Is agile project management applicable to construction?

This paper briefly summarises the evolution of Agile Project Management (APM) and differentiates it from lean and agile production and ‘leagile’ construction. The significant benefits being realized through employment of APM within the information systems industry are stated. The characteristics of APM are explored, including: philosophy, organizational attitudes and practices, planning, execution and control and learning. Finally, APM is subjectively assessed as to its potential contribution to the pre-design, design and construction phases. In conclusion, it is assessed that APM offers considerable potential for application in predesign and design but that there are significant hurdles to its adoption in the actual construction phase. Should these be overcome, APM offers benefits well beyond any individual project

What Works in Community Profiling? Initial reflections from the WWS Project in West Dunbartonshire

This paper discusses the experience of WWS, Glasgow Centre for Population Health and the West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Team in developing community profiles for the purposes of place-based working. The key learning points from this paper are: With new legislation in Scotland driving a renewed emphasis on place-based working, both Community Planning Partnerships and Health & Social Care Partnerships will need to be able to work more flexibly with data at a range of small area geographies, and in response to different thematic areas of public service reform. A lack of capacity to work in this way could be a barrier to collaboration between services and partnerships and to the potential for turning evidence into action. For some CPPs, community profiling - a process that involves bringing local data together in a concise, accessible, presentation style- will require investment in a new technological infrastructure; in-house training for staff with some level of analytical ability and/or recruitment of staff with specialist analytic skills; and specialist support to develop the capacity of staff to interpret and make sense of local data so that it is more accessible and meaningful to local partners and communities. In the context of the Community Empowerment Act 2015, community profiling could be used to promote greater openness and transparency between service providers and communities, to highlight differences – and often inequalities - and to provoke discussion and responses

Public participation in the marine spatial planning process : lessons learned from theoretical, legal, and empirical perspectives

Public participation is a crucial component in environmental decision-making. The accepted wisdom is that participatory decision-making is a good thing. However, there is no single solution for designing and implementing public participation. The participation pattern in the marine planning context should be different from those applied in other decision-making processes in order to address the particular challenges and demands of marine management. Few studies have focused on public participation in marine planning, especially in the English marine planning context. This thesis fills this knowledge gap by studying public participation in English marine planning from theoretical, legal and empirical perspectives.This thesis addresses three research questions. First, what is the appropriate participation strategy for English marine planning? Second, to what extent does the current legal regime ensure effective public participation in marine planning and other marine-related decision-making? Third, how have the requirements for participation been implemented in marine planning practices?To investigate these questions, this thesis constructs a pluralist rationale for participation, including normative, substantive and instrumental dimensions, which fits the English marine planning context. The appropriate strategy for participation is identified. This strategy will contribute to fulfil the pluralist rationale for participation in marine planning process. The thesis also reviews the relevant legal framework at the international and domestic levels, to examine to what extent these legal regimes can support the implementation of public participation in the marine decision-making context. Finally, as a qualitative case study, the process and outcome of participation in producing the English East Inshore and Offshore Marine Plans are evaluated to reveal the deficiencies regarding participation in the English marine planning regime

Planning for Enrichment and Equity in Dual Language Education: A Study of Eight Program Master Plans

This qualitative study analyzed eight dual language master plans developed by school districts on the West Coast of the United States. Each of the plans represented one or more dual language programs within each school district. The purpose of the study was to determine how school districts express their priorities for dual language programming. Master plans were analyzed for their structure, rationales, and their intended impact on students and families. Through numerous coding passes, several themes revealed themselves related to proposed benefits to students in language, academics, and social-emotional growth. The findings of this study indicated an informal community of practice among the groups who wrote the plans, and conceptions of family involvement that positioned families as receivers, rather than actors in the education of their children. This analysis illuminated areas where equity in emergent bilinguals’ access to authentic language and parent involvement could be improved. Implications for further research point to the need for ethnographic study of programs as compared to their plans, and a deeper examination of the ways the dual language community of practice functions. Implications for practice include the need to expand the implied canon of dual language research informing dual language master planning, and the importance of revisiting translanguaging for both pedagogical and equity reasons. Finally, future dual language master planning ought to expand on particular ways to support new teachers in this complex work through locally-relevant professional training and leadership roles

Evaluation of Best Practices for Urban Water Conservation and Water-Smart Growth Implementation in Utah

Policies and programs have been utilized throughout the United States (U.S.) to reduce water use as a strategy to ensure sufficient water supplies for future demand. As governmental leaders and policy makers face increasing freshwater scarcity and supply unpredictability, along with rising costs and decreased federal funding, Best Practices (BPs) in water conservation are increasingly important to facilitate decision-making in choosing which strategies to employ. This project uses policy analysis to review and summarize various BPs, referencing both academic and professional literature. National fixture efficiency standards enacted in 1992 are credited as among the leading factors reducing indoor water use across the nation in both areas with ample and scarce amounts of water. Since significant strides have already been achieved in reducing indoor water use, this project focuses on outdoor (landscape) water conservation approaches since they are of particular importance in arid regions. We conducted a preliminary literature and guidebook review to determine which BPs were most commonly recommended and had the most supporting evidence for their effectiveness. The most comprehensive list of recommendations was provided by Colorado WaterWise and Aquacraft, Inc.’s The Guidebook of Best Practices for Municipal Water Conservation in Colorado –Technical Guide (2010). We evaluated Colorado WaterWise and Aquacraft, Inc.(2010) along with more primary and secondary data sources (i.e., municipal codes, case studies, journal articles, best practice manuals from the industry). We evaluated implementation challenges for the Utah context through the lens of Schneider and Ingram’s (1997) policy design theory, where they recognize that “policy must serve multiple goals of solving problems, reflecting interests, being accountable, serving justice and engaging and enlightening citizens” (p. xi) and that it also needs to be well contextualized. We provide information relevant to all Utah communities, but distinguish information of particular relevance to Eagle Mountain City, Utah, which is one of the fastest growing communities in the USA. Eagle Mountain City represents current Utah urban expansion into areas previously not settled due to lack of water, and has unique opportunities to implement water-smart infrastructure in the construction phase of development. We found that strategies deployed throughout the United States can have varying results, and lack of empirical data documenting implementation and results can inhibit BP analysis and improvement. We recommend that policy and program implementers should more explicitly define goals, document societal outcomes, and analyze results for effective evaluation and transferability of lessons learned between municipalities. We further recommend that BPs targeting the correct design, installation, and maintenance of landscapes and irrigation systems be utilized, since such policies could be the outdoor equivalent of the 1992 efficiency standards that were instrumental in reducing indoor water use across the nation

Kaasamisprotsesside tõhusus ja tulemuslikkus ökoloogilise võrgustiku planeerimisel ning rakendamisel mitmetasandilises valitsemismudelis

Ecological networks aim to integrate biodiversity conservation with sustainable spatial development. Their governance in Europe is shaped by the interplays between multiple actors from various levels along spatial and jurisdictional-institutional scales. Despite the calls for greater public and stakeholder involvement, the legitimacy or social robustness of spatial planning and biodiversity policies in Europe has continuously been questioned by various stakeholders. This thesis, drawing on a set of qualitative case studies, provides some reflections on the participatory development of certain ecological network initiatives foremost in Estonia (e.g. the Natura 2000 and the national Green Network), as well as in other EU countries. The following questions are addressed. (1) To what extent are participatory approaches able to effectively build stakeholder awareness? (2) What are instances of and factors contributing towards knowledge integration and social learning within participatory processes? (3) Which conditions affect the legitimacy of ecological network governance? Landowners are one key stakeholder group within the Natura 2000 designations and management. Yet, their awareness on important topics, like socio-economic implications of designations, or on formal rules of consultations in the Estonian cases was rather vague. The way information is exchanged, but its content also affects the success of communication: broad awareness-raising campaigns (e.g. information distributed via mass media) are not likely to satisfy stakeholders’ specific information needs and build their trust towards environmental authorities. More personalised involvement tools are needed to raise landowners’ awareness. In the Estonian Natura 2000 consultations, mostly scientific knowledge stood at the forefront, but the participatory delineations of the Green Network allowed the inclusion of knowledge from a broader set of stakeholders. Trust in each other’s expertise, but also certain attributes of the decision-making context, and of participatory processes (e.g. goal definition, continuity of contacts) facilitated knowledge integration in the latter case. Conflictive situations can also catalyse learning among stakeholders, e.g. support them to become aware of and respectful towards each other’s concerns. The cases have illustrated several challenges that the complex architectures of multi-level governance contexts pose on certain normative criteria for assessing legitimacy, e.g. for inclusion, accountability or transparency. Under different contexts, stakeholders tend to wear “multiple hats”, e.g. represent different kinds of interests, or are carriers of various knowledge claims. Often the concrete situation determines which one of such “hats” will be the most important. Here, the legitimacy of decision-making foremost depends on what kinds of stakeholders’ concerns are considered and/or included in the processes and their outcomes. Stakeholder analyses could help to identify the actors, analyse their roles, claims, and their relevance. The issue(s) at stake also affect stakeholders’ expectations towards participatory decision-making. So, stakeholders’ expectations towards participation, but the overall process boundaries should also be clarified from the outset, in order to avoid raising unjustified expectations. If conflicts within ecological network governance are caused by fundamental differences in frames, i.e. the various ways people make sense of problems, re-framing exercises could be one solution to reconcile such conflicts. Re-framing helps stakeholders to focus on common aspects in their views, which could facilitate mutual understanding and collaboration. Ultimately, participatory practices are influenced by the prevailing participatory culture, e.g. the ways different stakeholders, including public officials, have been used to conceptualise and exercise participation.Ökovõrgustike planeerimine ja rakendamine ühendab maastiku ökoloogilised funktsioonid mitmesuguste sotsiaal-majanduslike aspektidega ning hõlmab geograafilisi ja administratiivtasandeid kohalikest omavalitsustest Euroopa Liiduni (EL). Asjaliste (ingl stakeholders) kaasamist otsustusprotsessidesse peetakse mitmetel pragmaatilistel ning normatiivsetel kaalutlustel oluliseks ökovõrgustike valitsemise osaks. Väitekiri tugineb juhtumiuuringute analüüsil, käsitledes ökovõrgustikega seonduvate kaasamisprotsesside tõhusust ja tulemuslikkust Eestis ning mõnedes teistes EL riikides, ning juhindub järgmistest uurimisküsimustest. (1) Kuidas saab kaasamisega toetada tulemuslikku suhtlust eri osapoolte vahel (sh tõsta maaomanike teadlikkust) Natura 2000 alade määratlemise kontekstis? (2) Millistel juhtudel on / ei ole kaasamine toiminud õpi- ning erinevate asjaliste teadmisi koondava protsessina? Millised faktorid seda mõjutavad? (3) Millised asjaolud määravad otsustusprotsesside ja nende tulemite legitiimsuse (s.t vastuvõetavuse)? Maaomanikud on Natura 2000 võrgustiku moodustamisel üks olulisimaid asjalistegruppe. Analüüsitud juhtumid näitavad, et laialdased avalikustamiskampaaniad ei suuda rahuldada maaomanike spetsiifilist infovajadust, kuid vahetumad ja konkreetsemat sisulist infot pakkuvad suhtlusvormid (nt telefonivestlus looduskaitseametnikuga või osalemine asjaliste koosolekutel) tõstavad tõenäolisemalt maaomanike teadlikkust ning aitavad ennetada arusaamatusi maaomanike ja looduskaitse-ekspertide vahel. Eesti Natura 2000 alade määratlemine põhines eeskätt teaduslikel alustel, kuid maakondade rohevõrgustiku planeerimine võimaldas paljude erinevate teadmistega asjaliste kaasamist. Viimasel juhul olid määravad edutegurid otsustusprotsessi varases etapis loodud usalduslik kontakt ja osapoolte vahelise hea suhte järjepidevus. Kui varasemalt on leitud, et kaasamine on õpiprotsess eeskätt koostööliste suhete tingimustes, siis käesolev uurimus kinnitab, et ka konfliktiolukorrad võivad soodustada üksteise seisukohtade ja huvide teadvustamist ning nendega arvestamist. Valitsustasandite paljusus võib takistada tõhusat teabevahetust neil toimivate asjaliste vahel, samuti asjaliste võrdväärset kaasamist, vastutusvaldkondade selget piiritlemist ja otsustetegijate aruandekohustuse (accountability) täitmist mitme erineva valitsustasandi ees. Laiapõhjaline asjaliste kaasatus (inclusion) otsustusprotsessidesse ei pruugi alati tagada lõplike otsuste legitiimsust. Otsuste vastuvõetavust mõjutavad siinkohal eeskätt asjaliste hinnangud sellele, kuivõrd nende panusega on kaasamisel arvestatud. Asjalised võivad eri olukordades esindada väga mitmesuguseid rolle, millele vastavalt nad otsustesse panustavad, nt oma teadmiste või huvide kajastamisega. Asjalistel on tihti ka erinevad ootused kaasamisprotsesside ülesehituse ja tulemuste osas, seega tuleks ekslike ootuste vältimiseks kaasamise aluspõhimõtted ning täpsemad protsessireeglid varakult kõigi osapooltega läbi rääkida. Asjaliste analüüs (stakeholder analysis) võimaldab otsusetegijail asjalisi ja nende rolle kaardistada ning lõppkokkuvõttes hinnata, milliseid osapooli tuleks antud kontekstis esmajoones kaasata. Väitekirjas tuli esile legitiimsuseuuringutes seni vähest kajastamist leidnud aspekt, et otsuste illegitiimsus võib tuleneda ka asjaolust, et kaasamisel pole piisavalt arvestatud märkimisväärsete erinevustega asjaliste probleemikäsitlustes (frames). Seda tüüpi vastuolude lahendamisel võib abi olla probleemide ümbersõnastamisest (re-framing) nii, et keskendutakse seisukohtades peituvaile ühisjoontele, millele ehitada üles edasine arutelu ning võimalik koostöö. Selgus ka, et mõnesid Eesti keskkonnakorralduspraktikas laialdaselt kasutatavaid kaasamisvorme (nt avalikke koosolekuid) peavad asjalised ebapiisavateks võimalusteks otsuseid mõjutada. Võimalik, et koosolekuid jt sarnaseid kaasamisvorme aitaksid tõhustada nende parem organiseeritus, mida soodustaksid nt professionaalsed hõlbustajad (facilitators) või ametnike koosolekujuhtimisalaste oskuste arendamine. Kaasamise tõhusust ja tulemuslikkust mõjutab suuresti ka osalus- ja kaasamiskultuur: erinevate asjaliste, sh ametnike arusaamad kaasamisest-osalusest.Publication of this dissertation has been supported by the Estonian University of Life Sciences and by the Doctoral School of Earth Sciences and Ecology created under the auspices of European Social Fund

Lost in translation: a multi-level case study of the metamorphosis of meanings and action in public sector organisational innovation

This paper explores the early implementation of an organisational innovation in the UK National Health Service (NHS) - Treatment Centres (TCs) - designed to dramatically reduce waiting lists for elective care. The paper draws on case studies of eight TCs (each at varying stages of their development) and aims to explore how meanings about TCs are created and evolve, and how these meanings impact upon the development of the organisational innovation. Research on organisational meanings needs to take greater account of the fact that modern organisations like the NHS are complex multi-level phenomena, comprising layers of interlacing networks. To understand the pace, direction and impact of organisational innovation and change we need to study the interconnections between meanings across different organisational levels. The data presented in this paper show how the apparently simple, relatively unformed, concept of a TC framed by central government, is translated and transmuted by subsequent layers in the health service administration, and by players in local health economies and, ultimately in the TCs themselves, picking up new rationales, meanings, and significance as it goes. The developmental histories of TCs reveal a range of significant re-workings of macro policy with the result that there is considerable diversity and variation between local TC schemes. The picture is of important disconnections between meanings, that in many ways mirror Weick’s (1976) ‘loosely coupled systems’. The emergent meanings and the direction of micro-level development of TCs appear more strongly determined by interactions within the local TC environment, notably between what we identify as groups of ‘idealists’, ‘pragmatists’, ‘opportunists’ and ‘sceptics’ than by the framing (Goffman 1974) provided by macro and meso organisational levels. While this illustrates the limitations of top down and policy-driven attempts at change, and highlights the crucial importance of the front-line local ‘micro-systems’ (Donaldson & Mohr, 2000) in the overall scheme of implementing organisational innovations, the space or headroom provided by frames at the macro and meso levels can enable local change, albeit at variable speed and with uncertain outcomes