Associate Professor Graham Brewer

A previous chapter in this book acknowledged that within the strategic planning by the Newcastle City Council (Australia) terms such as smart, resilience, or transition do not frame adaptation or mitigation initiatives by the Council. Nevertheless, a long-term established community group in Newcastle, called Transition Newcastle (TN), aims at developing initiatives for sustainability and environment, ultimately targeting climate change¿related issues. Accordingly, this chapter briefly presents these initiatives by TN and discuss them addressing the climate change debate. Conclusions argue that transition initiatives require strengthening partnerships with other actors, and will have limited effectiveness if institutional space is not created in the way to influence policies and actions at the local level.

Australia has a long commitment in coping with climate change¿related issues, hazards, and risks. Since the 1980s, the Australian federal government has enacted mitigation strategies, while adaptation started in the past decade. This chapter provides a brief overview of some of the strategies as proposed by the Australian federal government in terms of mitigation and adaptation. It also discusses such strategies within the contradicting scenario of Australia, a high contributor to climate change through greenhouse gases emissions. Conclusive remarks address the necessity for the Australian federal government to take leadership in driving and supporting other stakeholders enacting mitigation and adaptation, as well as in reflecting upon new socioeconomic trajectories. Without this leadership, mitigation and adaptation strategies will just provide limited and impromptu results that do not address the root challenges posed by the current production system on places and communities in terms of climate change.

Since the 1980s, the city of Newcastle started a long commitment in climate change adaptation policy. Particularly, in the last decade the Newcastle City Council (NCC) started considering adaptation within its strategic planning. Accordingly, this chapter briefly presents main directions undertaken by the NCC in current strategic planning for Newcastle in terms of adaptation. Through content analysis of publicly available documents and interviews with staff officers, the chapter briefly discusses issues related to adaptation in development regulation, land-use control, and involvement of local communities. Nevertheless, three challenges for adaptation emerge as related to the commitment by the NCC, including lack of leadership by higher government levels, state administrative reform, and coal extraction as an important economic source in the area.

Since the 2015 ratification of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, disaster risk reduction (DRR) has been part of Australia¿s policy environment. However, the extent to which it has affected policy and procedure is questionable. Emergency services organisations, as first responders, should be enthusiastic advocates for DRR, both in terms of their role during the response and recovery phases and as facilitators of risk reduction through mitigation and preparedness activities. DRR dividends include a reduction in the likelihood that extreme events would become disasters, better inclusion of marginalised sections of the community and reduced demand for scarce resources during extreme events. Yet despite the obvious benefits of this paradigm, emergency services organisations in Australia are yet to fully embrace this change. A possible explanation may be found in the policy and procedures that drive the actions of both them and the communities they serve. Recent postgraduate studies have examined the extent of incorporation of DRR principles into recovery planning, planning for animal welfare, disability inclusion during emergency response and others. These studies suggest that DRR is poorly understood, rarely included in policy and procedures and the potential benefits are lost, to the detriment of all. A proposed alignment of disaster-related policy (in the widest sense) with the disaster cycle integrates emergency service know-how into ¿normal community development¿ activities and offers a positive way forward for DRR to become second nature.

This paper reports on a project that explores the opportunities and challenges for compliance with safe building codes for disaster resilience, focusing on two countries-Bangladesh and Nepal. Recent disasters in both countries highlight a significant problem of non-compliance with building codes. However, these disasters have brought institutional and community awareness of the importance of safe building codes, presenting a germane opportunity to explore the issues associated with compliance. Building codes do exist in the two countries, but due to socio-economic, political and cultural conditions compliance is generally lacking or limited, particularly in the large informal building sector. There is thus a need for understanding how these codes might be more widely adopted to enable disaster resilience. Collaboration between partner universities in these countries with experience in this field address: sharing the understanding that evidence-based knowledge is a critical component in the commitment to local action; improving institutional and community awareness of the importance of compliance with/barriers to enforcement of codes; fostering communities of collaborative practice; and developing local and international dissemination networks. A log-frame approach indicates the rationale, assumptions and expected outcomes of the project. The project is at a preliminary stage and this paper discusses the framework associated with the exploration of barriers and enablers to building codes compliance.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is seen as a panacea to many of the ills confronting the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector. In spite of its well documented benefits the widespread integration of BIM into the project lifecycle is yet to occur. One commonly identified barrier to BIM adoption is the perceived legal risks associated with its integration, coupled with the need for implementation in a collaborative environment. Many existing standardised contracts used in the Australian AEC industry were drafted before the emergence of BIM. As BIM continues to become ingrained in the delivery process the shortcomings of these existing contracts have become apparent. This paper reports on a study that reviewed and consolidated the contractual and legal concerns associated with BIM implementation. The findings of the review were used to conduct a qualitative content analysis of the GC21 2nd edition, an Australian standardised construction contract, to identify possible changes to facilitate the implementation of BIM in a collaborative environment. The findings identified a number of changes including the need to adopt a collaborative contract structure with equitable risk and reward mechanisms, recognition of the model as a contract document and the need for standardisation of communication/information exchange.

The traditional procurement approach is ever-present within the construction industry. With fundamental design principles founded on definitive risk allocation, this transactional based approach fails to acknowledge or foster the cooperative relationships considered to be vital to the success of any project. Contractual design encourages stakeholders to defend their own individual interest to the likely detriment of project objectives. These failings are not disputed, however, given that trust is a fundamental requirement for human interaction the influence of trust is potentially important in terms of stakeholder relationships and ultimate project success. Trust is therefore examined within this context. A conceptual framework of trust is presented and subsequently used to code and analyse detailed, semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders from different projects. Using a phenomenological investigation of trust via the lived experiences of multiple practitioners, issues pertaining to the formation and maintenance of trust within traditionally procured construction projects are examined. Trust was found to be integral to the lived experiences of practitioners, with both good and bad relationships evident within the constructs of traditional procurement mechanisms. In this regard, individual personalities were considered significant, along with appropriate risk identification and management. Communication, particularly of an informal nature, was also highlighted. A greater emphasis on project team selection during the initial stages of a project would therefore be beneficial, as would careful consideration of the allocation of risk. Contract design would also be enhanced through prescriptive protocols for developing and maintaining trust, along with mandated mechanisms for informal communication, particularly when responding to negative events. A greater understanding regarding the consequences of lost trust and the intricacies of trust repair would also be of value.

Purpose-There has been a significant increase in the use of relationship contracting in the global construction industry, with strategies such as Partnering, Alliancing and Public-Private Partnerships all used. These approaches were introduced to the Australian construction industry in the 1990s in an attempt to overcome the adversarial nature of traditional contracting methods. The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence the successful implementation of Project Alliancing by means of a case study approach focusing on the procurement of a large water treatment plant. The research findings identify critical success factors (CSFs) both from literature and the case study project.

A better understanding of innovation processes might lead to productivity improvements. By focusing on a specific, economically relevant sector (construction) and on a specific type of firm (small to medium-sized enterprises, SMEs), the dynamic capabilities framework is extended by clarifying the roles of cognitive and organizational routines in organizational innovation processes. Insights generated from an in-depth case study of a medium-sized construction firm reveal that dynamic capabilities might diminish the relevance of an explicit innovation focus, because such capabilities have the potential to trigger emergent, incremental innovations. Accordingly, for construction SMEs, a development, rather than research, mode of innovation appears relatively more critical, as manifested in conscious cognitive routines and functional/integrative organizational routines. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

With populations ageing across the developed world, there is increasing interest in the impact of the urban environment on the capacity of people to age in place. This is a significant issue not only for the quality of life of older people but also for the longer-term sustainability of cities and neighbourhoods. This paper presents findings from a cross-disciplinary pilot research study that addresses the link between health in older Australians and urban sustainability. The paper details a unique neighbourhood assessment method that explores associations between subjective and objective measures of neighbourhood characteristics and health for community dwelling people aged 55 years and over. The results reveal that health is a major pre-occupation for the study group but social interaction and the built environment are major influences on quality of life. It is anticipated that the pilot study will lead to the development of guidelines for the design of sustainable urban environments that respond to the health needs of an increasingly diverse ageing population.

Construction firms in regional areas face considerable challenges to their competitiveness. Logistics, availability of suitable personnel, unfamiliarity with trading partners, and the tyranny of distance conspire to obstruct profitable engagement beyond their local area. Electronic information and communication technology (ICT) such as web-based project management applications and other forms of collaborative data sharing have the potential to mitigate many of these obstacles, but have yet to gain widespread acceptance, particularly by smaller regional firms who question their cost effectiveness. The attitudes of decision-makers and the impact of their decisions on intra- and inter-firm culture lie at the heart of ICT-mediated innovation. This paper presents a case study of a specialist subcontractor located in regional New South Wales and its involvement in a New Zealand project, whose competitiveness arose from using ICT to integrate its own supply chain. It also provided additional value by triggering collaboration and integration in the broader project team. The case reveals that these outcomes were symptomatic of the organisational culture of the subcontractor, and were achieved through a combination of leadership, collaboration, flexibility and pragmatism, redolent of dynamic capabilities.

Purpose: Public-private partnerships (PPPs) and other innovative procurement mechanisms are frequently used to deliver both an asset and a public service over a protracted period. The value streams to the parties involved can be complex, but generally arise from the satisfactory provision of infrastructure that is fit for purpose throughout its life. This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of the facility management (FM) function in delivering long-term value to both the client and consortium. Design/methodology/approach: This paper describes a case study of a PPP in Australia that delivered social infrastructure in multiple locations to a state government. Drawing upon multiple perspectives from within the consortium, it utilises inductive principles to identify the influences on value generation through innovation by the FM function. Findings: The ability of an Australian FM contractor to provide value within a PPP context has been shown to reflect some of the attributes described in literature. However, the extent of innovation, especially in the design and construction phases, has been limited by organisational history and capability, and relational and contextual issues. Originality/value: This research highlights a flaw in the rhetoric relating to PPP delivery, namely the disconnection between the asset delivery and service delivery phases, which stifles the consortium's capacity to innovate and maximise value. It reveals a set of influences that both resonate with the literature and plausibly explain the suboptimal performance of the FM function within an Australian PPP. By using highly iterative analysis leading to within-case generalisability, it provides a robust basis for wider investigation of the problem. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

This paper identifies and describes shoppers' attitudes and behaviours in relation to retail environments. It maps the profiles of shoppers, identifying significant changes, including the growth of mixed development and 'green' retailing. The literature is used to identify and define the attitudes and behaviours that characterise shoppers' interaction with Australian shopping malls. These are then used to inform the design and conduct of research involving eight focus groups of consumers in two tightly defined geographical areas. Each investigation is analysed using appropriate qualitative or quantitative techniques and the results thereafter interpreted and explained. Results show that there are significant differences in shoppers' attitudes to retail experiences and the spaces in which they occur. These vary according to gender, age, level of household income, occupation and level of education. Moreover, these differences are interrelated, rendering their implications for retailers similarly complex. This paper proposes that designs of retail spaces are only economically justifiable if they provide an acceptable mix of experiences for the full range of consumers using them. Understanding the complex interplay between the expectations of the various consumer groups and their consequent requirements is central to decision-making in this regard. This research is part of a larger study, believed to be the first critical analysis of Australian consumer attitudes towards retail spaces in terms of demographic groups. The ideas presented in this study could have wide-reaching possibilities for empirical studies on the socio-cultural role of malls, outside of Australia. © Common Ground, Anthony Philip Williams, Graham Brewer , Michael Ostwald, Raichel Le Goff, All Rights Reserved.

The construction sector has an important role to play in the future creation of a more resilient built environment. The restoration of and design of new community infrastructure in the wake of major disasters can provide opportunities to reduce future threats and hazards in the built environment. However, there are often competing interests involved and these sociopolitical factors may result in a lack of transparency and fairness around decision-making processes. It has been previously documented that reconstruction efforts can be unduly impacted by misguided political and economic pressures to get communities 'back on their feet' quickly. Large scale disasters, particularly where there has been significant loss of life, tend to trigger intense media scrutiny and public expectation for rapid response and recovery. Particularly where there has been a large public fund-raising effort, both victims and donors often feel a stronger sense of attachment to the immediate recovery efforts in effected communities. The resulting media scrutiny and public pressure, real or perceived, on politicians to make quick decisions in relation to the reconstruction of community built infrastructure can lead to knee-jerk announcements regarding reconstruction plans that do not consider the longer-term sustainability and resilience of a community. In non-urban, or regional, communities the impact of poor political decisions can become even more pronounced. This paper will present analysis from semi-structured interviews conducted with stakeholders involved in the reconstruction after the 'Black Saturday' fires that occurred in regional Victoria, Australia, in early 2009.

In the aftermath of disasters attention naturally focuses on the impacts humans experience during rescue, recovery and rebuilding. Resilient outcomes are desirable but by no means guaranteed, and the consequences are usually attributed to the actions of humans. In a novel deployment this research uses an Actor Network Theory (ANT) lens to reanalyse case study data from three disaster theatres. It reveals the impact of nonhuman actants upon human actants, and their consequences for recovery efforts and resilience outcomes. In particular it exposes the potential economic retardation that food aid can inflict on fragile societies; the value of coherent policies and processes for resilient reconstruction in highly structured societies, and; the mixed blessings arising from the presence of TV cameras in disaster theatres. It concludes that using an ANT lens sensitises researchers to the influences that nonhuman actants can exert in dynamic post-disaster contexts, but that the use of purist ANT approach to solving problems within disaster theatres is not a practical proposition.

Trust is a key element in the project manager's toolkit, and fostering trust in a project team is often critical to the project's outcome. Literature suggests that relational procurement mechanisms underpinned by "pain-share/gain-share" principles ought to increase levels of trust between project participants as compared to traditionally procured projects, yet little related research exists. Using "trust as a phenomenon" as the philosophical point of departure the intricacies of trust formation and maintenance are explored in these contexts. A framework of trust-related personal attributes, attitudes and behaviours is used to analyse a series of 15 detailed interviews with multiple representatives from construction and client organisations. Preliminary findings identify: participants' desire for trust in projects; widespread absence of strategies for trust building, maintenance and repair; adversarial dispute resolution as the default; poor project team member selection. Widely valued traits in trading partners include open and honest communication; technical competence; fairness; integrity; honesty, and; benevolence. Where disputation has occurred trust repair skills appear to be rare. Positive pre-existing relationships are reported as the antidote for many project ills. Differences in the perception of trust variables associated with procurement context are identified: superficially surprising and counter-intuitive, they reveal pan-procurement principles for trust-based project success.

With the introduction of ecologically sustainable development (ESD) and subsequent legislative regulations throughout Australia, effective environmental management across the construction sector should occur. In reality, construction operations continue to have detrimental environmental impacts. Within New South Wales the primary legislation governing development control, for the purpose of ESD, has produced a complex legislative system that its ability to achieve the objectives of environmental protection remains questionable. Large scale development projects may evoke need for associated environmental regulatory controls; however, such rules are generally not applicable to small and medium scale developments. Yet, these types of projects make up a significant amount of the development market and collectively a major contribution to detrimental environmental impacts. Given each construction project is unique, the application of complex regulatory controls may result in notably different levels of environmental protection between developments. Inconsistency may be seen with regulatory interpretation, implementation, monitoring and associated processes of enforcement. Using a systemic lens this research linked the efficacy of regulation, monitoring, and information flow to explain variability in the outcomes of onsite environmental management operations. The paper reports preliminary findings of a two stage qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with key project stakeholders (e.g. government regulatory officers, construction managers) and case study examination of four medium scale development projects. Using a phenomenological coding approach, preliminary analysis identified a number of themes that impact effective onsite environmental management including: environmental interpretation and assessment, compliance and enforcement, external influences, collaboration and engagement.

The emergence of Public-Private Sector Partnerships (PPPs) provides a means for developing infrastructure without directly impacting upon the budgetary constraints of Government. Social infrastructure projects (schools, hospitals, prisons et al) are characterised as generally being smaller in scale than economic infrastructure projects (motorways, bridges, tunnels et al). However, by their very nature, social infrastructure projects also tend to be complex, particularly in terms of on-going involvement with the community. Thus, private sector bidders for social infrastructure PPPs are often presented with a situation where operational complexity, including government policy toward the sharing of revenue, is one of the key differences in whether PPPs are as attractive for social infrastructure compared with economic infrastructure. This research centres on how consortiums manage the many risk factors involved and the results are presented from a case study of a hospital PPP project. This paper presents the preliminary findings of the case study research and in particular focuses on the process for selecting the PPP consortium and the research methodology.