BURA Collection:
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8642
2024-03-28T21:32:11ZA literature and practice review to develop archetypes of upstream packaging strategies for a circular economy
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/28568
Title: A literature and practice review to develop archetypes of upstream packaging strategies for a circular economy
Authors: Terzioglu, N; Ceschin, F; Jobling, S; Tarverdi, K
Abstract: Plastic pollution is a serious issue of global concern which requires an urgent and international response involving all relevant actors at different levels of the supply chain. Increasing production of single use plastics and the mismanagement of the resulting plastic packaging waste is one of the prominent reasons for this pressing environmental issue. Several potentially promising solutions, such as reusable, recyclable and compostable packaging systems exist. Many of these innovative approaches may contribute to achieving a circular plastic economy, but there is a need to categorise and collate these under unifying themes to facilitate the assessment and comparison of different strategies.
The aim of this research is to analyse and categorise the existing solutions that tackle the plastic packaging waste problem to identify the archetypes of these solutions. Literature and business practice reviews were conducted to discover existing solutions. 200 solutions were selected and categorised by exploring the common patterns. Finally, 10 archetypes and 17 sub-archetypes were introduced. These archetypes are: refill stations, mobile refill stations, refill at home solutions, prefilled packaging systems, reusable takeaway and delivery solutions, B2B reusable packages, packaging solutions led by elimination, compostable and biodegradable packaging, substitution to a non-plastic material and plastic recycling. The findings led to the development of an upstream packaging strategies framework. This paper makes an original contribution to knowledge with the development of this framework as a systematic way to map existing (and new) solutions that can potentially tackle the plastic packaging waste and pollution problem.
Description: Data availability:
No data was used for the research described in the article.2024-03-13T00:00:00ZInclusivity in Jordan’s Cultural Historic Sites: Examining Policy and Practices
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/28388
Title: Inclusivity in Jordan’s Cultural Historic Sites: Examining Policy and Practices
Authors: AlJaafreh, A; Garaj, V; Choi, Y
Abstract: This study investigates policymakers’ and practitioners' perspectives on inclusive design in Jordan's cultural Historic Sites, a critical component of the country's cultural tourism. Specifically, it examines the government's "Accessible Tourism" initiative, which aims to promote inclusive design in historical and cultural heritage sites such as Amman Citadel and Jordan Museum. The study explores the relationship between policy creation and implementation and identifies the factors and challenges affecting the adoption of inclusive design and project delivery. The research methodology involved conducting inperson semi-structured interviews with Twenty-three professionals working on the "Accessible Tourism" project, including individuals involved in legal affairs, technical development, accessibility, and inclusive design. The interview data was analyzed using NVIVO software. The findings indicate that there is an intricate and ongoing planning process that involves ongoing multi-layered meetings followed by ongoing monitoring and evaluation of procedures after each design phase. However, several factors, including natural geographic, social, and cultural contexts, inflexible conservation regulations, limited public knowledge and awareness of accessibility issues, and a lack of resources and funding, all hinder inclusive accessibility application in policy and practice in historical sites. Despite the government's interest in promoting inclusivity in historical sites, the current development approach still requires a more integrated vision grounded in equity and inclusion and incorporating participatory decision-making processes. This research underscores the need for more comprehensive design tools and frameworks and suggests digital recommendations that allocation to advance inclusive design and accessibility in Jordan's cultural tourism.2023-06-18T00:00:00ZUsing a digital participatory approach to facilitate inclusivity in Jordanian heritage sites: Stakeholders’ requirements and a proposed system
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/28387
Title: Using a digital participatory approach to facilitate inclusivity in Jordanian heritage sites: Stakeholders’ requirements and a proposed system
Authors: Aljaafreh, A; Garaj, V; Choi, Y
Abstract: The combination of social engagement engines and immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and digital twins holds great potential for the development of tourism industry during the designing and planning stages. When introduced to experts, this innovative approach allows us to advance creative solutions while keeping the community engaged and enhancing the decision-making process. Virtual designing and planning processes can significantly transform the workflows of professionals and promote inclusive practices in all Jordanian archaeological and heritage sites, particularly those involved in the “Accessible Tourism” project. This article presents an exploratory quantitative study conducted through a comprehensive literature review and participatory interviews. The study involved 23 participants from the “Accessible Tourism” project. It focused on identifying professionals’ barriers affecting the application of inclusivity in historical sites. Additionally, the study defined challenges and requirements to determine digitally inclusive applications. The study results highlighted the challenges faced by stakeholders and experts in developing inclusivity in built heritage sites in Jordan, such as interdepartmental communication, historic preservation constraints, and comprehension of accessibility codes. It also addressed the difficulties in engaging users with disabilities or marginalized communities in developing inclusive facilities. Based on these findings, a unique framework for remotely analysing target users within an immersive environment is proposed. This framework has been developed in collaboration with key stakeholders and set the stage for further research and collaboration. Future research should emphasize the importance of inclusive practices and user involvement in designing accessible and enriching tourism experiences at Jordan’s heritage sites.2023-09-20T00:00:00ZPointhuman: Reconstructing Clothed Human From Point Cloud Of Parametric Model
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/27974
Title: Pointhuman: Reconstructing Clothed Human From Point Cloud Of Parametric Model
Authors: Mo, Z; Wang, Q; Shi, H; Zhang, B; Sui, W
Abstract: It is very difficult to accomplish the 3D reconstruction of the clothed human body from a single RGB image, because the 2D image lacks the representation information of the 3D human body, especially for the clothed human body. In order to solve this problem, we introduced a priority scheme of different body parts spatial information and proposed PointHuman network. PointHuman combines the spatial feature of the parametric model of the human body with the implicit functions without expressive restrictions. In PointHuman reconstruction framework, we use Point Transformer to extract the semantic spatial feature of the parametric model of the human body to regularize the implicit function of the neural network, which extends the generalization ability of the neural network to complex human poses and various styles of clothing. Moreover, considering the ambiguity of depth information, we estimate the depth of the parameterized model after point cloudization, and obtain an offset depth value. The offset depth value improves the consistency between the parameterized model and the neural implicit function, and accuracy of human reconstruction models. Finally, we optimize the restoration of the parametric model from a single image, and propose a depth perception method. This method further improves the estimation accuracy of the parametric model and finally improves the effectiveness of human reconstruction. Our method achieves competitive performance on the THuman dataset.2023-05-30T00:00:00Z