Collaborative governance models towards sustainable infrastructure projects: The case of resources

Abstract

The construction and infrastructure industry contribute to almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the largest drivers of resource use. This sector of the global economy is thus a promising area to look at for reducing environmental impact and increase sustainability. The impact of collaboration and cooperation within the project organisation has begun to garner more attention as the scale and scope, as well as the levels of uncertainty and complexity in construction and infrastructure projects have grown. This has led to an increase in collaborative contracting models applied to complex construction projects. In order to investigate the impact of collaborative contracting and the possibilities to advance the goal of resource efficiency and decrease environmental impact, a case study of two Nordic projects, utilising a collaborative project management model, is conducted. The findings suggest that the potential of using collaborative project management models in order to increase the sustainability of construction solutions is high. However, the use and understanding of the models vary between project actors. We conclude that the new collaborative project management models are important features in reducing environmental impact from infrastructure construction, yet several organisational and practical issues remain to be solved.