Motivating and Empowering Construction Stakeholders to Target Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

The Built Environment is directly or indirectly linked to most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, our journey towards the much-publicised SDGs has been slow and difficult, given the capacity and capability shortfalls of construction industry stakeholders and competing demands on their limited resources. Significant advancements in policies, management systems and technologies have failed to bridge the critical gap in effectively motivating and empowering construction industry stakeholders whose primary focus is on organisational and project priorities, to meaningfully work towards the SDGs. The staggering projections of population increase (United Nations, 2022), trigger heightened demands for building stock (Unuigbe et al., 2022). While policies and technological innovations are pivotal in selecting optimal routes towards SDGs, to be successful, our journeys also need active stakeholder participation (Beck et al., 2023; Ebekozien et al., 2023; Eweje et al., 2021). Therefore, effective engagement and motivational strategies are imperatives for the successful adoption of sustainability practices (Beck et al., 2023; Opoku et al., 2022). However, the industry faces many challenges in translating high-level goals into proactive practices. Such recent studies also reveal need for better approaches to drive stakeholder commitment. Hence, this special issue aims to address these critical gaps by providing new insights and practical strategies with pragmatic mechanisms for enhancing stakeholder engagement and capacity-building towards SDGs.

The papers published in this special issue are expected to add valuable new knowledge in showing how to effectively motivate and equip stakeholders, ranging from policymakers to on-site workers, to actively pursue SDGs, along with organisational and project priorities. It is also expected to demonstrate strategies and innovative frameworks for inspiring commitment and empowering stakeholders with the knowledge and tools needed to overcome common barriers to meeting SDGs. Moreover, it is envisaged to elicit novel approaches to translating theory into practice, with conveniently actionable strategies and tools for stakeholders. This special issue will therefore bridge persisting gaps between high-level sustainability goals and everyday practices, offering fresh well-focused insights and practical solutions that had been previously overlooked. This emphasis on stakeholder motivation and empowerment is expected to lead to game-changing approaches that will help accelerate our journey towards achieving SDGs.

Objectives of the Special Issue

The proposed Special Issue expects to inspire the authors to develop papers to address one or more of the following objectives: 

• To demonstrate how well-structured motivational strategies and mechanisms can boost construction stakeholders' commitment and targeting of SDGs. This includes formulating proactive strategies with incentives and evaluation frameworks, that (a) effectively encourage stakeholders to develop sustainable practices that align with organisational and project goals; and (b) then monitor and enhance the consequential overall benefits.
• To convey with evidence, how business cases may be made to showcase mutual benefits and synergies from identifying common areas, aligning in structured agendas and pursuing together, both: (a) SDGs and (b) organisational and/or project goals (particularly on megaprojects).
• To develop and/or unveil methodologies to empower construction professionals, organisations, and communities to take proactive steps targeting SDGs while meeting and synergising with organisational and project targets. This involves capacity building that may include subsidised training programmes, creative sourcing and improvising of scarce resources, and developing support systems and tools that can facilitate their planning, engagement and implementation.
• To explore and demonstrate novel and evidence-based approaches that can bridge gaps between current practices and the desired sustainability outcomes, through the identification of appropriate technologies, methodologies, and best practices that help move towards relevant SDGs, while still achieving organisational and project goals in parallel.
• To probe and analyse how cutting-edge research can be effectively translated with industry collaboration into actionable policies and practical measures to enable construction industry stakeholders to boost their contributions to achieving relevant SDGs.
• To synergise and showcase how emerging theories and innovations in areas such as sustainable urbanisation, green building, retrofitting & adaptive reuse of buildings, circular economy, reverse logistics, smart infrastructure and many relevant thrusts of digitalisation can be integrated into practical frameworks and viable processes to advance the sustainability agenda in construction, that can also contribute to the regional, national and/or even the global pursuit of SDGs by society at large.

Anticipated Themes

The following is an indicative, hence a non-exhaustive, list of anticipated themes that could be explored in different papers in this Special Issue: 

1. Policies and regulatory frameworks for sustainable construction
2. Strategies and incentives to overcome barriers and motivate construction stakeholders towards achieving SDGs
3. Empowerment and capacity building of stakeholders for sustainable construction and towards achieving SDGs
4. Stakeholder collaboration and partnerships for sustainability in construction
5. Effective collaboration models for sustainable construction
6. Integrating sustainability objectives and SDGs into construction supply chain sourcing and management mechanisms
7. Procurement and contractual mechanisms for promoting sustainability in construction
8. Identifying and addressing short-term and longer-term challenges to achieving SDGs in the construction sector at a broader (even global) level
9. Adapting digital technologies to facilitate green buildings, passive designs and other contributors to sustainability and achieving SDGs
10. Training and development for empowering sustainability in construction
11. Transforming industry culture, including stakeholder and end-user mind-sets to target SDGs in the construction sector
12. Enhancing public engagement for sustainable construction, and societal participation and acceptance of sustainable construction practices
13. Business case development for sustainable development in the construction sector
14. Alignment of corporate goals with SDGs in the construction sector 

We will welcome submissions on any related topics in the context of the above themes.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions to BEPAM should be through ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.

Author guidelines must be strictly followed.

The total wordcount limit is 8,500 words, as for all new submissions to BEPAM. Please also see and comply strictly with all other author guidelines for the computation method, including the need to add (a) the total wordcount of all Tables and Figures (with each Table or Figure counted as 280 words), to (b) the wordcount of all text including the Abstract, References and any Appendices (if the latter is in text); and ensure the Grand Total [of (a) and (b)] is within the strict 8,500 limit.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Interested authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue "Motivating and Empowering Construction Stakeholders to Target Sustainable Development Goals" at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e., in response to "Please select the issue you are submitting to". 

Click here to submit!

Key Dates

Opening date for manuscript submission: 16th September, 2024

Closing date for manuscript submission: 16th January, 2025

Any new submissions after the deadline of 16th January, 2025 cannot be considered for this Special Issue.

Any inquiries should be emailed to Dr Tharusha Ranadewa.

Guest Editors

Dr Tharusha Ranadewa
Department of Building Economics, Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Bandaranayake Mawatha, Moratuwa 10400, Sri Lanka.
Email: [email protected]
 
Dr Nandun Madhusanka Hewa Welege
Department of Facilities Management, Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Bandaranayake Mawatha, Moratuwa 10400, Sri Lanka.
Email: [email protected]

Dr Ashan Senel Asmone
Laing O'Rourke Centre for Construction Engineering and Technology, University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering, 7a JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0FA. 
Email: [email protected]