Thesis and Research Data Repository Leeds Beckett University
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Exploring the roles of knowledge management initiatives in the improvement of the different project management areas in the Nigerian construction sector
No full textThe Nigerian construction sector is suffering from poor management, which initiates waste of time, cost, and material. Numerous tools and techniques have been formulated to enhance the project management process and deal with problems to meet stakeholders’ expectations. In Nigeria, knowledge creation, capture, organization, storage, dissemination, and application can be considered an economical initiative which can be utilised in the management of projects at any stage during the project lifecycle. The aim of this study is to explore the actual status of applying project management knowledge areas in the construction industry sector in Nigeria, to investigate the real impact of adopting knowledge management initiatives in enhancing the application of project management knowledge areas, and to explore the real benefits that have been achieved from implementing knowledge management applications in project management. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher used the descriptive, analytical, and quantitative approach to get to suppositions. This study focused on the Nigerian construction sector and was limited to those who have direct or indirect experience of implementing knowledge management in project management, whether preparing drawings, details, estimating quantities, cost management, managing, and extracting the schedules. The research sample consisted of 106 respondents. It was concluded that implementing knowledge management in project management could ultimately enhance the project management process and encompass all areas of management unevenly. Many benefits are defined, such as enhanced knowledge base + Quickly decision making, enhanced efficiency, and enhanced project outcomes.</p
Inclusive exploration of sustainable goals and solutions through Minecraft
No full textScience Hunters has successfully used the computer game Minecraft to engage children with science since 2014, using a specific approach that promotes learning within the framework of defined topics, whilst encouraging exploration of the elements that most interest individuals. The main audience is children who may be experiencing barriers to accessing educational opportunities. As an overarching endeavour, Science Hunters links to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) around inclusive education and lifelong learning opportunities (SDG 4: ‘Quality Education’). This case study focuses on the Science Hunters engineering strand, Building to Break Barriers. The project worked with children from groups under-represented in engineering, specifically including girls and ensuring clear representation (60% of 15 recruited) of women within the participating engineer cohort; linking to the SDG of empowering all women and girls (SDG 5: ‘Gender Equality’). Developed topics delivered opportunities to engage with engineering and environmental solutions to specific real-world problems. These linked, for example, to elements of the SDGs such as food security (SDG 2: ‘Zero Hunger’), ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ (SDG11), ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’ (SDG 12) and ‘Life on Land’ (SDG 15) and embedded awareness of these issues through engaging with a familiar and popular medium. Feedback included that the project “made engineering accessible” for their children, and that it was “wonderful, especially for the girls, to see so many females in STEM roles.”</p
Perceived effectiveness of Building Regulations in promoting and facilitating low energy retrofit in historic buildings
No full textThis research is in response to conflicting messages from construction industry professionals around the correct approach to the challenge of retrofitting historic buildings (pre-1919) for energy efficiency. Building Regulations are often cited as a barrier to effective retrofit of historic buildings (Jenkins, 2021)– both by those who consider the minimum stipulated standards inadequate to enact change, and conversely, by those who think Building Regulations impose too rigid methods that are incompatible with risk-free retrofit. Recent new uplifts in Approved Documents Part L Conservation of Fuel and Power (DLUHC, 2021a) and Part F Ventilation (DLUHC, 2021b) directly affect retrofit design considerations in existing buildings. Building Regulations have a role to make sure buildings are going to be safe, healthy and high-performing and must play a crucial role in improving standards if we are to decarbonize existing buildings to targets. The study uses two data collection methods to gauge what industry considers the impact the uplifted requirements will be on fabric improvements, specifically to historic buildings. The paper examines public responses to proposed changes from relevant organisations. This is counterpoised with some individual voices on the ground from conservation professional practice and building control. It draws conclusions on how the changes are perceived in terms of effectiveness. Results show that the conservation profession tightly guards heritage works and avoids engagement in what appears to be a weak and ineffectual regulatory system. It is too early to gauge how uplifts that came into enforcement in June 2022 will impact the regulatory system for historic building retrofit, but the study indicates they have not yet gone far enough to bring about the ‘cultural shift’ The Hackitt Review (MHCLG, 2018a) so desperately called for.</p
Integrating wind variability to modelling wind-ramp events using a non-binary ramp function and deep learning models
No full textThe forecasting of large ramps in wind power output known as ramp events is crucial for the incorporation of large volumes of wind energy into national electricity grids. Large variations in wind power supply must be compensated by ancillary energy sources which can include the use of fossil fuels. Improved prediction of wind power will help to reduce dependency on supplemental energy sources along with their associated costs and emissions. In this paper, we discuss limitations of current predictive practices and explore the use of Machine Learning methods to enhance wind ramp event classification and prediction. We additionally outline a design for a novel approach to wind ramp prediction, in which high-resolution wind fields are incorporated to the modelling of wind power.</p
Do Job Advertisements Promote Gender Inequality in the Construction Sector?
No full textThe poor performance of construction projects remains a topical issue in the academic field of construction management. Across the globe, statistical data indicates that the construction sector is male dominated. The observed inequality is linked to conflicts, which is one of the main reasons for the poor performance of construction projects. The current study aims to explore the differences between job adverts for male [construction manager] and female [social worker] dominated sectors of the economy by comparing word usage. Text mining was used to unearth the differences in the content of the job advertisements for these two roles. The findings indicate that masculine words [such as leader] are the most commonly used words in the job adverts for construction manager roles. The findings suggest that the content of job adverts seem to promote gender stereotypes associated with employment in the construction sector. Such gender cues may contribute to the gender differences in the construction workforce. Taken together, these findings suggest that there is a need to embed gender-neutral words in job adverts placed by construction sector.</p
Preface and Editorial
No full textSociology sets out to develop the sociological imagination of those who study it, allowing us to think critically and reflexively about the social world around us and make sense of the relationship between our personal experiences and wider society. This approach to interrogating the world is embodied in this collection of critical reflections written by final year students on the Sociology degree programmes here at Leeds Beckett University. The reflections in this volume underline both the breadth of the subject and its power to shed light on the familiar and the taken for granted. They tackle a wide range of contemporary issues such as online content creators and influencers, fast fashion, Covid, and big data. To do this, they apply theory as an interrogative and explanatory tool, tackling these subjects through the lens of, for example, neoliberalism, surveillance, risk society and class, underlining its central role in Sociology.</p
Gendered Reflexive Projects of the Self: Individualisation or Visual Standardisation?
No full textContemporary society has witnessed an increase in the prevalence of aesthetic surgery within mainstream culture, such as nonmedical cosmetic procedures performed by surgeons to reshape the visual aesthetic of a patient (Gilman, 2000). A fundamental feature of cosmetic corporate marketing is language which advocates improved safety and natural, lasting results (Swanson, 2013). By utilising intrinsically gendered adjectives - such as ‘more youthful,’ ‘less tired’ - the concept of an empowering ‘makeover culture’ is reinforced whereby ‘the self is a project continually to be worked on’ with endless choices (Alsop & Lennon, 2018: 100).</p
Heritage-led Urban Regeneration & the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
No full textHeritage-led urban regeneration is expected to be closely linked to the UN 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as highlighted in (SDG-11.4). However, gentrification, excessive tourism, social exclusion, and others tend to take place in World Heritage Cities and contradict many aspects of urban sustainability in general and the SDGs. This is due to the shortcoming of SDGs in addressing cultural and social sustainability as equally important pillars to environmental and economic sustainability as well as the lack of their clear visibility and integration within WH cities’ policies and practices. This paper first investigates and positions heritage and culture within the UN Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 -namely SDGs 8, 11 and 17- in order to identify the current shortcomings of SDGs in addressing social and cultural sustainability. The case study of the recently inscribed city of As-Salt on the World Heritage List is used to illustrate the need for rebalancing the conflicting priorities of different stakeholders and the consequences of the SDGs’ shortcomings particularly with regards to intangible heritage and the local communities as the carrier of that heritage. Second, the paper investigates other UN initiatives for Sustainable Development, namely the Historical Urban Landscape recommendations (HUL) and the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and suggests how these could be integrated in a timely manner under the umbrella of the SDGs targets. This is done in order to rebalance cultural and social sustainability in the urban regeneration scenarios and processes within World Heritage Cities.</p
Mapping knowledge domains of research on Corporate Social Responsibility in the built Environment
No full textOver the years Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been studied and implemented as an essential practice in many organizations being reflective of a growing corporate environmental, economic, and social conscience. In addition to the acknowledged benefits of increased company performance and its use as a strategic marketing approach (Albus and Ro, 2016). As such, it has become a critical subject in the literature from a strategic perspective due to its benefits. . However, it’s application in the built environment is unknown and this study seeks to fill that gap by assessing the current state of research into CSR, along with a detailed analysis identifying the areas of study that have been exhausted and those that require further investigation. This study will attempt to expose what is missing from current research to effectively guide future research of CSR within the built environment. The study adopted a quantitative strategy using a bibliometric approach to identify and analyse papers in the field of CSR in the built environment using Scopus abstract and citation databases from 1957 to 2022. The findings revealed a limited endeavour by academics to understand CRS within the built environment until the early 2000’s where it began to grow in popularity as a research area. . . This suggests CRS is still at a nescient stage which provides opportunity for further investigation in the areas identified The implications of this research are that areas of Corporate Social Responsibility of the built environment that have not been sufficiently studied can be identified and suggestions made for further investigation.</p
Potential Strategies for Enhancing Solar Architectural Skins
No full textAs the climate crisis requires lowering carbon emissions on multiple fronts, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) can reduce buildings’ reliance on energy from fossil fuelsby supplying them with electricity generated from a renewable source. Integratingphotovoltaics into the building envelope brings advantages such as onsite energygeneration and economic savings, besides improving aesthetics compared to buildingapplied photovoltaic (BAPV) solutions. Nonetheless, embedding photovoltaics intoarchitectural skins entails a trade-off between appearance and efficient energy generation.While regulatory frameworks and dropping prices have facilitated the spread of first- andsecond-generation photovoltaics for architectural applications, less establishedphotovoltaic-based technologies may have the potential to improve the efficiency andappearance of solar architectural skins. They may reduce the amount of photovoltaicmaterial to be integrated into the building envelope while increasing its energy conversionefficiency. Through an interdisciplinary review of academic literature and design examples,this study explores the potential of less-established photovoltaic-based solutions forarchitectural façade applications. It relates advances in photovoltaics to existing façadedesigns, towards proposing a range of potential strategies for improving buildings’architectural image and electricity generation through façade-integrated solartechnologies.</p