Learning to become adaptive

Abstract

The management of infrastructure networks in many countries faces challenges due to, for example, climate change, ageing infrastructure facilities, and demographic changes. Such challenges put the performance of infrastructure networks under pressure. In providing adequate infrastructure facilities for society, public infrastructure administrators often use a project management approach. These project-oriented organisations have to be adaptive to cope with the challenges that they face. Learning is considered an important element of adaptivity in literature. Although projects may support local adaptation, projects may operate relatively autonomous from their parent organisation and learning often remains confined within individual projects. However, learning between projects and between projects and their parent organisation is necessary for project-oriented organisations to become adaptive as a whole. This study uses frameworks for collective and organisational learning to understand how learning across projects and their parent organisation can be enhanced. This understanding may contribute to effective creation of adaptivity in project-oriented organisations in infrastructure planning. This study shows that interaction is essential for learning. The findings also show how interaction beyond the boundaries of individual projects and even beyond the boundaries of an organisation can be facilitated through hubs. In-depth case analyses of multiple infrastructure programmes, and inter- and intra-organisational communities of practice reveal the characteristics of these hubs and show how these hubs can facilitate collective learning. The results of this study are useful for public infrastructure administrators and other project-oriented organisations that aim to enhance collective learning across their organisation and, by doing so, enhance the adaptivity of their organisation.