the island. For the second sub-question the definition of sustainability has been placed within this context of Bonaire, leading to a specialized definition of sustainability. This definition combined with the requirements of the clients has lead to a valid need for the platform. The concept exploration, gives options to answer those needs. It does so by researching a broad range of possible facilities for the platform. This broad research eventually leads to a morphological map from which 3 realistic and 1 futuristic concepts are designed. In the concept definition these 3 realistic concepts have been tested by an MCA resulting in one concept that has been worked out for various components, thus answering sub question 5. From this worked out concept, a conclusion is written in where the main conclusion is that an offshore platform aimed at fast water sports van be build sustainable within the context of Bonaire if the clients are able to make some consensus in there plans and the way they will use the platform. Finally, considering the sustainability of the proposed platform, it can be concluded with current technologies it is hard to build a platform without emissions, negative effects or any hidden impact. However, if the schedule and plans of the clients where to change towards a more ’nature dependent’ schedule (so taking peak energy generation into account). The platform could set an example and can even be a global ’first’ when it comes to making the practice of watersports more sustainable.

Introduction to the second edition of the UAUCU Student Research Exchange Collected Papers

In this publication you will find papers and reflections that were written by thirteen participants in the UAUCU student research exchange project 2016, a project that offers students from University College Utrecht (UCU), University Utrecht (UU) and the University of Aruba (UA) the opportunity to conduct research in a multidisciplinary international student team. All students have submitted papers that reflect the diversity of approaches that the students have followed. The 2015 edition of this program has proven to be successful: three papers have led to international publications and two papers have resulted in thesis that received awards. We wish the same for the participants in the 2016 edition.

On the following pages you will find papers on language and culture, health care development, international relations and diplomacy, labor and productivity, organizational transitions and sustainability. While reading you will notice that the research was in different stages of completion at the time of publication of this book: for some of the participants, the field research is completed but data still need to be interpreted, for some the field research still has to start, and for some, the research and analysis have been completed. Some students are still struggling with the interpretation and presentation of their findings. Based upon this fieldwork the student will write their bachelor’s or master’s thesis. The research interests of the students are diverse but show a common interest in sustainable development and it is clear from the final products that the collaboration in the multidisciplinary team has influenced their approach to their research topics.

Every student has written a reflection on his or her experiences during the project that you will find in this book. It is an interesting experience to read the reflections of the participants and to see how strong the collaboration and support has been among the students. These reflections tell you more about the core of this project: it is not only about doing research and about making student research meaningful; it is also about the realization that we can achieve more if we approach problems from several perspectives at the same time, and work together in teams that are multidisciplinary and as such complementary.

The papers in this volume are the product of peer to peer learning: the students in the research team have provided each other with feedback on content, method, style, language and structure. The papers have been published as they were submitted by the students; including the odd spelling mistake, grammatical error, raw opinion or hasty generalization.

Looking back at this second year of the project, one realizes how many people have been involved. It is impossible to name everybody; many people are crucial to the success of a project like this. For everybody who has been part of this project as (guest) lecturer, supervisor, manager, initiator, facilitator, student, interviewee, respondent, guide, coach or mentor: thank you very much for your support!

Eric Mijts & Jocelyn Ballantyne, Project coordinators UAUCU

Language and Culture

Anne Maamke Boonstra - UCU

The Performance of Gender & Sexuality During Carnival on Aruba

Maja Vasić - UU

The preferred language of instruction in the higher education in Aruba: attitudinal, situational and motivational aspects

Fardau Bamberger - UU

The role of English in Aruba’s linguistic landscape

Health and Care Development

Felishah Ponson - UA

The emotional impact on people with disabilities striving to be independent in Aruba

Dahariana Evertsz - UA

A situational Analysis of the relevant welfare services and social security programs for the older population of Aruba: implications for policy

Nurianne Dhalía Arias - UA

Diabetes Management in a Changing Society

International Relations and Diplomacy

Ghislaine Nicolaas - UA

Economic Diplomacy in Sub-National Island Jurisdiction

Labor and Productivity

Giancarla Lobbrecht - UA

Absenteeism in the Public Sector

Gianira Maduro - UA

Satisfaction of the ‘Bezoldigingsregeling Ambtenaren’

Organizational Transitions and Sustainability

Mirjam Snitjer - UU

“The Sexiness of Sustainability” Perspectives Towards Sustainability of Aruban Citizens

Anniek van Wezel - UU

The utility and waste management sector in the 2020 vision of Aruba

Lizanne Takke - UU

Aruba’s sustainable transition: leadership used in an organizational transition towards sustainability from a management perspective

Jochem Pennekamp - UA

Does the Model Fit the Format? A Re-contextualization of the Triple Helix Model(s) in a Small Island Setting

Introduction to the third edition of the UAUCU Student Research Exchange Collected Papers

This volume presents academic papers and personal reflections written by the twelve participants of the UAUCU student research exchange project 2017. The texts in this volume reflect a wide diversity of academic disciplines and approaches, as well as the wide diversity in cultural background of this year’s participant cohort. The program, which offers students from the University of Aruba (UA), University College Utrecht (UCU) and University Utrecht (UU) the opportunity to conduct research in a multidisciplinary international student team, has already proven to be a successful formula: work presented in the 2015 and 2016 volumes led to international publications, and several program alumni received thesis awards. We anticipate similar achievements for contributors to the 2017 edition.

The academic works included here treat culture, language, psychology, policy, law, environmental sciences and sustainability. The scope of the research ranges from pilot projects, to theoretical explorations verified with respondent data, to in depth sociocultural and psychological studies that explore fundamental issues confronting society. The diverse papers show a common interest in sustainable societies, reflecting a strong sense of community awareness, and providing research findings that are meaningful for Aruban society. The papers further demonstrate how the student researchers’ collaboration in a multidisciplinary team has influenced their approach to their topics. The papers here are products of peer-to-peer learning: the program participants provided each other with feedback on content, method, style, language and structure. In general, the papers appear here as they were submitted by the student-researchers -- including the odd spelling mistake, grammatical error, raw opinion or hasty generalization. Some of the student-researchers are still working on the interpretation and presentation of their findings, and will later finalize project papers, or bachelor or master theses, based on results of fieldwork presented.

Our 2017 multidisciplinary team is also remarkably multicultural: it includes students with personal connections not only to Aruba, but to Belgium, Colombia, Curaçao, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Myanmar, Russia, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Venezuela. The cultural and ethnic diversity of the group has contributed to an extraordinarily rich social environment for this year’s participants. All of them have written individual pieces reflecting on their personal experiences. These reflective texts show how strong the collaboration and mutual support within this diverse group has been. The texts reveal much about the core of this project: it is not only about doing meaningful research as a student; it is also about the realization that we can achieve more in the world when we approach problems from several perspectives at the same time, and when we work together by building on each other’s complementary strengths. Here, too, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

This third year of the project has involved many people crucial to its success – it is impossible to name them all. But to all who have been part of this project as (guest) lecturer, supervisor, manager, initiator, facilitator, student, interviewee, respondent, guide, coach or mentor: thank you very much for your contribution to this greater whole.

Eric Mijts & Jocelyn Ballantyne Project coordinators UAUCU

Culture, language, media and psychology

Louisa Maxwell

Calypso and cultural commodification in Aruba

Yun Lee

A correlation between cultural identity and juvenile delinquency in Aruba

Tanya Kirchner 

Understanding the roots of parasuicide among the adolescence in Aruba: associated risks and protective factors

Melany Llocclla

Volunteerism: an approach to encouraging more volunteering in Aruba

Zita Ngizwenayo

Adolescent perceptions on language and professional communication

Rachel Tromp

Social media use on Aruba in the business perspective

Policy, law, environmental sciences and sustainability

Rotem Zilber

Assessment of endemic fauna in key biodiversity areas

Larisa Leeuwe

Environmental law: national and international perspectives

Ben Bultrini

Community participation in solid waste management in Aruba

William Cruice

Entrepreneurial governance and sustainable development on Aruba: a cultural political economy approach

Rodolfo Rodriguez

The synergy between academia and industry: success factors towards a healthy partnership

Nayla Yarzagaray

The importance of tax compliance among SME’s in Aruba for business continuity

Resource recovery and reuse from domestic wastewater has become an important subject for the current development of sanitation technologies and infrastructures. Different technologies are available and combined into sanitation concepts, with different performances. This study provides a methodological approach to evaluate the sustainability of these sanitation concepts with focus on resource recovery and reuse. St. Eustatius, a small tropical island in the Caribbean, was used as a case study for the evaluation. Three source separation-communityon-site and two combined sewerage island-scale concepts were selected and compared in terms of environmental (net energy use, nutrient recovery/reuse, BOD/COD, pathogens, and GHG emission, land use), economic (CAPEX and OPEX), social cultural (acceptance, required competences and education), and technological (flexibility/adaptability, reliability/continuity of service) indicators. The best performing concept, is the application of Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) and Trickling Filter (TF) at island level for combined domestic wastewater treatment with subsequent reuse in agriculture. Its overall average normalised score across the four categories (i.e., average of average per category) is about 15% (0.85) higher than the values of the remaining systems and with a score of 0.73 (conventional activated sludge – centralised level), 0.77 (UASB-septic tank (ST)), 0.76 (UASB-TF - community level), and 0.75 (ST - household level). The higher score of the UASB-TF at community
level is mainly due to much better performance in the environmental and economic categories. In conclusion, the case study provides a methodological approach that can support urban planning and decision-making in selecting more sustainable sanitation concepts, allowing resource recovery and reuse in small island context or in other contexts. 

The Caribbean Research Programme is administered by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and has received funding from the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) since 2013. As part of this programme, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NWO-NIOZ) established the Caribbean Netherlands Science Insti tute (CNSI) on Sint Eustatius, which it continues to administer. As the end of the current funding period (December 2022) approaches, NWO has commissioned this exploration of options for the future of the CNSI. This document is not an evaluation of the current CNSI but a look ahead. Its focus is the contribution that the CNSI can make to the sustainable strengthening of the knowledge system of the Caribbean islands. What is the organization’s added value? The findings, conclusions and recommendations set out below are based on interviews conducted with various stakeholders between March 2020 and March 2021.

Many interviewees express concern about the significant fragmentation of the current knowledge system which, they contend, shows little cohesion or coordination. Several suggest that maintaining a presence at a single location does nothing to promote connections between the six islands. This report therefore calls for a new, decentralized structure in which there is a physical presence on each of the islands. We propose a structure which offers effective support to researchers, knowledge institutes and consortia. This structure will strengthen cohesion, collaboration and exchange throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It will build bridges between all the various scientific disciplines and their specific research approaches, between research and education, between research and practice. It will bring science closer to society. Such a structure is essential if the Caribbean knowledge system is to be strengthened in a sustainable way, fully embedded within the broader Dutch and international knowledge system, and thus made future proof. Research funding is not enough; ongoing investment in the knowledge system itself is needed if these aims are to be achieved.

This report advises the establishment of a Dutch Caribbean Research Platform (DUCARP): a network organization with a coordinating centre on Sint Maarten and an ‘anchor point’ on each of the five other islands. DUCARP will undertake activities which are needed to strengthen both the quality and quantity of scientific research on and about the Caribbean islands. This new organization can only succeed if the people and institutions of those islands can claim ownership. Following a successful start-up phase, further development to become an international centre of expertise for issues facing all Small Island Developing States (SIDS) may be considered.

The Caribbean Research Programme is administered by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and has received funding from the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) since 2013. As part of this programme, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NWO-NIOZ) established the Caribbean Netherlands Science Insti tute (CNSI) on Sint Eustatius, which it continues to administer. As the end of the current funding period (December 2022) approaches, NWO has commissioned this exploration of options for the future of the CNSI. This document is not an evaluation of the current CNSI but a look ahead. Its focus is the contribution that the CNSI can make to the sustainable strengthening of the knowledge system of the Caribbean islands. What is the organization’s added value? The findings, conclusions and recommendations set out below are based on interviews conducted with various stakeholders between March 2020 and March 2021. Many interviewees express concern about the significant fragmentation of the current knowledge system which, they contend, shows little cohesion or coordination. Several suggest that maintaining a presence at a single location does nothing to promote connections between the six islands. This report therefore calls for a new, decentralized structure in which there is a physical presence on each of the islands. We propose a structure which offers effective support to researchers, knowledge institutes and consortia. This structure will strengthen cohesion, collaboration and exchange throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It will build bridges between all the various scientific disciplines and their specific research approaches, between research and education, between research and practice. It will bring science closer to society. Such a structure is essential if the Caribbean knowledge system is to be strengthened in a sustainable way, fully embedded within the broader Dutch and international knowledge system, and thus made futureproof. Research funding is not enough; ongoing investment in the knowledge system itself is needed if these aims are to be achieved. This report advises the establishment of a Dutch Caribbean Research Platform (DUCARP): a network organization with a coordinating centre on Sint Maarten and an ‘anchor point’ on each of the five other islands. DUCARP will undertake activities which are needed to strengthen both the quality and quantity of scientific research on and about the Caribbean islands. This new organization can only succeed if the people and institutions of those islands can claim ownership. Following a successful start-up phase, further development to become an international centre of expertise for issues facing all Small Island Developing States (SIDS) may be considered.

Abstract:

Tourism could be discussed as being a damaging phenomenon if not managed correctly as well as being destructive towards its own industry by its contribution towards climate change (UNWTO 2008; Glegg et al 2021; Grilli 2021). However, tourism is often considered to be highly important for the destination's economic and social development (Glegg et al 2021). Besides this, natural resources often tend to play an important role in the attractiveness of a destination (Fennell 2015; Uyarra et al 2009). A strategic tourism strategy is therefore needed in order to protect the natural resources of the destination, and in order to become economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. The blue destination strategy could be defined as the sustainable use of ocean resources for growth, well-being, and jobs while protecting the oceans’ ecosystems’ health (Tourism Corporation Bonaire 2017). Bonaire is a small island in the Caribbean that, since 2017, has been implementing a blue destination approach as their destination development strategy. By examining the case of Bonaire, the study aims to develop a better understanding of the contribution of a development strategy towards a sustainable tourism industry within a tourism-oriented society, and aims to highlight the stakeholder’s perspective. This is trying to be obtained by answering the three research questions of what the tourism industry looks like on Bonaire, what is trying to be achieved with the blue destination company certification and what the blue destination strategy is as well as what effect it has had on Bonaire so far. In order to provide an answer, the study uses a triangularization method. Six interviews with stakeholders, document analysis, and statistical analysis were carried out. Results highlighted that tourism on Bonaire is an important driver for economic and social growth. The tourism industry on Bonaire is seen as highly dependent on the natural resources of the island, mainly its ocean. The blue company certification has been highlighted as a tool to ensure that sustainable criteria are met as well as an important tool for marketing and inspiring others to become more sustainable. Blue destination has then been highlighted as a way to create and ensure a tourism industry that generates economic welfare and stimulates sustainability for the whole island while highlighting the connection between human activity and the marine ecosystem that takes place in the ocean economy. Measurable effects have so far been minimal or not noticeable but stakeholders highlighted that it has helped by synergizing the island and providing better cooperation between stakeholders, leading to them having the same vision.

Video documentary describing the importance of the Saba Bank as a natural resource for the island of Saba, including underwater footage and interviews with fishermen and managers.