Project Implementation Phase Research Articles

Community Engagement and Collaboration between Researchers and Community Stakeholders for Schistosomiasis and Malaria Projects in Ingwavuma, uMkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal.

Community engagement is a multiphase process that is crucial for successful community-based health interventions. This study investigates the collaborative phase of community engagement, specifically within a co-developed framework implemented in uMkhanyakude District, South Africa. A qualitative case study approach was employed to explore the experiences of key community stakeholders during the collaborative phase of project implementation. Data collection involved key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and direct observation. The findings demonstrate the potential for effective collaboration among village headmen, community advisory board members, and community research assistants to address local health challenges. Community research assistants played a particularly valuable role in facilitating participatory research and hands-on engagement with researchers. However, several barriers hindered the collaborative process, including demanding work conditions, communication issues regarding compensation, inappropriate behavior from the research team, and culturally insensitive interactions. While community-based participatory research offers a promising collaborative approach for addressing health issues, a careful consideration of local socio-cultural dynamics is essential to avoid misunderstandings and overcome potential barriers. Addressing these challenges is crucial to ensuring that collaborative partnerships effectively empower communities and achieve sustainable improvements in health outcomes.

Forecasting financial distress in listed Chinese construction firms: leveraging ensemble learning and non-financial variables

The construction industry, characterized by high business failure rates due to complex, capital-intensive projects, is crucial for China’s economy. Predicting financial distress and early warnings is crucial to prevent crises. While financial ratios are commonly used, non-financial information remains underexplored, with limited empirical evidence supporting its effectiveness in enhancing predictive accuracy. Additionally, most studies on financial distress prediction focus on constructing single classifiers without utilizing ensemble models that integrate multiple algorithms, resulting in suboptimal prediction accuracy. To address these problems, this study presents a model that uses accounting variables and firm characteristics, construction market dynamics, and macroeconomic indicators to predict the probability of failure one to two years in advance. The model uses a soft voting-based ensemble algorithm, financial ratios refined through the recursive feature elimination with cross-validation (RFECV) algorithm, and dataset balancing via Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling Technique + Tomek Link (SMOTETomek). The comparison results indicate that the predictive performance of the soft voting ensemble model outperforms all single classifiers across all combinations of input variables and prediction years. Additionally, incorporating non-financial variables, such as firm characteristics, construction market dynamics, and macroeconomic indicators, further enhances the model’s accuracy. The proposed model can be effectively employed to help stakeholders mitigate the risks associated with the financial distress of construction companies before the project implementation phase.

Collective and Individual Self-Regulation Processes During a Project-Based Learning Process

In higher education, students are faced with group tasks, such as project-based learning. However, research on self-regulated learning has paid little attention to the details of collective self-regulation. In this framework, the objective of this research was to determine the impact of the feeling of collective efficacy on the performance of groups of students involved in self-regulation processes in project-based learning. The quantitative approach was adopted. The type of descriptive research and field design. The 45 volunteer participants of an education program at the National University of the Altiplano completed a questionnaire that explored different aspects of self-regulation: Use of human resources, setting objectives, collective efficacy, expression of disagreements, and quality of interactions. The questionnaire comprised 20 items rated on a Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree), and included two open-ended questions aimed at understanding strategies for managing doubts and maintaining interest int the project. The results show that the feeling of collective efficiency is a significant predictor of the final grade in the project and that the group’s ability to define the objectives precisely and prioritize them contributes significantly to the development of the feeling of collective efficacy. The conclusion exposes the pedagogical implications of these results, emphasizing the essential role of tutors in fostering an environment conducive to collective efficacy by guiding students in defining, prioritizing objectives, and managing doubts effectively. This guidance is crucial, especially in the early phases of project implementation, to establish a dynamic of collective efficacy and develop individual interest in the project.

Faktor Penyebab Contract Change Order pada Proyek Konstruksi Sumber Daya Air Padang Pariaman

Government infrastructure projects in water resources projects generally apply a unit price contract system. This is because implementing a unit price contract system is not difficult and is balanced in terms of sharing risks from contract changes between providers and users of construction services. In the unit price contract system, it is very possible for contract changes to occur on construction projects. Changes in the implementation of construction projects can occur repeatedly and are difficult to avoid. The aim of the research is to identify the factors that cause Contract Change Orders and the dominant factors that cause them during the implementation phase of construction projects in the water resources sector. The research was carried out by distributing questionnaires to respondents involved in water resources construction project work at the Padang Pariaman PUPR Service for the 2019 to 2021 budget year and then carrying out factor analysis. In research on the factors that cause Contract Change Orders to occur during the implementation phase of water resources construction projects in Padang Pariaman Regency, there are 4 factors that cause Contract Change Orders during the implementation phase of water resources construction projects, namely managerial factors, regulatory factors. from parties who have the authority to make decisions, planning factors, design change factors. The dominant factor that causes the Contract Change Order to occur during the implementation stage of a water resources construction project is the managerial factor.

Spatiotemporal variations in eco-environmental quality and responses to drought and human activities in the middle reaches of the Yellow River basin, China from 1990 to 2022

The middle reaches of the Yellow River basin (MYRB) are among the regions most severely affected by soil erosion globally. It has always held a pivotal role in soil and water conservation and ecological restoration efforts in China. Nonetheless, in the face of recurrent drought occurrences and growing human intervention, there have been notable alterations in the eco-environmental quality (EEQ) within the MYRB. However, the influences of drought and human intervention on the EEQ of MYRB remain unclear. In this study, the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) was applied to quantify the spatiotemporal changes in EEQ and the contributions of drought and land use type transitions to EEQ in the MYRB from 1990 to 2022. The results showed that the EEQ in the MYRB fluctuated significantly and exhibited a weak overall improvement trend over the past 33 years. The proportion of good and excellent grades for EEQ significantly improved, while the proportion of poor and fair grades significantly decreased, especially in the northern regions. The trend of changes in EEQ follows a phased pattern. During the periods of 1990–2002 and 2011–2022, an improving trend is observed, while the period of 2003–2010 shows no significant change in EEQ. Drought had the strongest influence on the EEQ from 2003 to 2010, followed by that from 1990 to 2002, and had a lesser impact in the period from 2011 to 2022. The EEQ was primarily positively influenced by spring, autumn and winter droughts and negatively affected by summer droughts, especially in arid grassland and unused land areas. The EEQ in the MYRB improved primarily during the initial and final phases of the ecological projects, with a lesser impact from drought. The increase in EEQ during the initial phases of ecological project implementation was less noticeable, and drought significantly affected EEQ during this period.

Challenges and enablers for scaling up interventions targeting non-communicable diseases: a qualitative study applying the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to 19 research projects worldwide

IntroductionScaling up interventions targeting non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a global health priority, and implementation research can contribute to that effort. In 2019, the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases funded 27...

Examining the Significance of Communication in the Context of Future Engineers: A Comparative Analysis

The study looks at how engineering teams may use communication to innovate, emphasising how important it is to communicate throughout the project's ideation and implementation phases. It looks into how effective communication can encourage the exchange of ideas, spark creative thinking, and lead to the development of ground-breaking solutions for difficult technical challenges. The study also looks into how communication impacts project management practices, highlighting how crucial it is for setting clear objectives, monitoring due dates, and lowering risks. The research emphasises the critical relationship between communication skills and project performance in engineering pursuits by elucidating these connections. The ethical implications of communication in the engineering domain are also examined, with a focus on issues of honesty, integrity, and openness in interpersonal interactions. Through bringing these moral issues up in conversation, the study provides a thorough grasp of the function of communication in engineering practice and education. In order to cultivate a new generation of proficient communicators who will be able to foster innovation and growth in the sector, it also provides stakeholders in academia and industry with helpful ideas.

Optimization of Cost Performance Index in Construction Project Based on Influencing Factors

Project control has become a critical success factor in the project implementation phase. The execution of construction projects requires a well-planned and designed management system to achieve optimal results. The development of a project always involves several issues that need to be managed, one of which is cost. The planning and implementation stages greatly influence cost escalation in a construction project. Earned value method is a method of project controlling, through performance indicators in execution phase including cost performance index. This research aims to develops a financing model in project implementation based on the project's cost performance index and influencing factors. The data was collected by distributing questionnaires to project stakeholders involved in construction. Modelling was generated with combining earned value criteria with a dynamic systems approach. The result shows that the developed model was run well through verification and validation. The model and manual calculation generates the same value of cost performance index at the control point (at week 32) of 1,29. The value is greater than 1, therefore indicates no cost overruns or potential savings. The final goal of this study is the accuracy of actual costs by controlling the causal factors through model simulations.

Pricing Adjustments of Investment Costs of Infrastructure Projects in the Slovak Republic: A Risk Worthy of Attention

The present article aims to highlight the risk of potential price adjustments associated with the uncertainty of market price volatility of construction activities during the implementation phase of infrastructure transport projects. Price adjustments in the conditions of the Slovak Republic are regulated by methodological guidelines, the main determinants of which are selected items of macroeconomic inflation indicators with a significant impact on the resulting volumes of financial claims for price adjustment and the total investment costs of project implementation. The impacts of the values of the macroeconomic forecast indicators in question on the volumes of price adjustments and co-financing of the public administration budget were examined based on regularly updated and published macroeconomic forecasts.

Feasibility study of Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop corridor: Challenges and implementation

Considering making an efficient and sustainable ecosystem, the futuristic Hyperloop with Pod is considered a significant contributor in the coming years. However, the development and construction of the Hyperloop project is not easy. The research aims to analyze and evaluate the major factors involved in the success or failure of the Hyperloop project using the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) approach and using (Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement (cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) MICMAC analysis. This method helped determine the inter-relationship among the factors and identify the key factors affecting the Hyperloop project. The work also explores the subfactors related to each major factor, which helps refine the major factors and understand their complex relationships. The research also includes data from a survey that was conducted to gather public opinion on the Hyperloop project. The survey questions were designed to collect information about factors such as user accessibility, experience, time, cost, convenience, and environmental impact. The collected data was analyzed to conclude public perception and acceptance, which is an important factor in determining the feasibility and viability of the Hyperloop project. The approach provided a holistic view of the project and helped identify potential issues that could arise during the Hyperloop project implementation phase.

The Potential Causes of Contractual Change Orders Sourced from The Construction Phase of The Building Project

The process of implementing construction projects often encounters changes. One of these changes is the change order. After recognizing its existence, the change is formalized by the issuance of a change order, which is a document that describes the scope of the change and its impact on project performance. If agreement is not reached between project participants on the changes, it becomes a claim or dispute that can negatively affect project implementation and reduce the chances of project success. Changes in construction projects are frequent and can occur from many different sources, for many different reasons, at any phase of the project and can have far-reaching impacts. This study aims to identify the factors that cause Contractual Change Order (CCO) to arise during the construction phase of building projects in Banda Aceh. This study uses a quantitative method with data collection techniques through distributing questionnaires to 36 contractor companies in Banda Aceh City. Data testing was done with validity and reliability tests, while the data analysis used was descriptive. From the research results, 16 CCO factors were identified during the construction project implementation phase. It was determined the two main causes of change orders from the contractors` view are bad weather conditions and soil conditions.

Bringing stakeholders on board in the development of integrated care through the Theory of Change approach

Similar to other fields, research and implementation in the field of long-term care (LTC) provision in the community increasingly focuses on taking on participative approaches to improve the quality of LTC. However, levels of participation differ vastly in terms of needed resources, aims and opportunities - ranging from informing experts by experience to co-design and involvement in action research. Our presentation is targeted at providers, policy makers and researchers who aim for engaging diverse stakeholders in the development of LTC in the community. We will present how InCARE included a wide range of stakeholders, including experts by experience, in developing three pilot projects aiming at improving LTC for older people in Spain, North Macedonia and Austria. We will focus on how we used the Theory of Change (ToC) approach and subsequent stakeholder workshops in the Austrian pilot project context. This participation process started in 2021 and aimed at informing and engaging stakeholders in the field of LTC in the province of Styria. Two consecutive participatory Theory of Change workshops prior to the project implementation phase both contributed to the quality of the pilot project by adapting it to the local context, and also heightened interest locally and regionally. Subsequent stakeholder workshops tackled issues raised in the ToC workshops, such as financing of LTC provision and relief options for informal carers. Starting the project during a time of thorough Covid-19 restrictions, the ToC workshops had to be conducted online. For various reasons, we decided to use online formats also for subsequent stakeholder workshops in the year 2022. We will present the advantages and challenges of using Theory of Change for stakeholder engagement, including the structuring of the process, the adaptation to the local context, how to heighten a sense of ownership, and what resources are needed. We will also highlight the advantages and disadvantages of online formats, including possibilities for a less-hierarchical communication. Taking the implementation of the local pilot project as an example, we will also link our experience to questions of participation, representation by proxy, self-representation and political representation. 

Application of Meta-Programming Techniques for Accelerating Software Development and Improving Quality

A contemporary software tool has been devised to evaluate software quality through metric analysis techniques. This tool calculates pertinent metrics utilizing quality indicators and establishes a composite quality indicator value for software products. The intricacies of software quality assessment processes have been elucidated, including the examination of software quality's standardization as well as the presentation level of its model. This enables the potential for enhancement through the formulation of suitable criteria for quality assessment, refining models for metric analysis, and quantitatively measuring quality across all phases of project implementation. Notably, the use of metric analysis to gauge software quality reveals a lack of standardized metrics, resulting in varying assessment methods and metrics from different measurement system providers. Interpreting metric values also proves challenging for most software users due to a lack of clarity and informativeness. Furthermore, it has been discovered that while decisions based on cost, development duration, and designer company reputation influence software implementation choices, they do not always guarantee optimal software quality.

Analysis of the Effectiveness of Project Risk Management (PRM) on the Project Success: Focused on the Implementation Phase of Overseas Construction Projects

Analysis of the Effectiveness of Project Risk Management (PRM) on the Project Success: Focused on the Implementation Phase of Overseas Construction Projects

Research on the Application of Heterogeneous Cellular Automata in the Safety Control and Detection System of Construction Project Implementation Phase

In construction engineering safety management, the problem of construction workers’ unsafe behavior (CWUB) has always been a focus for researchers as well as practice managers. Currently, most studies focus on the influencing factors and mechanisms of (CWUB), with less attention given to the dissemination process and control effects of CWUB. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate a safety control detection system for the transmission process. The heterogeneous cellular automaton (CA) has advantages in constructing such a system as it can reflect the interactive processes of construction workers from micro to macro, local to global, and consider the heterogeneity of individuals and space, satisfying unequal interaction probabilities between individuals and spatial variations in characteristics. The SEIR model accurately categorizes construction workers and visually represents the changing quantities of different state groups at each stage. It effectively describes the process of CWUB transmission among construction workers. Based on the aforementioned foundation, a safety control and monitoring system was proposed for the implementation stages of the project. Finally, the control detection system is simulated to assess its effectiveness. Simulation results closely align with reality, showing a continuous decrease in susceptible individuals, a peak followed by a rapid decline in latent and infected individuals, and a steady increase in immune individuals. To control CWUB transmission, it is crucial to enhance immunity against unsafe behaviors, reduce the rate of immunity conversion, and shorten the disease cycle caused by such behaviors. This research has practical implications for construction projects.

Evaluasi Manajemen Risiko Proyek Konstruksi Terhadap Biaya Operasional Proyek Menggunakan Metode AHP

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the risk management of the PT X project in order to reduce the impact of project operational cost overruns. Inherent risk during project implementation at PT X has been managed by implementing risk management referring to ISO 31000:2018. However, there are changes in risks that arise during the implementation of construction projects which cause changes in the risk profile. Methodology/Approach: The uniqueness of this research is a case study with a mixed-method approach which is analyzed using the AHP method. Findings: The results of this study state that there are seven project risk factors consisting of quality risk, economic and financial risk, technical risk, OSH risk, social risk, non-technical risk, and human resource risk. The seven factors are divided into 21 sub-factors of project risk at PT X. Practical and Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This article contributes to the updating of the relevant risk assessments in the project. Research Limitation: The limitation of this research is that the scope is only the risk management of the project implementation phase.

Inclusive stakeholder engagement for equitable knowledge co-production: Insights from the EU’sHorizon 2020programme in climate change research

We develop and apply the concept of equitable knowledge co-production (EKC) by proposing a reflexive framework to support inclusive stakeholder engagement with diverse knowledge-holders. This framework is built on the authors’ experiences of leading three ongoingHorizon 2020projects, and its goal is to contribute to the realisation of epistemic and recognition justice in the context of large-scale research and innovation projects by raising awareness of how knowledge co-production is carried out during the project proposal and implementation phases.

Decreasing trends in total suspended solids and cumulative effects of nonpoint source projects in the Cuyahoga River Watershed, OH

Using the US EPA’s Grants Reporting and Tracking System (GRTS), we test if completion of best management practices (BMPs) through the Clean Water Act Section (§)319 National Nonpoint Source Program was associated with a decreasing trend in total suspended solids (TSS) load (metric tons/year). The study area chosen had 21 completed projects in the Cuyahoga River watershed in northeastern Ohio from 2000 to 2018. The §319 projects ranged from dam removal, floodplain/wetland restoration to stormwater projects. There was an overall decreasing trend in TSS loads. We identified three phases of project implementation and completion, where phase 1 had ongoing projects, but none completed (2000–2004). The steepest decrease in loads, identified as phase 2 (2005–2011), was associated with completion of low-head dam modification and removal projects on the mainstem of the Cuyahoga River. A likely decreasing trend was associated with projects completed in the tributaries, such as natural channel design restoration and stormwater green infrastructure (phase 3). Pairing sediment reduction estimates from projects with the river’s flow normalized TSS loading trend, we estimated that the §319 effort may account for a small fraction of the TSS load reduction. Other stream restoration projects (non-§319) have also been done in the Cuyahoga watershed by other organizations. However, trying to compile these other projects is challenging in larger watersheds having multiple municipalities, agencies, and nonprofits doing restoration without better coordinated record keeping and monitoring. While a decreasing trend in a pollutant load is a desirable water quality outcome, determining what contributed to that trend remains difficult.

The EU Center of Excellence for Exascale in Solid Earth (ChEESE): Implementation, results, and roadmap for the second phase

The EU Center of Excellence for Exascale in Solid Earth (ChEESE) develops exascale transition capabilities in the domain of Solid Earth, an area of geophysics rich in computational challenges embracing different approaches to exascale (capability, capacity, and urgent computing). The first implementation phase of the project (ChEESE-1P; 2018–2022) addressed scientific and technical computational challenges in seismology, tsunami science, volcanology, and magnetohydrodynamics, in order to understand the phenomena, anticipate the impact of natural disasters, and contribute to risk management. The project initiated the optimisation of 10 community flagship codes for the upcoming exascale systems and implemented 12 Pilot Demonstrators that combine the flagship codes with dedicated workflows in order to address the underlying capability and capacity computational challenges. Pilot Demonstrators reaching more mature Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) were further enabled in operational service environments on critical aspects of geohazards such as long-term and short-term probabilistic hazard assessment, urgent computing, and early warning and probabilistic forecasting. Partnership and service co-design with members of the project Industry and User Board (IUB) leveraged the uptake of results across multiple research institutions, academia, industry, and public governance bodies (e.g. civil protection agencies). This article summarises the implementation strategy and the results from ChEESE-1P, outlining also the underpinning concepts and the roadmap for the on-going second project implementation phase (ChEESE-2P; 2023–2026).

Actor Roles and Networks in Implementing Urban Water Innovation: A Study of Onsite Water Reuse in the San Francisco Bay Area.

As climate change and rapid urbanization stress our aging water infrastructure, cities are under increasing pressure to develop more flexible, resilient, and modular water management systems. In response, onsite water reuse practices have been adopted by several cities globally. In addition to technological innovation, these novel water treatment systems also require new stakeholder collaborations, relationships, and processes to support them. There are, however, few models for stakeholder arrangements that support and encourage the adoption and success of such infrastructure. In this paper, we use interviews with stakeholders involved in onsite water reuse projects in the San Francisco Bay Area to create a social network map that describes the interactions between stakeholders at large and during specific phases of project implementation. Using qualitative content analysis of expert interviews and social network analysis, we identify four actor roles that are key to the functioning of this novel water infrastructure paradigm─specialists, continuity providers, program champions, and conveners─and discuss the importance of each role through the course of project implementation. These findings can be helpful for policy interventions and outreach efforts by other cities and communities looking to implement onsite water systems.