Australia’s infrastructure sector recently identified community and stakeholder pressure as the number one issue influencing project delays and cancellations. The Australian National University’s Next Generation Engagement program is now going to industry to ask sector professionals to share their experiences to inform improved outcomes for projects and communities.
The 2nd annual State of Infrastructure and Community Engagement Survey, launched this week, aims help identify and address the knowledge gaps in engagement, social risk management and social licence as identified by industry during the Program’s award-winning 2017 pilot.
‘In 2017-18, participants from across the infrastructure sector told us that although many projects are completed on time, when delays do occur, community and stakeholder pressure is the single most influential factor,’ Research Director, Associate Professor Sara Bice said.
‘We’re aiming to build on this and other industry insights with this year’s annual survey.
“We also want to explore the suggestion from industry that we need to professionalise engagement to help put practitioners on equal footing with their peers from other disciplines and to support better outcomes for projects and communities.”
Professionals from across the infrastructure sector are being invited to spend around 20 minutes to share their experiences in this anonymous survey.
‘All infrastructure disciplines are invited to participate. It’s important that we get responses from diverse viewpoints, so that we get an accurate picture of what’s happening in the industry and start to bridge these knowledge gaps.’
“The people working to plan, fund and deliver our infrastructure are the experts. We need their help to get a sense what their challenges and opportunities are when it comes to working with communities to deliver major infrastructure.”
The survey is open until Friday 1 March 2019. Research details are available here.
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