Public Works Research Articles

Synergistic benefits of inclusive leadership to foster child welfare workers’ job self-efficacy: race matters

ABSTRACT With growing diversity in child welfare, inclusive leadership could improve child welfare workers’ performance with children and families. By analyzing survey data collected from 2469 public child welfare workers, we found that inclusive leadership was positively associated with job efficacy by increasing workers’ perceptions of an inclusive climate and empowerment. Furthermore, its positive effects were greater among workers of color than White workers. Findings suggest that inclusive leadership can function as an organizational mechanism to promote performance-related outcomes, especially among child welfare workers of color. This paper concludes with practical implications to encourage inclusive leadership and strengthen its synergistic benefits.

The Hidden Toll: Exploring the Impact of Challenging Patron Behaviors on Australian Public Library Staff

ABSTRACT As a public-facing profession, public library workers are often exposed to challenging behaviors that raise concern for their safety. To understand these concerns, this study explores these staff safety issues in Australian public libraries through semi-structured interviews with 59 staff members from six library services. Findings reveal that library workers frequently encounter challenging and sometimes violent behaviors from patrons. These incidents impact staff wellbeing, causing stress, anxiety, and potential long-term psychological effects. Many workers receive insufficient workplace support following traumatic incidents, leading to internalization of the trauma the experiences cause. The study highlights the need for improved institutional support and better safety measures. It also recognizes the tension created by libraries’ open-door policies, which may expose workers to potential harm.

Innovation in Public Works Management: From Failure to Phenomenal

Innovation in Public Works Management: From Failure to Phenomenal

Gendered vulnerabilities in climate shocks: the role of social protection interventions

Abstract This review explores how climate change exacerbates gender inequalities and the potential of social protection programs to alleviate these impacts. It examines how women disproportionately bear the brunt of climate shocks and discusses pathways through which programs like public works initiatives, cash transfers, and social insurance can bolster women's resilience in this framework. Despite the potential of these programs, challenges such as implementation gaps and limited engagement of women in program design hinder the effectiveness of social protection programs. Limited research on the gendered effects of social insurance underscores the need for further investigation and gender-responsive policy interventions.

Public works, urban development, common goods

The role taken by public works requires us to use them to address the need to govern the complexity of the contemporary city, focusing its development and physical transformations on shared goals. The combination of urban regeneration and public works finds an outlet in intervention strategies for the quality of public space, public buildings, and architecture of civic value. In order to make public works an opportunity for shared regeneration, planning actions should aim at framing individual works within a broader strategic vision, dealing with the management of services (cultural, educational, social) to involve communities and stakeholders in organising urban enhancement methods. The construction of the ‘public city’ oriented to the common good should constitute a continuous path that allows neither pauses nor retreats. It should activate decision-making and governance processes that enhance citizens’ participation and develop synergies with private subjects, focusing on the social dynamics of the world of work, dwelling and culture.

Europe vs Hong Kong partnership agreements: reversing trends

The comparison between EU cohesion policies on public works as a common good and Hong Kong’s policies on public-private participation to preserve and revitalise architectural heritage highlights cultural and operational differences. While Europe often adopts an inclusive approach, involving the communities mainly in the valorisation of public spaces, Hong Kong implements models more focused on public-private partnership to preserve the public real estate. Thus, the adaptive reuse of public works at the two different scales transforms public works into catalysts of prosperity for the community by preserving historical memory, but has a different impact on shared value generation, social cohesion enhancement, sustainable development promotion, and collective identity valorisation. The contribution analyses the two models (centrifugal and centripetal), focusing on objectives and implementation tools.

Beyond the Euro-Western Model: Public Work as a Boundary between Mending and Innovation

In post-Soviet non-European cities, the opposition between the negation of signs of the past and the exaltation of new national identities often generates a dichotomy in the value production of public works. It oscillates between the Euro-Western models of intensive building that privatise the public dimension and the re-propositions of pre-modern public space typologies. Conversely, research in Yerevan, Armenia, reveals a possible third way oscillating between mending and innovation public works. Through a process of differentiated integration to build, stabilise, and reconstruct variable contextual relationships, the building/open-space system takes on value as a boundary organism, becoming an artefact that co-evolves with social and environmental changes.

Designing the public works values

What are public works, and under what conditions can they be considered a “common value” recognized by the community? The contributions to issue n. 28 of TECHNE Journal delve into these conditions, offering critical reflections and research advancements that examine cities, buildings, places, and public services from the perspective that «the entire urban space must be regarded as something produced, owned, and transformed collectively» (Marella, 2024). There are three main areas of reflection and proposal: the first involves the methods and procedural and design tools that can be employed for the recovery and adaptive reuse of public works facing functional obsolescence, abandonment, and/or decay; the second addresses the regenerative processes of public spaces and entire urban sectors with a focus on usability and environmental sustainability; and the third concerns the participatory design of public works as a vital lever for the creation of social value. This set of design actions is well-supported by analytical and evaluative tools that guide the decision-making process, all driven by an interest in optimizing the socio-economic, cultural, and environmental benefits that can result from more effective and efficient public works production and management processes, especially in response to evolving social demands.

Beyond the interruption: tools for the evaluation and re-signification of unfinished public works

The paper focuses on unfinished public constructions that represent an anomaly and an urgency with environmental, economic and even social consequences. The prerequisite of the research is the possibility that unfinished buildings can be considered opportunities to start new building processes consistently with the renewed needs of the contemporary situation, and not as a shared set of disvalues. The use of a specific methodological framework and programmatic strategies can direct the interventions, evaluating the suggested potential performance, and trigger virtuous and accessible cycles of signification and actualisation. The paper derives from a doctoral research and has been developed within the activities of the cross-border cooperation project CUBÂTI.

Unfinished works in Sardinia: deepening knowledge of in between public buildings

Unfinished public works question us about their possible future, while contradicting every dimension of sustainability: social, economic, and environmental, just like abandoned building stock. The proposed methodology investigates unfinished works beyond the mere economic data of the national registry by helping to define a ranking of interventions according to social utility, state of degradation and obsolescence resulting from non-use and non-completion. The ranking serves as the initial step towards implementations concerning the related costs and environmental impacts. The goal is to make the most of material and economic resources currently tied up in unfinished public works, and to give them back to society as valuable common goods.

Cellfare: Delivering Self-Targeted Social Protection Using Mobile Phones

This article proposes a new form of self-targeted social protection scheme: beneficiaries carry out a series of small tasks on their mobile phones, each linked to a small payment. Key advantages over traditional public works include potentially large reductions in leakage, costs, and delays. The proposed scheme may also be suitable to wider demographics as it does not require physical labour and can be availed from home. A prototype implementation of a ‘cellfare’ scheme was tested in rural India, and 42 participants with experience of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, a large Indian public works programme, favourably compared the proposed scheme to the existing one.

Artificial intelligence – NPHIs’ role in utilizing its opportunities and addressing the risks

Abstract Issue & Problem National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs) in many countries are at the forefront of action to mitigate the impact of current and future threats to health as well as improving population health and wellbeing. Through research, collaboration, and support, NPHIs can approach these new realities together. One of the many emerging realities that NPHIs will need to engage in is how NPHIs best can utilise the powers of artificial intelligence and deal with the ethical and legal issues that come with it. Methods In preparation of IANPHI’s (International Association of National Public Health Institutes) Europe Regional network meeting in April 2024 a survey was conducted among the 42 members. 16 countries replied to questions, around e.g., 1) current applications of (generative) artificial intelligence (AI) in the work of institutes, 2) which experiences were made and 3) which measures NPHIs take to best utilize the possibilities and overcome challenges of AI technologies. Within four weeks 16 replies were shared. Lessons & Conclusions Some institutes have not yet adopted AI, while others report multiple applications but the primary areas of application vary considerably among Europe. Applications include summarizing and reformatting text; translation; transcribing and documenting meetings; search information in documents or databases; coding; creating visuals; literature review; surveillance of infectious diseases; disease forecasting; analysis of transmission dynamics; vaccine efficacy assessment and development; image recognition; diagnosis and prediction of diseases from medical datasets; text mining; symptom extraction; social listening; prediction of nitrate concentration in groundwater; drug analysis and measuring psychological resilience in social crisis. Key messages • AI poses opportunities and risks for public health and work of national public health institutes and capacity building initiatives are essential. • IANPHI decided to develop a joint framework for the use of AI in its member organisations with a focus on research and responsible use.

Experts in promotion and prevention - The 100th Anniversary of Finnish public health nurse education

Abstract Issue/Problem Two key public health issues at present are mental health problems and obesity. Both typically begin before adulthood and once occurred, typically persist. Prevention would be important but also economically and humanely sensible. For this, competent experts in preventive work and health promotion are needed. Description of the problem Public health nurse education, originally known as health sister education, was initiated in Finland in 1924, by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare. The six-month health sister education was targeted at nurses and began from the desire to focus not only on treating diseases but also on promoting health. In the 1940s, education was reformed and in the 1950s significantly expanded. In the 1970s, the professional title changed from ‘health sister’ to ‘public health nurse’. In 1987, the education was extended to 3 years, including the education of registered nurses. In 1992, the education was further extended to 3.5 years. By the beginning of the 21st century, education evolved into 4 years bachelor’s degree. Results In 2024, eighteen Universities of Applied Sciences provide public health nurse education in Finland. The 4-year Bachelor of Health Care in Public Health Nursing -degree (240 ECTS credits) also qualifies for a registered nurse. Nearly half of the education consists of clinical training. In addition, registered nurses can supplement their degrees by completing a one-year education (60 ECTS credits) that qualifies them as public health nurses. Lessons In Finland, approximately 700 new public health nurses graduate annually. They are trained to work independently as experts in preventive work, health promotion, and public health. Around 9,500 Finnish public health nurses work in settings such as maternity and child health clinics, school health services, occupational health care, and outpatient clinics. Key messages • Due to the overcrowding in many healthcare services providing treatment, educating experts in health promotion and disease prevention is crucial now and in the future. • By ensuring competent experts in health promotion and disease prevention, future healthcare services can continue to provide economically and humanely sensible and effective help for people.

Sociodemographic disparities in depression and anxiety symptom severity among young adults in Sweden

Abstract Background Young adults are disproportionately affected by mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. While previous studies have identified sociodemographic predictors using the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4), differences in symptom severity remain less explored. This study aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic predictors of different levels of depression and anxiety symptoms among young adults in Sweden. Methods Survey data from a population-based sample of Swedish adults aged 20-21 (n = 3,226) was used. Symptom severity was categorized into three levels: normal/mild, moderate, and severe, based on established cutoff scores on the PHQ-4. Gender, parental education and birth country, and upper secondary education were assessed through linked registry information. Multinomial logistic regression was used. Results Females had a higher risk of moderate (RR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.5, 2.2) and severe (RR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.8, 3.1) symptoms (compared to no or mild symptoms) relative to males. Among males, the risk of moderate symptoms was higher without a secondary degree (RR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.0, 3.4) compared to an academic degree. Males with parents born abroad faced elevated risks of moderate (RR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.3, 2.9) and severe (RR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.3, 3.7) symptoms relative to males with Swedish-born parents. Among females, parental tertiary education was associated with a lower risk of moderate symptoms (RR = 0.7, 95% CI 0.5, 0.9) compared to lower education. Further, females having a vocational (RR = 1.5, 95% CI 1.1, 2.1) or no secondary degree (RR = 3.6, 95% CI 2.1, 6.1) had an increased risk of severe symptoms compared to females with an academic degree. Conclusions This study identified sociodemographic predictors for moderate and severe symptoms of depression and anxiety among young men and women in Sweden. Mental health promotion and prevention should specifically target young adults at elevated risk of experiencing moderate to severe symptoms. Key messages • Understanding sociodemographic predictors of depression and anxiety symptoms in young adulthood is essential for public health work. • Mental health promotion and prevention needs to include appropriate interventions for young men and women from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.

Organizational justice and work engagement of public service workers and general workers in South Korea: moderating role of supportive learning environment

Organizational justice and work engagement of public service workers and general workers in South Korea: moderating role of supportive learning environment

Meeting the challenges of participation? Care experienced people’s involvement in social work practice and policy development

ABSTRACT Although the last decade has seen policy initiatives in the UK aiming to improve the experiences of children in care and care leavers, most have received criticism for either not involving care experienced people, or for their lack of inclusivity. Indeed, little is known about the extent to which people with lived experience shape practice and policy developments, which reflects a significant gap in our understanding of what trying to make changes to care systems looks, feels and is like from an insider perspective. This paper considers attempts to influence practice and policy from the perspectives of 15 care experienced people who had been involved in substantive public campaign work relating to children in state care and care leavers in Scotland and England. Participants shared their experiences of working to influence change and highlighted good and bad practice that they had encountered working with different individuals and organisations claiming to promote the views of those with lived experience. The paper highlights the motivations, costs, barriers and facilitators for care experienced campaigners working to improve care systems. It concludes by sharing good practice to ensure that participation is properly appreciated, valued, and ethically informed.

Perancangan Bangunan Pengolahan Sampah Terpadu (TPST) di Desa Turirejo Kecamatan Kedamean Kabupaten Gresik

This planning aims to determine the generation of waste, the composition of the waste, the design of the TPST and the Budget Plan in Turirejo Village, Kedamean District, Gresik Regency. The method used to plan this TPST is the method of projection and data analysis. The projection method that will be used in this planning is the Least Square method. The data processing method used is the Slovin method and the Krecjie-Morgan method. Then the design criteria used to plan the design of the TPST in Turirejo Village are guided by the Minister of Public Works of the Republic of Indonesia 2016 concerning the 3R TPS Technical Guidelines. The TPST building consists of an organic waste storage area, an enumeration room, a composting area, a compost warehouse, and an inorganic waste processing area. The Budget Plan required from the TPST development design plan in Turirejo Village is Rp. 677,049,266.

The Influence Of Motivation, Work Environment, And Competency On Asn Performance In The Public Works, Spatial Planning, Housing And Settlement Area (Putrpkp) Enviroment Of Takalar District

The Influence of Motivation, Work Environment, and Competence on the Performance of Civil Servants in the Public Works, Spatial Planning, Housing and Settlement Areas Office (PUTRPKP) of Takalar Regency, guided by Andi Mappatompo Badawi and Dg. Maklassa. This study aims to analyze and explain the Influence of Work Motivation, Work Environment, and Competence on the Performance of Civil Servants in the Public Works, Spatial Planning, Housing and Settlement Areas Office (PUTRPKP) of Takalar Regency. This type of research is quantitative research, which is research based on data that can be calculated to produce a solid assessment using SPSS. This study used 68 respondents using multiple linear analysis techniques. The results of this study show that work motivation has a significant positive influence on ASN performance with P = 0.007 < 0.05 with a coefficient value of 0.380. The work environment has a positive and insignificant influence on ASN performance with P = 0.502 > 0.05 with a coefficient value of 0.118. Competence has a significant positive influence on ASN performance with P = 0.024 < 0.05 with a coefficient value of 0.280. The Work Motivation variable is the most dominant variable that affects ASN Performance.

Design And Build Project Risk Analysis at Tugu Pal 0 Stage II Project Construction

The implementation of the design and build method in the Phase II Pal Nol Monument construction project, managed by the Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency (PUPR) of South Kalimantan Province, aims to analyze the risks associated with the design and construction processes. This project, which utilizes an integrated design and build construction method (multi-year), is located on Jl. Dharma Praja within the South Kalimantan Provincial Office Area and executed by the contractor KSO ADHI-PUTRA. A comprehensive risk mitigation strategy for the project includes detailed work planning, effective coordination, periodic evaluation, a thorough understanding of design specifications, continuous risk analysis, flexible contingency plans, and strong communication with government entities and stakeholders. Keywords: Risk Analysis, Design and Build, Construction, Tugu PAL 0 Stage II

Extending Statutory Protection to Action Short of Dismissal for Participating in Industrial Action: The Supreme Court on the Right to Strike in Secretary of State for Business and Trade v Mercer

ABSTRACT The Supreme Court in Mercer v Secretary of State for Business and Trade found there was a violation of the right to strike, under article 11 ECHR, when there is no legal protection against detriment short of dismissal for taking part in industrial action. Section 146 Trade Union Labour Relations Consolidation Act (‘TULRCA’) 1992, as currently construed, does not cover this situation. While the Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Appeal that it would not be appropriate to use section 3 Human Rights Act (‘HRA’) 1998 to re-interpret section 146 TULRCA in a Convention-compliant way; unlike the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court issued a rare declaration of incompatibility under section 4 HRA. It is suggested in this note that Mercer is significant for two main reasons. First and foremost, Mercer is significant for the Supreme Court’s recognition of, and finding of, a violation of, the right to strike. Second, Mercer contributes to the wider debate about the interplay between sections 3 and 4 HRA. The final part of the note reflects on the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Strasbourg case law whereby the Court in Mercer found article 11 ECHR requires stricter protection in this respect for public authority workers.