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This study aims to explore the barriers to upscaling the production capacity of the edible insect sector in the UK and to identify the impact of current regulation on the sector's development.

A significant proportion of edible insect-producing companies within the UK were identified through an online market research database and contacted via email to invite them to participate in this study. Phone interviews were conducted with ten companies. Thematic analysis was adopted for data analysis.

There were five themes identified as barriers to the upscaling of the production for the edible insect sector in the UK: insect feeding materials, production capacity, expertise and knowledge, new product development and regulatory uncertainty.

This research was based on a qualitative study. Further quantitative research is needed to test the extent of the impact of these five themes on upscaling production capacity. In addition to production capacity, marketing and consumers' acceptance, culture and behaviour can also be considered in future studies.

This study makes a significant contribution to the literature by providing insight on the barriers to upscaling production capacity in the edible insect sector.

Monodisperse microfluidic emulsions – droplets in another immiscible liquid – are beneficial to various technological applications in analytical chemistry, material and chemical engineering, biology and medicine. Upscaling the mass production of micron-sized monodisperse emulsions, however, has been a challenge because of the complexity and technical difficulty of fabricating or upscaling three-dimensional (3 D) microfluidic structures on a chip. Therefore, the authors develop a fluid dynamical design that uses a standard and straightforward 3 D printer for the mass production of monodisperse droplets.

The authors combine additive manufacturing, fluid dynamical design and suitable surface treatment to create an easy-to-fabricate device for the upscaling production of monodisperse emulsions. Considering hydrodynamic networks and associated flow resistance, the authors adapt microfluidic flow-focusing junctions to produce (water-in-oil) emulsions in parallel in one integrated fluidic device, under suitable flow rates and channel sizes.

The device consists of 32 droplet-makers in parallel and is capable of mass-producing 14 L/day of monodisperse emulsions. This convenient method can produce 50,000 millimetric droplets per hour. Finally, the authors extend the current 3 D printed fluidics with the generated emulsions to synthesize magnetic microspheres.

Combining additive manufacturing and hydrodynamical concepts and designs, the authors experimentally demonstrate a facile method of upscaling the production of useful monodisperse emulsions. The design and approach will be beneficial for mass productions of smart and functional microfluidic materials useful in a myriad of applications.

This paper aims to consider a multiscale electromagnetic wave problem for a housing with a ventilation grill. Using the standard finite element method to discretise the apertures leads to an unduly large number of unknowns. An efficient approach to simulate the multiple scales is introduced. The aim is to significantly reduce the computational costs.

A domain decomposition technique with upscaling is applied to cope with the different scales. The idea is to split the domain of computation into an exterior domain and multiple non-overlapping sub-domains. Each sub-domain represents a single aperture and uses the same finite element mesh. The identical mesh of the sub-domains is efficiently exploited by the hybrid discontinuous Galerkin method and a Schur complement which facilitates the transition from fine meshes in the sub-domains to a coarse mesh in the exterior domain. A coarse skeleton grid is used on the interface between the exterior domain and the individual sub-domains to avoid large dense blocks in the finite element discretisation matrix.

Applying a Schur complement to the identical discretisation of the sub-domains leads to a method that scales very well with respect to the number of apertures.

The error compared to the standard finite element method is negligible and the computational costs are significantly reduced.

The main purpose of this paper is to derive a set of similarity principles for discrete element modelling so that a numerical model can exactly reproduce the physical phenomenon concerned.

The objective is achieved by introducing the concepts of particle “strain” and “stress” so that some equivalence between the physical system and the numerical model can be established.

Three similarity principles, namely geometric, mechanical and dynamic, under which the numerical model can exactly reproduce the mechanical behaviour of a physical model are proposed. In particular, the concept of the scale invariant interaction law is further introduced. The scalability of a number of most commonly used interaction laws in the discrete element modelling is examined.

This is a preliminary research for a very important and challenging topic. More research, particularly in the understanding of the convergent properties of discrete element models, is needed.

The paper provides some important theoretical guidances to computational modelling of particle systems using discrete element techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to resolve three problems in ship routing and scheduling systems. Problem 1 is the anticipation of the future cargo transport demand when the shipping models are stochastic based on this demand. Problem 2 is the capacity of these models in processing large number of ships and cargoes within a reasonable time. Problem 3 is the viability of tramp shipping when it comes to real problems.

A commodity-trade forecasting system is developed, an information technology platform is designed and new shipping elements are added to the models to resolve tramp problems of en-route ship bunkering, low-tide port calls and hold-cleaning cost caused by carrying incompatible cargoes.

More realistic stochastic cargo quantity and freight can now be anticipated, larger number of ships and cargoes are now processed in time and shipping systems are becoming more viable.

More support goes to ship owners to make better shipping decisions.

New norms are established in forecasting, upscaling and viability in ship routing and scheduling systems.

Evaluating mechanical properties of simply made samples by 3D printing technology at nanoscale provides a clear path to better understand larger-scale responses of complex natural rocks. Therefore, to realize the similarity between synthetically manufactured materials and natural geomaterials, this study focused on nanoscale mechanical characterization of a 3D printed object with only two constituent components (gypsum powder and infiltrant).

The study method includes nanoindentation technique combined with numerical simulation via discrete element method (DEM).

Four typical load-displacement curves were identified from nanoindentation of total test points indicating a typical elastic-plastic behavior of the 3D printed gypsum rock sample. Mechanical parameters such as Young’s modulus and hardness were calculated by energy-based methods and a positive correlation was observed. The infiltrant was found to considerably be responsible for the majority of the sample nano-mechanical behavior rather than the gypsum particles, thus expected to control macroscale properties. This was decided from deconvolution and clustering of elastic modulus data. Particle flow modeling in DEM was used to simulate the nanoindentation process in a porous media yielding rock-alike mechanical behavior.

The results show a matching load-displacement response between experimental and simulation results, which verified the credibility of simulation modeling for mechanical behavior of 3D printed gypsum rock at nanoscale. Finally, differential effective medium theory was used to upscale the nanoindentation results to the macroscale mechanical properties, which provided an insight into the geomechanical modeling at multiscale.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (2017, pp. 14–15) identified that “industrialization is the seedbed for entrepreneurship, business investment, technological progress, the upgrading of skills, and the creation of decent jobs.” This placed studying different industrial sectors and their respective clusters, which are key drivers for economy, innovation, and knowledge creation (Slaper, Harmon, & Rubin, 2018), at the forefront of research. This chapter tackles the automobile industrial cluster in Egypt that possesses promising potential yet faces some challenges. It aims to provide an overview of the cluster, alongside underpinning its strengths and obstacles facing it. Moreover, the chapter displays the importance of the labor dimension in increasing the labor competitiveness of the cluster and showcases this through two cases of German automobile manufacturers that pioneered in venturing into the market through employing technical and vocational education and training. In conclusion, recommendations are provided to help in steering the cluster toward success.

This study aims to present a case study about the Team Around Me (TAM) model of case coordination which was developed by Fulfilling Lives Islington and Camden (FLIC) as an action experiment. The model is a standardised tool for running case conferences for clients experiencing multiple disadvantage (MD).

Deploying a case study approach, this study explores why a TAM-coordinated approach is beneficial for people experiencing MD.

The authors explore why the need for effective case coordination is integral for clients experiencing MD, and how current structures fail to facilitate effective case management. The authors put forward an argument for the four core principles underpinning the TAM model: strengths-based, action-focussed, systems thinking and client involvement. The barriers to embedding and upscaling this approach are discussed, alongside the obstacles presented by the wider system that prevent wider implementation.

The TAM model is a new approach to case conferences, designed and upscaled by FLIC, and has since been adopted across two London boroughs, and training has reached services across the UK. This paper highlights the need for innovative approaches to case coordination that centre client involvement, promote a strengths-based approach and recognise system blockages as a key barrier to client progress.

The purpose of this paper is to present the way in which the mainland of the German Wadden Sea area transitioned from traditional sectors into an almost entirely tourism destination, and which factors contributed to and/or necessitated such a development.

The overall approach in this paper has adopted a focus on an extensive case study of the German mainland of the Wadden Sea area. Scientific articles have been used to, first, structuring the theoretical framework and then to gain a general understanding on what a transition exactly entails. As a result, the theoretical framework has been written in an examination of existing literature on transitions and functioned as the theoretical support and foundation for the case study analysis. The analysis has been shaped by means of a number of scientific articles, branch reports, books and websites that, in most instances, specifically focused on the chosen case. Since the area of study is located in Germany, specific literature on this area was mostly limited to the German language, a language of which the author has a basic, yet not thorough, understanding. However, the overall scope of the developments in the case in regard to the transition from agricultural and fishing communities to communities in which tourism plays a substantial role has been understandable.

One of the most important sectors that economically benefit the Wadden Sea region, especially on the Dutch and German Wadden islands, is tourism. While tourism development on the Dutch mainland is minimal, the sector considerably developed in the past few decades on the German mainland, generally as a result of declining yields through multifarious unfavorable developments in traditional sectors such as agriculture and fishing, amongst others. Throughout previous centuries, Norden-Norddeich possessed some small-scale tourism facilities; however, negative developments in those traditional sectors required the municipality to prevent an impasse situation, resulting in altering business models and upscaling tourism facilities. Initiatives in different layers (micro, meso and macro) were initiated and gradually intensified in order to develop Norden-Norddeich as a counter destination for the expensive German islands. Following the phases of transition, Norden-Norddeich gradually developed and can now be regarded as a stable and dynamic holiday destination as well as a system that nowadays almost completely adheres to tourism. It took Norden-Norddeich ten years to transition toward tourism. Presently, Norden-Norddeich is the most visited mainland destination at the German Wadden Sea coast. In contrast, small-scale activities are set up in the mainland part of the Wadden Sea area in the Netherlands, but miss out on effective collaboration between different stakeholders that are involved in both planning and management (such as policy makers) and executive roles (such as the people who organize activities and/or facilities). Furthermore, the area is managed in such a way that does not contribute yet to upscaling economic development, mostly as a result of regulatory issues that hinder such developments. However, increasing efforts by several stakeholders are being taken that should ultimately lead to a sustainable socio-economic development of the Dutch mainland part of the Wadden Sea area.

Analyzing the stages of transition on the German mainland of the Wadden area might function as an example for stakeholders in villages or cities located on the mainland of the Dutch Wadden to become aware of how processes of tourism transitions occur, what factors are needed to start off such a transition and what effects a transition might have on the revitalization of a certain area. Moreover, the case of Norden-Norddeich could stand out as an example for Dutch stakeholders in the Wadden region to perceive in what way a locked-in situation could be prevented or solved by shifting from one system to another by taking on a wide range of initiatives that might be led and stimulated by different actors.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of local entrepreneurs, embedded in both the civil and the business arena, in creating public value by establishing strategic collaboration around smart technologies.

The paper suggests a novel – the local entrepreneurial – type of smart bottom-up initiative between civil grassroots and market-based initiatives. This idea is further evolved in the paper to define the patterns of this alternative type of smart bottom-up initiative. For this purpose, the paper conducts a case study of a community-based sustainable energy and mobility system launched by a local entrepreneur in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

The local entrepreneur has played a catalyzing role in public value creation by initiating and upscaling cooperative practices around smart technologies. This success has mainly been achieved due to the entrepreneurial attitudes of pioneering and risk-taking as well as the capability to bridge between the state, the market and society to accelerate urban sustainability transition.

This paper offers a practical illustration of the potential of local entrepreneurs to evolve cooperative practices with smart technologies for societal change. It also shows the vital role of local governments in the achievement of bottom-up initiatives contributing to urban smartness. However, in the case of commercializing initiatives, governments also need to take a balancing role to safeguard the needs of all citizens based on fairness and equity, which is at the core of public value creation.

The study adds to the citizen participation literature by revealing a novel type of active citizen grasping technological opportunities to mobilize networks to cooperate for the collective good. The research also contributes to a better understanding of the bottom-up smart city as a form of governance, and its advantages as well as drawbacks concerning public value creation.