Search

As we enter the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, the need to engage in restoration activities has never been greater. Included within this need is a requirement for clear communication between researchers, practitioners, policymakers, stakeholders, and community members. To facilitate the discussion and assessment of restorative activities, we propose two decision trees to differentiate between key restoration terms (Reclamation, Rehabilitation, Ecological Restoration, Rewilding, Landscape Restoration, Intra-Ecosystem Restoration, Reference Condition Restoration, and Ecological Reclamation) and to clarify how they relate to each other, based upon project scope and desired/intended project outcomes. Continued use of unclear terminology impedes practitioners or researchers from using the literature efficiently to find precedents that could assist their current efforts. As such, increasing clarity of communications will ensure restoration is discussed within a framework of well-defined and agreed upon terms. It is our hope that this suggested framework will contribute to the ongoing and much needed terminology debate and help enhance cohesion on the use of key terms within the restoration focused literature. Given the increased focus upon restoration projects of any kind, especially during the UN's decade of ecosystem restoration, it is more important than ever that restoration practitioners speak the same language. Key words: Ecological Reclamation, Landscape Restoration, Rehabilitation, Reclamation, Restoration, Rewilding, United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, Introduction Since the 1980s, the academic field of Restoration Ecology and its practical counterpart Ecological Restoration have undergone a conceptual and technical renaissance (Cairns, Jr. 1988; Aronson et al. 2017; [...]

Evaluating the priority of any school capital project is still considered unique because of its attachment to the fundamental human right, 'the right to education', and the prioritization methodology for school infrastructure projects has yet to be formalized. This paper presents a comprehensive framework and enhances the prioritization process of school infrastructure projects by quantifying project needs. The proposed 'school project needs evaluation framework' consists of two parts. The first part describes the input selection process and integration of the fuzzy expert system to evaluate the school project's need as a quantitative term. The fuzzy rule-based system was developed in consultation with domain experts. The second part leverages the fuzzy expert system designed in the first part and quantifies the new school capacity and construction project type. The application steps of the automation solution developed based on the proposed framework are presented using examples. Key words: fuzzy expert system, school capital project, project prioritization, school infrastructure need, fuzzy logic, 1. Introduction Supporting the goal of providing universal access to education requires public sector owners to invest in school capital projects. Capital investments are essential to address evolving capacity needs [...]

This research performed phase-based studies to determine effective project management tasks, strategies, and outsourcing activities for transportation infrastructure projects. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to discover phase-based project management strategies, tasks, and activities that can be adopted or outsourced by state transportation agencies (STAs), then a survey was designed and distributed nationally through an online platform to STAs. The results of the 96 survey responses were analyzed and demonstrated that team qualifications and environmental planning are the project management strategies that STAs adopt most often. The outcomes of this study will help decision- makers and project managers assess the effects of adopting effective strategies and outsourcing some activities on delivering transportation infrastructure projects on time, within budget, and with the desired level of quality. Key words: transportation infrastructure, cost estimation, management strategy, construction project, project success. Cette recherche a permis de realiser des etudes axees sur les phases pour determiner les taches, les strategies et les activites de sous-traitance efficaces au niveau de la gestion de projets d'infrastructure de transport. Un examen exhaustif de la documentation a ete effectue pour decouvrir les strategies, les taches et les activites de gestion de projet axees sur les phases qui peuvent etre adoptees ou externalisees par les agences de transport d'etat (ATE), puis un sondage a ete concu et distribue a l'echelle nationale au moyen d'une plateforme en ligne pour les ATE. Les resultats des 96 reponses au sondage ont ete analyses et ont demontre que les qualifications de l'equipe et la planification environnementale sont les strategies de gestion de projet que les ATE adoptent le plus souvent. Les resultats de cette etude aideront les decideurs et les gestionnaires de projet a evaluer les effets de l'adoption de strategies efficaces et de la sous-traitance de certaines activites sur la realisation de projets d'infrastructure de transport dans les delais, dans les limites du budget et avec le niveau de qualite souhaite. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: infrastructure de transport, estimation des couts, strategie de gestion, projet de construction, reussite du projet., 1. Introduction The number of transportation infrastructure projects in the US has significantly increased over the last decade. State transportation agencies (STAs), including state departments of transportation (DOTs), deal with [...]

Research and Development (R&D) projects are inherently ambitious, complex, uncertain, and risky. On the one hand, they increasingly involve diversified groups of people and entities that gather around common goals, with different objectives for each one. On the other hand, science and technology policies promoted and implemented by public entities are gaining momentum, translating into more R&D funding opportunities but also into more competition and accountability for the use of public funds. Research managers and administrators are, therefore, faced with growing challenges when coping with all these aspects and leading teams of scientists, companies, users, and other stakeholders towards successful projects. Traditional project management frameworks have been used and adapted to help the R&D project manager. However, the potential of design thinking principles and practices in this context has yet to achieve its full potential. This is quite surprising bearing in mind that both R&D projects and design thinking share a central characteristic: the key role of creativity and co-creation in assuring successful initiatives. In this paper, the rationale for a new tool for R&D management based on design thinking principles is presented. The relevant literature is reviewed, and the concepts that previous researchers have suggested are analyzed. The interplay between classical project management approaches and the creativity-driven nature of every R&D initiative is rationalized. The findings are used to develop a conceptual framework for a tool which can help research managers and administrators in facilitating the successful development of R&D initiatives. The usefulness of the R&D Canvas to the research management and administration profession is centered on its multi-purpose usability as an effective planning and communication tool that facilitates the incorporation of creativity and co-development practices in the highly heterogeneous contexts characteristic of contemporary R&D endeavors. Keywords: R&D management, project management, design thinking, creativity, Introduction Research and Development (R&D) is a major force driving competitive advantages. This is acknowledged by many governments that have increased the level of investment in science and technology by [...]

Accurate estimates of manpower are still heavily dependent on well-experienced personnel. The objectives of this study are to prove the feasibility of using rough set theory to classify and weigh the impact attributes, and to develop a model to assess the total quantities of labor needed for a construction project using a rough set enhanced artificial neural network (ANN). Experts suggest 14 attributes that influence the estimation of on-site manpower for construction projects. After trimming and analyzing the basic data, the rough set approach is used to classify and weigh the attributes into three levels of impact based on their frequency. A rough set enhanced ANN is accordingly developed that yields an accuracy rate of 91.903%, higher than that of a regular ANN. A practical and effective prediction model benefits personnel having to estimate on-site manpower needs for construction projects. Key words: prediction, manpower, construction project, rough set, artificial neural network (ANN). Les estimations precises de la main-d'oeuvre dependent encore fortement d'un personnel experimente. Les objectifs de cette etude sont de prouver la faisabilite d'utiliser la theorie des ensembles bruts pour classer et ponderer les attributs d'impact, et de developper un modele pour evaluer les quantites totales de travail necessaires pour un projet de construction utilisant un reseau de neurones artificiels (RNA) ameliore. Les experts suggerent 14 attributs qui influent sur l'estimation de la main-d'oeuvre sur place pour les projets de construction. Apres avoir reduit et analyse les donnees de base, l'approche des ensembles bruts est utilisee pour classer et ponderer les attributs en trois niveaux d'impact en fonction de leur frequence. Un RNA ameliore par un ensemble brut est donc developpe qui donne un taux de precision de 91,903 %, superieur a celui d'un RNA regulier. Un modele de prevision pratique et efficace est avantageux pour le personnel qui doit estimer les besoins en main-d'oeuvre sur place pour les projets de construction. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : prevision, main-d'oeuvre, projet de construction, ensemble brut, reseau de neurones artificiels (RNA)., Introduction Manpower is always one of the most important keys to the successful completion of a construction project. It comprises one of the largest proportions of most project budgets and [...]

Design changes (DC) contribute significantly to construction projects' delays and cost overruns. Many research efforts tackled DC management, yet with less efforts in healthcare construction (HC) projects which involve multiple stakeholders including medical users and require meeting engineering and medical specifications. Therefore, a new system dynamics (SD) model that simulates HC environment, considering engineering and medical factors that can potentially trigger DCs, was developed. It simulates, as well, DCs' ripple effect in inducing further DCs due to errors encountered while processing the DCs, and time extension that make the project vulnerable to DCs to catch up with the latest medical advancements. Using a real HC project, the proposed model is validated, and a sensitivity analysis has been conducted to identify the most sensitive factors to DCs. Thus, the new SD model is a useful tool to allow proactive DC management and sound decision-making to maintain the planned project performance. Key words: change order, ripple effect, design errors, hospital, simulation, medical. Les changements de conception (CC) sont une cause importante de retards et de depassements de couts des projets de construction. De nombreux efforts de recherche ont porte sur la gestion des CC, mais avec moins d'efforts dans les projets de construction d'etablissements de soins de sante (ESS), qui impliquent de multiples intervenants, y compris des usagers de soins de sante, et qui necessitent le respect des specifications techniques et medicales. Par consequent, un nouveau modele de dynamique du systeme (DS) qui simule l'environnement d'ESS, en tenant compte des facteurs techniques et medicaux qui peuvent potentiellement declencher des CC, a ete elabore. Il simule egalement l'effet d'entrainement des CC a causer d'autres CC en raison d'erreurs produites lors du traitement de CC et de la prolongation de delai qui rendent le projet vulnerable aux CC pour rattraper les dernieres avancees medicales. A l'aide d'un projet reel d'ESS, le modele propose est valide, et une analyse de sensibilite a ete effectuee pour determiner les facteurs les plus sensibles aux CC. Ainsi, le nouveau modele de DS est un outil utile pour favoriser une gestion proactive des CC et une prise de decisions judicieuses afin de maintenir le rendement prevu du projet. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: ordre de modification, effet d'entrainement, erreurs de conception, hopital, simulation, medical., Introduction Changes in design documents after the contract has been awarded and which will impact the project's goals are considered design changes (DC) (Love et al. 1999). Construction projects are [...]

The dynamic nature and increasing complexity of the construction projects impose many challenges for project planning and control. As a project progresses, more information becomes available and the level of uncertainty decreases. It can be used to proactively check the validity of the previous decisions and develop revised and more detailed plans for the upcoming activities in construction planning meetings. For this purpose, this study implements ontological knowledge representation and semantic reasoning techniques to propose an intelligent information collection and decision support system framework for short-term collaborative construction and resource planning. Moreover, a new approach is suggested that allows for incorporating resource specifications and limitations, and complex multi-factor constraints in the ontological planning process. The framework was tested based on a real-world construction project and different application cases were discussed. The framework showed a promising performance for analyzing different scenarios and help the planners making informative decisions. Key words: collaborative construction planning, resource planning, ontology, semantic inference, building information modelling, decision support system. La nature dynamique et la complexite croissante des projets de construction posent de nombreux defis au niveau de la planification et du controle des projets. A mesure qu'un projet progresse, de plus amples donnees deviennent disponibles et le niveau d'incertitude diminue. Elles peuvent servir a verifier de facon proactive la validite des decisions anterieures et a elaborer des plans revises et plus detailles pour les activites a venir dans les reunions de planification de la construction. A cette fin, cette etude met en aeuvre des techniques de representation des connaissances ontologiques et de raisonnement semantique afin de proposer un cadre intelligent de collecte de donnees et de soutien a la decision pour la construction collaborative a court terme et la planification des ressources. De plus, on propose une nouvelle approche qui permet d'integrer les specifications et les limites des ressources, ainsi que les contraintes complexes multifactorielles dans le processus de planification ontologique. Le cadre a ete mis a l'essai sur la base d'un projet de construction reel et differents cas d'application ont ete discutes. Le cadre a montre une performance prometteuse pour analyser differents scenarios et aider les planificateurs a prendre des decisions en connaissance de cause. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: planification collaborative de la construction, planification des ressources, ontologie, inference semantique, modelisation des donnees du batiment, systeme d'aide a la decision., Introduction With increasing complexity and due to the dynamic nature of construction projects, planners will need to be able to cope with a large number of uncertainties. These uncertainties should [...]