Thesis and Research Data Repository Leeds Beckett University
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Review of Asset Management and Maintenance Practices in Buildings
No full textThis paper provides a comprehensive review of asset management and maintenance practices in buildings, highlighting the necessity for efficient strategies to minimize energy waste and lifecycle costs. It explores key components of the asset management process, including condition assessment methods, degradation modelling approaches, maintenance strategies, post-repair asset condition, and asset clustering techniques for maintenance prioritization. At each stage, the most important papers have been included, and their perspectives examined and compared against alternative viewpoints. Finally, the application of machine learning in this domain has been examined.</p
Evaluating the Environmental Impacts of Conventional Buildings at the Maintenance Phase Using Life Cycle Assessment
No full textAlthough it is critical to design and construct buildings for long-term sustainability, there is a paucity of studies on the climatic effects of building material emissions during maintenance. This study employs life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental impacts (Acidification, eutrophication, global warming/climate change, and ozone depletion) of construction materials during the maintenance phase of a conventional residential building. Material quantities were derived from the building design, while additional data for the assessment were sourced from the Ecoinvent Ecoquery version 3.8 (2021) database, historical records and relevant literature. This study's conceptual framework is rooted in durability theory, focusing on material permanency and longevity. A baseline assessment was conducted using primary conventional materials, followed by iterative material replacement to optimise the evaluation. The frequency of replacement activities determines the emissions during maintenance, the building's service, and the assemblies and systems employed. Residential construction projects can utilise this material sustainability initiative to make their work more eco-friendly by replacing traditional components with low-emission alternatives. To decrease the frequency of material replacement and maintenance, designers, clients, contractors, and relevant stakeholders should constantly use materials with a longer duration to reduce their maintenance frequency.</p
Root Causes of Maintenance Backlogs in the UK NHS Estates
No full textHealthcare is a critical infrastructure essential for social well-being, providing vital services that directly impact patient safety, operational efficiency, and clinical outcomes. As the UK’s national healthcare provider, the NHS (National Health Service) relies on this infrastructure to deliver high-quality care. Despite its importance, NHS estates face a rapidly escalating £13.8 billion maintenance backlog (2023/24), growing by 13.6% annually. This backlog jeopardises operational integrity and long-term viability of healthcare facilities. Through thematic analysis of seven expert interviews, this study identifies systemic root causes: aging assets and infrastructures, funding and resource constraints, data management & digital transformation, workforce and skills gap, maintenance culture and planning inefficiencies, regulatory and standards compliance, and external and environmental risks. Existing research lacks granularity in addressing these drives. This study offers a novel taxonomy to equip policy makers and NHS leaders with the insights necessary to develop effective strategies for reducing backlog growth and ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality healthcare services.</p
The steps toward (nearly) net-zero. One university’s path to achieving net-zero scope one and two
No full textMany organisations are working to mitigate the effects of climate change by aiming to reach net zero in the future. This paper explores how one university has already achieved (Nearly) net zero (Scopes 1 and 2). It examines both the tangible changes to the university’s buildings and operations and the less tangible behavioural and leadership changes that needed to be implemented to reach full net-zero, including Scope 3. The paper employs the MIR (Multidisciplinary Research framework) as a comprehensive approach to research. The MIR emphasises collaboration across various disciplines to address complex problems. This study uses industry and academic researchers from fields such as building surveying, architecture, and business psychology. The case study was conducted over a twelve-month period, reflecting the journey of the case-study university from 2014 to 2025 towards net zero and the implementation of the required sustainability changes. Data was collected from five primary sources: documents, archival data, interviews, observation, and ethnographic data. The paper shows that sustainability-focused leadership, behavioural changes, and physical changes to the building are intertwined and equally important to achieving net-zero. It identifies gaps in the current standards, particularly regarding hybrid and remote working and the different approach required to tackle scope three emissions. It also underscores the necessity for flexible building and organisational management to truly attain a sustainable net-zero organisation.</p
Interview transcripts: LILAC Stories: Exploring the long-term impact of the LILAC Conference on the Information Literacy Community
No full textThis dataset contains anonymised interview transcripts collected as part of the research project 'LILAC Stories: Exploring the long-term impact of the LILAC Conference on the Information Literacy Community'. The interviews were conducted to explore how conference attendance is perceived in terms of professional value, measurable learning, and organisational benefit.Dataset DescriptionEach transcript is provided as a separate Word document and grouped together in a ZIP file.Interviews were conducted between May 2023 and June 2024 with librarians, higher education managers, and information literacy academics based in the UK and Ireland. 14 participants volunteered to take part following a call for contributors at the LILAC Conferences in 2023 and 2024. All interviews were semi-structured and conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Participants gave informed consent for anonymised transcripts to be shared for research purposes. Researchers are welcome to use the transcripts for secondary analysis relating to professional development or the impact of LIS conferences.</p
AI and the Service Economy: How Male Working-Class Culture Is Maintained in a Post-Industrial Economy
No full textIt is estimated that by 2025 automated intelligence or ‘AI’ could eliminate around 85 million jobs worldwide (Jumaev, 2024). Whilst this seems to be a rather glum figure, the World Economic Forum also predicts that around 97 million new jobs across various industries could be created thanks to the uprising of automation and AI, however does this really create new opportunities for the global marketplace, or in reality is this mass rise in AI setting a landscape for a precarious labour force where workers are forced into ‘bullshit jobs’ and alienation?</p
Hyperspectral Imaging for Subcutaneous Vein Detection
No full textSubcutaneous vein detection is critical in medical procedures like venipuncture and catheter placement. This PhD thesis introduces comprehensive research on Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI)-based vein detec tion. A Hyperspectral (HS) image dataset, called HyperVein, for vein detection is presented. The effectiveness of several state-of-the-art dimensionality reduction techniques, including Principal Com ponent Analysis (PCA), Folded Principal Component Analysis (FPCA), and Ward’s Linkage Strategy using Mutual Information (WaLuMI), along with Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification for vein detection, is investigated using the HyperVein dataset. Results show that FPCA-based methods generate more accurate results than WaLuMI and PCA-based methods. An effective dimensionality reduction method for vein detection from HS images, called Inter Band Correlation and Clustering (ICC), was developed. The proposed ICC method normalizes each spectral band, computes a correlation matrix across normalized HS images, and uses a subset of the correlation matrix’s eigenvectors to create a feature space by projecting the input HS image data onto the eigenvectors. Clustering is then applied to the resulting feature space coefficients to map them into a more effective feature space, generating the dimensionality reduced representation of the input HS image. The reduced HS image and SVM classification algorithm were used for vein detection. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms existing methods. A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based method for vein detection in HS images of human hands is proposed. It applies PCA, FPCA, WaLuMI and ICC_k-means and ICC_spectral dimensional ity reduction techniques to extract HS image features. A 3D-CNN model was trained on dimensionality reduced HSI data to accurately identify vein pixel locations. Experimental results demonstrate that the ICC_k-means method outperforms PCA and FPCA.</p
Parents' and professionals' experiences of the Education, Health and Care Plan process. Using thematic and narrative analyses to understand partnerships and practices.
No full textThere is hegemonic knowledge and a growing body of literature that demonstrates that the process of seeking support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has long been a challenge. This has remained the case, despite the Children and Families Act (2014) mandating a single Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), aimed at improving the process for families, supporting partnership and interagency working, and enabling better outcomes for children with SEND. The system remains largely adversarial, lacks accountability and results in ineffective provision for children with SEND. Existing research into experiences of the EHCP process since the reforms largely focusses on the views of parents and education professionals.
This research shares new insights into experiences of the EHCP process using a critical realist position and involving two qualitative studies. Study 1 explored the experiences and views of 13 parents via interviews and one focus group. Their views were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) (Braun & Clarke, 2022) which explained the challenges and impact of the process and the fundamental need for strong partnerships. The data representing the challenges of the process was further explored using a narrative analysis of the battle metaphor, which is commonly associated with accessing support for children with SEND.
Study 2 involved 10 professionals from education, health and social care backgrounds who joined 3 focus groups and shared their perspectives of the EHCP process, as well as commenting on the views of the parents from study 1. This data was analysed using RTA, and the theory of practice architectures (Kemmis, 2008) was used to interpret the data and explore professional practices. This analysis illustrated the practice architectures that scaffold and constrain the enmeshed ‘sayings’, ‘doings’ and ‘relatings’ of practices involving EHCPs. The tensions within the system were exposed and understood. This analysis has shown that whilst the ideologies of transdisciplinarity, parent-professional partnerships and person-centredness set out in the reforms are sound, they are unattainable within the current sociocultural, political and financial landscape and as such, represent metaphorical ‘unicorns’ that professionals chase, but inevitably struggle to capture.
The EHCP system remains challenging for both parents and professionals, in a climate of reduced resources and competing agendas. The findings from both studies have illuminated a need to invest in relationships. Recommendations are shared to improve the system, with the overall aim of enhancing outcomes for children and young people with SEND
Bridging the Gap: Graduate and Employer Perspectives on Employability Skills Development in Higher Education – A Mixed Methods Study in Jordan
No full textThis research investigates the dynamics of graduate employability in the Jordanian labour market, focusing on the alignment between higher education outcomes and labour market needs. Using a triangulated mixed-methods approach, the research integrates survey data from 336 graduates and 292 employers with in-depth interviews involving 21 graduates and 11 employers. The study explores perceptions of employability skills, identifies skills gaps, examines recruitment practices, and highlights structural barriers affecting graduate employment. Findings reveal a significant skills gap, with employers perceiving graduates as lacking essential competencies, particularly in adaptability and practical workplace skills. In contrast, graduates tend to overestimate their skills, indicating misalignment in expectations. External factors such as socio-economic background, cultural norms, including gender disparities and reliance on informal networks (wasta), further exacerbate employability challenges. Additionally, the limited integration of workbased learning within university curricula, contributes to the mismatch between higher education outcomes and industry demands. The research contributes to the literature by proposing a contextualised employability model that incorporates external factors influencing graduates’ employability. It offers recommendations, including enhancing curriculum reforms, expanding work-based learning opportunities, and initiatives to address socio-economic and cultural barriers. Policy interventions are also suggested to support the collaboration between higher education institutions and employers, ensuring that educational programs are responsive to labour market. By addressing the challenges of the Jordanian context, the research lays a foundation for future studies to explore comparative analyses, longitudinal impacts, and the role of emerging technologies in shaping employability. The findings highlight the need for a collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach to bridge the gap between higher education institutions and industry, enhancing economic development and career progression in Jordan and similar contexts.</p
International Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS) Conference 2025 - Conference Proceedings
No full textConference theme: Pursuing sustainability from an auxiliary commitment to a core priority, beyond common-sense, in a changing political and socio-economic landscape.Across previous years, our understanding of the influence of the socio-economic characteristics on sustainable practices has seen a significant advancement. However, the political characteristics contribute little to our understanding of sustainable behaviour amidst change in national policies, housing, contribution to the natural environment, use of innovations, value for money, and overall impact of power within relative markets. For some, the impact of any change on the political landscape would ultimately mean an impact on the adoption of sustainable solutions, while for others, such a change does not necessarily entail a primary course of action.Amidst a change of political agendas, we now yet again find ourselves overlooking various scenarios that challenge the core tenets of Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS). Without delving into the plausible adverse effects of political decisions, and often also the indecisions, we stand to offer a little more than applied commonsense, as commonsense to promote these tenets may now need to be crafted in a slightly distinctive way.This year we ask...How do we redefine the ways we convey sustainability and ecological engineering, from a rather often seen auxiliary solutions to fit within the core values of any upcoming change?This question will be critically investigated in this conference by trying to reach sensible answers to some of the complex questions, for, as Thomas Sowell’s famous quote in A Conflict of Visions, “There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs”. It is indeed healthy to have scepticism toward one-size-fits-all solutions, and to embrace the complexity of decision-making.To advance these arguments, the conference themes will encompass:Socio-economic Influence on Sustainability: The impact of socio-economic characteristics on sustainable practices and behaviours.Global and Local Political Agendas: The shifts in political agendas and their role in challenging existing policies, housing, ecological engineering, and market powers on sustainability adoption.Political Decisions and Indecisions: Adverse effects of political actions and inactions on ecological engineering and sustainability.Contextual Sustainability Narratives: Narratives that align longstanding sustainability goals with existing political priorities.Interdisciplinary Exploration of Sustainability: Sustainability and ecological engineering through diverse perspectives and tailored approaches.</p