Abstract
AbstractThe global infrastructure sector is thriving. But community opposition to major projects is also rising. Australian examples demonstrate the policy backflips, reputational pitfalls, and financial costs of project delays and cancellations. Failures to engage communities are surprising, given the widespread adoption of community engagement (CE) principles and the increasing professionalization of CE roles. If acceptance of the need for CE in infrastructure is more widespread than ever, why are we not seeing smoother project delivery, reduced protest, and cost savings? This paradox is the driving force behind the Next Generation Engagement project. This article offers a practitioners’ perspective to introduce the project and present key findings from its 12‐month pilot study aiming to establish a transdisciplinary, industry‐led research agenda for CE in Australia's infrastructure sector. The article contributes to our understanding of CE literature and research codesign. It maps out the top five priority themes for future research to support infrastructure selection, planning and delivery. The research agenda provides guidance for policy, and practice, offering consolidated, research‐based insights for policymakers and practitioners.
Highlights
IntroductionPopulation growth drives increasing requirements for new and upgraded infrastructure, representing energy, water, transport, housing, and social needs
Gen focuses primarily on discovery, insight, and ideation, pioneering a codesign method developed by two of the chief investigator(s) (CIs) over a 2-year period (Neely, Bortz, & Bice, 2019). This method builds the capacity of participants through a series of workshops where they are introduced to a small number of creative, iterative research design processes, including group model building, stakeholder and issues mapping, and research question design
Findings related to the value of community engagement (CE) suggest that a better understanding of CE's value and consequent integration into the entire project lifecycle is needed
Summary
Population growth drives increasing requirements for new and upgraded infrastructure, representing energy, water, transport, housing, and social needs. Responsibility to deliver these resources stretches across diverse industries, including mining, extractives, electricity, water, and sewerage, architecture, construction and urban planning, engineering, and social welfare. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that US$57 trillion is needed in global infrastructure investment up to 2030 to keep pace with demand (Dobbs et al, 2013). This is even before addressing considerable gaps in asset maintenance
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