Inspirational Speech given on the occasion of the meeting of German as well as selected Austrian, Polish and Swiss UNESCO Chairs from 28 to 29 October 2011 at the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany

Syftet med undersökningen var att undersöka hur barn bygger utifrån en inspirationsbild samt om barnen lär sig mer då de utmanas av en pedagog. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av observationer av barn på en förskoleavdelning där samtliga barn var tre år gamla.  Resultatet visade att de flesta barnen byggde vertikalt. Endast ett barn valde att bygga horisontellt och använde inspirationsbilden som underlag till sitt bygge. Resultatet visade även att det har stor betydelse om det finns en pedagog närvarande som utmanar barnen vid bygg och konstruktionslek och kan synliggöra deras lärande. Skillnaden i barnens byggande när de blev utmanande av en pedagog var att de använde sig av flera byggklossar när de byggde samt av flera olika geometriska former på byggklossarna. / The aim of this study was to investigate how children are building based on a picture for inspiration and if children learn more when they are challenged by a teacher. The study was conducted using observations of children in a preschool department where all the children were three years old. The results showed that most of the children chose to build their buildings vertically. Only one child chooses to build horizontally and used the picture for inspiration as basis for the building. The results also showed that it is very important that a teacher is present and can challenge the children at building and construction game and visualize their learning. Differences in the children’s building when challenged by a teacher were that they used more building blocks in their building and that they used building blocks of various geometrical shapes.

In recent years the industry has been exhorted to increase its use of offsite technologies, or 'Modem Methods of Construction', in order to address the under-supply and poor build quality of housing. Despite the well-rehearsed benefits of such technologies, the take-up within the industry has been slow. Many studies have attempted to scrutinise the barriers and seek solutions, but the perspectives and practices of housebuilders of using offsite remain unclear. This is significant given that housebuilders contribute nearly 90% to the housing unit completions by the industry overall. This thesis aims to provide a strategy for optimising the use of offsite in housebuilding by investigating UK housebuilders' views on, and utilisations of, such technologies. This has been achieved through a combination of a survey of the top 100 firms, a one and-half-year case study of a large housebuilding organisation, and a series of validation interviews and group exercises, within the existing theoretical framework. The thesis reveals that the current low level of offsite usage in large housebuilders was likely to increase given the pressures to improve quality, time, cost, productivity and health & safety. However, a wider take-up was inhibited by perceived higher capital costs, interfacing problems, long lead-in time, delayed planning process and current manufacturing capacity. For addressing this a framework of strategies is presented, surrounding changing the industry's perceptions, improving procurement, providing better cost data, tackling planning and regulations, encouraging political levers, and providing guidance on decision-making and offsite integration. The thesis then contextualises these findings into the organisational and project contexts, examining the historical and current offsite practices within the general housebuilding business. It reveals that housebuilders primarily aspired to improve business efficiency and mitigate financial risks through the use of offsite despite a complicated agenda for such usage. For using offsite housebuilders developed strategies centred on process, procurement, learning & benchmarking, and training. However, the current heuristic approach to decision-making, coupled with the lack of knowledge of build system selection (BSS) for housebuilding, prevents the benefits from offsite being fully realised. A robust, structured and transparent decision support tool for BSS is developed, transferring knowledge in operational and construction management research to the housebuilding context. It provides an improved decision-making process and databases for system selection. Both the process and data were validated within the wider industry and academic domain, by which the tool was claimed as an effective mechanism for optimising the use of offsite and enhancing organisational learning. The thesis contributes to a better theoretical understanding of offsite and provides strategies for its increased take-up in housebuilding. This helps housebuilding organisations to achieve long-term profitability, but also contributes to addressing the current under-supply of housing. The thesis also contributes to knowledge of decisionmaking and construction management research. This has an implication for wider organisational and decision theory.

Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a well established methodology for procuring public works projects. By incorporating the private sector’s expertise, efficiency, innovation, business sense, risk sharing, financing etc. into public works projects, the quality of public services and facilities can be uplifted. Like many jurisdictions, Hong Kong is also keen to take aboard this methodology which is so familiar but yet so distant. Although they have been one of the first jurisdictions to utilise the private sector in public works projects, their comfortable financial reserves has meant that there has been no urge to push the movement until recently. PPP has become increasingly popular amongst governments. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government is no exception. Some of the more active works departments have commissioned studies to investigate the best ways to deliver these projects, others have even trialed the method themselves. The efficiency Unit of the HKSAR government has also become an active arm in conducting research in this area. Although so, the information that is currently available is still very broad. Building from their works there is a need to develop a best practice framework for implementing PPP projects in Hong Kong by incorporating international experiences. To develop a best practice framework will require thorough investigation into the benefits, difficulties and critical success factor of PPP. PPP should also be compared with other procurement methods. In order to do so it is important to clearly understand the local situation by an analysis of projects conducted to date. Lessons learnt can further be derived from other countries and incorporated to those derived locally. Finally the best conditions in terms of project nature, complexity, types, and scales for adopting PPP should be derived. The aim and objectives of this study were achieved via a comprehensive literature review, in-depth case analyses, interview survey with experts from both Hong Kong and overseas, and finally a large scale data collection was conducted via a questionnaire survey with PPP practitioners. These findings were further triangulated before they were used as the basis to form the best practice framework presented in this thesis. The framework was then further validated by PPP experts to ensure it is comprehensive, objective, reliable and practical. This study has presented a methodology that can be adopted for future studies. It has also updated our knowledge on the development trends of PPP as well as opened up the experiences of other jurisdictions. The findings have shown that the local industry is familiar with “what” should be done in PPP projects but they are unsure of “how” these goals can be achieved. This framework has allowed this further knowledge to be delivered to PPP practitioners. As a result, the development of this framework can help to resolve the current economic crisis by encouraging more developments and business opportunities for the private sector. In addition, the correct projects can be delivered by PPP, the advantages of PPP can be maximised, and the general public can benefit from the private sector’s participation.

La maîtrise de la contamination générée par temps de pluie en milieu urbain constitue un enjeu environnemental important pour limiter la dégradation des milieux aquatiques superficiels. Les outils de modélisation traditionnelle utilisés pour estimer les flux de polluants dans les eaux de ruissellement sont jugés insuffisants dans leur capacité à reproduire les dynamiques des polluants à l’exutoire. Cela est souvent lié au manque de connaissances précises sur les processus en jeu d’une part, et d’autre part aux difficultés d’acquérir des bases de données représentatives et en continu sur des sites réels. Cette thèse a donc pour objectif d’améliorer l’état de la modélisation de la qualité. Elle vise en particulier le développement d’un outil de modélisation conceptuelle de la qualité des eaux de ruissellement à l’échelle du quartier, à partir d’une compréhension approfondie des processus d'accumulation et de lessivage. La simulation des pollutogrammes de matières en suspension (MES) à l’avaloir du bassin versant routier avec les modèles conceptuels d’accumulation-lessivage montre la faible performance des modèles pour estimer les dynamiques d’émissions de MES pour des longues périodes ; la variabilité du processus d’accumulation est le responsable principal de l’inadéquation de ces modèles. L’évaluation de la contribution des retombées atmosphériques sèches à la contamination des eaux de ruissellement en hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques (HAPs) et métaux montrent que l’atmosphère ne joue qu’un rôle très mineur dans la contamination des eaux de ruissellement par ces substances. Ainsi le couplage des modèles atmosphériques, qui ne tiennent pas compte des émissions directes liées au trafic, avec les modèles de qualité de l’eau, ne semble pas très pertinent dans l’objectif d’améliorer la prédiction de la contamination des eaux pluviales à l’exutoire. L’investigation à la micro-échelle du mécanisme de lessivage montre que les particules fines sont les plus susceptibles d’être mobilisées par le ruissellement. Cette étude a été menée en utilisant un simulateur de pluie innovant qui présente les avantages d’être mobile et léger, et la possibilité d’avoir des enregistrements en ligne du débit et de la turbidité. Les nouvelles connaissances acquises sur les processus soulignent une grande variabilité qui remet en cause l'intérêt de leur modélisation avec des approches déterministes. Ces connaissances sont intégrées à l’échelle du quartier pour développer un outil de modélisation conceptuelle basé sur une approche stochastique d'estimation de la concentration moyenne de MES et des paramètres de qualité. Le modèle développé est intégré dans le modèle hydrologique URBS. L’application de ce modèle permet d’intégrer la variabilité spatiale et temporelle des émissions en distinguant les contributions de chaque occupation du sol. Les résultats sont prometteurs en termes d’estimation des niveaux de concentration de MES à l’exutoire du bassin versant et de réplication du comportement général de la dynamique de MES, cependant des améliorations peuvent être envisagés pour consolider l’approche et améliorer ses prédictions. La comparaison de ce modèle avec des approches de modélisation empirique globale, conceptuelle semi-distribuée et physique distribuée, montre qu’en termes de pouvoir prédictif et de fiabilité, l’approche URBS-stochastique en parallèle avec l’approche de modélisation physique distribuée sont les plus performantes. En termes de simplicité d’implémentation et d’ajustement entre les observations et les simulations, les approches de modélisation empirique globale et conceptuelle semi-distribuée sont les plus puissantes. A l’issue de cette comparaison, il est clair qu’il n’existe pas un modèle parfait qui couvre toutes les caractéristiques de la modélisation de la qualité des eaux de ruissellement. Le choix de l’approche de modélisation la plus appropriée doit se faire en fonction des objectifs attendus par le modélisateur / Urban runoff contamination is recognized as a major source of the deterioration of the quality of surface water. Commonly used stormwater quality models have poor performance in predicting the pollutant dynamics at the surface outlet, mainly due to the lack of precise knowledge on the governing processes and the difficulties of acquiring representative and continuous databases on real sites. The main purpose of this Ph.D. thesis is to improve the state of stormwater quality modeling. It aims in particular to develop a conceptual modeling tool for stormwater quality prediction at the scale of a city district catchment, based on a deep understanding of the build-up and the wash-off. The application of commonly used stormwater build-up/wash-off models to simulate the dynamics of total suspended solids (TSS) at the outlet of the road catchment suggests that the models poorly replicate the temporal variability of the TSS concentrations unless short periods are considered. The unpredictable nature of the accumulation is largely responsible for the model failure. The evaluation of the contribution of atmospheric dry deposition to stormwater loads for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals shows that atmospheric deposition is not a major source of contaminants in stormwater runoff. Thus, linking the air and water compartment in a modeling chain to have more accurate estimates of pollutant loads in stormwater runoff may not be relevant unless the direct traffic emissions are accounted for. The investigation of the wash-off process on elementary surfaces shows that the fine particles are the most likely to be mobilized and transported during a rainfall event. Stormwater samples were collected for this study using an innovative rainfall simulator that allows continuous, on-site monitoring of instantaneous flow and turbidity measurements and that can be easily transported and used on real sites. The new knowledge acquired on the build-up and wash-off processes underlines the great variability of these processes and calls into question their modeling with deterministic approaches. Hence, this knowledge is incorporated into developing a new conceptual stormwater quality model based on the stochastic drawing of event mean concentrations (EMC) of TSS and water quality parameters. The model is integrated within the hydrological model URBS. The application of this approach accounts for the spatial and temporal variability of pollutant emissions by distinguishing the contributions of each land use separately. The obtained results are promising in terms of estimating the concentration levels of TSS at the outlet of the city district catchment and replicating the general behavior of the TSS dynamics. However, improvements can be envisaged to consolidate the approach and improve its predictions. Comparison of this model with global empirical, semi-distributed conceptual and distributed physical modeling approaches shows that in terms of predictive power and stability, the stochastic-URBS and the physically distributed approaches are the most efficient. However, in terms of ease of implementation and best fit between observations and simulations, the global empirical and semi-distributed conceptual modeling approaches are the most powerful. This comparison shows that the perfect model that covers all aspects of stormwater quality modeling does not exist. The choice of the most appropriate modeling approach should mainly be driven by modeling objectives

[pt] O projeto de dimensionamento dos revestimentos na indústria de óleo e gás deve garantir a integridade do poço ao longo de todo o seu ciclo de vida, que pode ser de várias décadas. Um carregamento importante a ser considerado surge em consequência da produção, que movimenta os fluidos desde o reservatório até a superfície, aquecendo as partes mais rasas do poço. Este processo de aquecimento expande os fluidos de perfuração e completação que foram confinados nos anulares durante o processo de construção do poço. Esta mudança de volume do fluido é contida pela rigidez dos elementos que o mantém confinado e essa resistência à livre expansão do fluido provoca um aumento de pressão. Em alguns casos, a pressão pode tornar-se tão grande que pode levar o revestimento a colapsar, levando ao abandono de poços e a grandes perdas. Este fenômeno de aumento da pressão é conhecido na indústria do petróleo como anular pressure build-up (APB). O presente trabalho apresenta um modelo térmico para determinar o perfil de temperatura e pressão do fluido monofásico escoando em regime permanente na coluna de produção e a distribuição de temperatura ao longo de todos os elementos do poço. Como os revestimentos não são perfeitamente rígidos, um aumento de temperatura e pressão no poço acarreta na variação do volume do anular, os quais são avaliados de forma acoplada, pois a variação de volume de um anular influencia no outro, assim como os deslocamentos dos revestimentos. O estudo compara os resultados obtidos com um aplicativo comercial, apresentando boa concordância. Além disso, uma análise de sensibilidade é realizada para fornecer uma melhor compreensão do fenômeno. / [en] Casing design projects must ensure well integrity throughout its life, which can be as long as several decades. An important load to be considered appears as a consequence of production. During production, the annuli became heated from the transfer of bottom hole temperature up the well by the produced fluids. With heat-up, the fluids trapped in the annulus began to thermally expand. The expansion induces a volume enlargement, which is restrained by the stiffness of the well structure. This resistance to fluid free expansion keep the fluid confined and can produce a substantial pressure increase. In some cases, pressure may become so great that it can collapse casing, leading to well abandonment and large losses. This pressure increase phenomenon is well-known in the oil industry as annular pressure build-up (APB). In the present study, a monophasic state-state thermal model was developed to determine the oil temperature profile in the tubing and the temperature profile in all structures of the well. As casings are not perfectly rigid, temperature and pressure increase in the well results in annular volume change. Because the well consists of a sequence of casing strings that define the well annuli, the modeling of casing strains should be based on a systematic approach that considers the interaction among the various strings. The study compares results to those obtained with a commercial computer application, presenting good agreement. Further, a sensitivity analysis is performed to provide a better understanding of the phenomenon.

abstract: Alternative Project Delivery Methods (APDMs), namely Design Build (DB) and Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR), grew out of the need to find a more efficient project delivery approach than the traditional Design Bid Build (DBB) form of delivery. After decades of extensive APDM use, there have been many studies focused on the use of APDMs and project outcomes. Few of these studies have reached a level of statistical significance to make conclusive observations about APDMs. This research effort completes a comprehensive study for use in the horizontal transportation construction market, providing a better basis for decisions on project delivery method selection, improving understanding of best practices for APDM use, and reporting outcomes from the largest collection of APDM project data to date. The study is the result of an online survey of project owners and design teams from 17 states representing 83 projects nationally. Project data collected represents almost six billion US dollars. The study performs an analysis of the transportation APDM market and answers questions dealing with national APDM usage, motivators for APDM selection, the relation of APDM to pre-construction services, and the use of industry best practices. Top motivators for delivery method selection: the project schedule or the urgency of the project, the ability to predict and control cost, and finding the best method to allocate risk, as well as other factors were identified and analyzed. Analysis of project data was used to compare to commonly held assumptions about the project delivery methods, confirming some assumptions and refuting others. Project data showed that APDM projects had the lowest overall cost growth. DB projects had higher schedule growth. CMAR projects had low design schedule growth but high construction schedule growth. DBB showed very little schedule growth and the highest cost growth of the delivery methods studied. Best practices in project delivery were studied: team alignment, front end planning, and risk assessment were identified as practices most critical to project success. The study contributes and improves on existing research on APDM project selection and outcomes and fills many of the gaps in research identified by previous research efforts and industry leaders. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil Engineering 2014

Submitted by Viviane Lima da Cunha (viviane@biblioteca.ufpb.br) on 2016-06-27T13:50:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3160425 bytes, checksum: 23c498b403c2dbf5a646d8eae9154d9c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-27T13:50:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3160425 bytes, checksum: 23c498b403c2dbf5a646d8eae9154d9c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-04 / This dissertation aims to analyze Law 11.888 / 2008, Law of Public Technical Assistance, which gives instructions about the access to architecture and engineering technical services for population that has an income from 0 until 3 minimum wages, understanding that its effective use can become an important tool in the exercise of citizenship. The research initially rescues the consolidation of the Brazilian housing problems, including the practice of self-build house, as well as all historical formulation process by which passed the aforesaid Law, from initial discussions until its actual publication. Then, a systematic analysis of the major barriers to its use in municipal, state and federal levels is performed. The work continues with the presentation of some cases of application of the law in some municipalities, pointing out examples of good practice as well as some cases of failure, in order to extract, from this survey, important information to underlie future proposals. The research makes an approach to the object of study in the State of Paraíba, where ve municipalities are selected for analysis in situ, with the objective of demonstrating the level of information about the Law 11.888 / 2008. To complement the theoretical framework collected in the survey, it sought the position of the CAU – Conselho de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (Board of Architecture and Urbanism), both federal and state level, to verify which actions could be supported by this Board and how it can subsidize the multiplication of practices or programs of public architecture and Engineering, not only in Paraíba State, but also in the whole national territory. Finally some practical guidelines and conjunctural analysis of the entire panorama presented in this work are outlined. Thus, this dissertation seeks to contribute to the effective application of the Law 11,888 / 2008, in order to that this important Law does not become a dead letter, but an effective instrument to access a constitutional right, what contributes to exercise citizenship and to built a just city. / A presente dissertação objetiva analisar a Lei 11.888/2008, Lei da Assistência Técnica Pública e Gratuita, que predispõe sobre o acesso a serviços técnicos de arquitetura e de engenharia para um público de renda de 0 a 3 salários mínimos, entendendo que sua efetiva utilização possa se tornar uma importante ferramenta no exercício da cidadania. A pesquisa resgata inicialmente o processo de consolidação da problemática habitacional brasileira, inclusive a prática da autoconstrução, assim como todo o processo histórico de formulação pelo qual passou a referida Lei, desde os primeiros debates até sua efetiva publicação. Em seguida, é realizada uma análise sistemática dos principais entraves à sua utilização nos âmbitos municipal, estadual e federal. O trabalho prossegue com a apresentação de alguns casos de aplicação da referida Lei em alguns municípios brasileiros, apontando exemplos de boas práticas como também alguns casos de insucesso de forma a extrair, a partir desse levantamento, importantes informações para subsidiar futuras propostas. A pesquisa faz um recorte do objeto de estudo no Estado da Paraíba, onde são selecionados cinco municípios para análise in loco, com o objetivo de demonstrar o nível de informação a respeito da Lei 11.888/2008. Para complementar o arcabouço teórico coletado na pesquisa, buscou-se levantar o posicionamento do CAU - Conselho de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, tanto a nível federal como estadual, para vericar quais ações poderiam ser apoiadas pelo Conselho e como este poderia subsidiar a multiplicação de práticas ou programas de Arquitetura e Engenharia Públicas, não apenas em municípios paraibanos, como também em todo o território nacional. Finalmente são esboçadas algumas diretrizes práticas e análise conjuntural de todo o panorama apresentado neste trabalho. Desta forma, busca-se contribuir com a efetiva aplicação da Lei 11.888/2008, para que a Assistência Técnica Pública e Gratuita não se torne uma letra morta, mas um efetivo instrumento de acesso a um direito constitucional. Contribuindo, portanto, no exercício da cidadania e na construção de uma cidade mais justa.

Thesis (DTech (Architectural Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / This research explores design-build projects in architectural education. The design-build studio is an alternative to the conventional theory-oriented studio. In design-build projects students both design and build real buildings. Internationally, design-build projects have increased rapidly in architectural programmes over the past decade. Literature suggests that design-build projects are relevant for architectural education, but that there is a definite need for more theoretical and critical exploration. Design-build projects in the context of this study are defined as socially responsive, inhabitable, full-scale investigations. The value of this pedagogical construct for educators, students, architectural practice and society in general was an underpinning theme guiding this exploration. Design-build projects are located on the boundary between theory and practice. This research provides a view into my journey across this boundary, immersing myself in both the theoretical and practical. Principles of the designbuild process and design research mapped the research path. The research process commenced with the initiation of and active participation in a number of design-build constructions. Through critical reflection on the construction experiences and the literature, specific pedagogical and practice implications were explored. Cultural historical activity theory provided me with a sense of theoretical direction in this journey. Collaboration as a pedagogical tool and the possibility of exposing students to alternative practice possibilities were foregrounded as being uniquely situated within the design-build project. The value of this research is the contribution it makes to the current international call for a clearer understanding of the pedagogical and practice merit of design-build projects.

Orientador: Guilherme do Val Toledo Prado / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T09:36:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vignado_Jane_D.pdf: 55617065 bytes, checksum: bbe4c20dbf83aec99612b43e0f9bfa40 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Essa pesquisa narra os desafios da construção de uma proposta de trabalho coletivo docente na educação infantil que, entre o primeiro semestre de 2003 e o primeiro semestre de 2005, envolveu 4 professoras de um CIMEI (Centro Integrado Municipal de Educação Infantil) da cidade de Campinas-SP. A opção por desenvolver a presente pesquisa na Educação Infantil orientou-se pela crença de que os professores são sujeitos histórico-político-culturais, portanto capazes de construir saberes e conhecimentos a partir da reflexão sobre a própria prática e rediscutir a razão de ser da Educação Infantil. Encontro em Paulo Freire a base epistemológica necessária para compreender que educar é um ato coletivo, participativo e que apenas os seres humanos são capazes de aprender com alegria e na esperança de que a transformação é um ato possível, mesmo quando a situação seja desfavorável. O inventário de dados da presente investigação foi construído a partir dos diários de campos; das entrevistas com as professoras; das conversas com os membros da comunidade escolar; das análises do projeto político pedagógico e dos planejamentos de ensino do grupo de professoras. As análises sugerem que o trabalho coletivo docente referenciado pela Investigação-Ação promove: a reflexão sobre a prática docente na perspectiva de potencializar mudanças no cotidiano escolar; o surgimento e manutenção de grupo de professores como espaço de formação, de resistência, de acolhimento e bem-estar; abre outras possibilidades de parcerias como, por exemplo, escola-comunidade, escola-universidade. / Abstract: This research relates the challenges of the construction of a suggestion of teaching collective work in the infantile education, that among the first semester of 2003 to the first semester of 2005, involved 4 teachers of a CIMEI (Integrated Municipal Center of Infantile Education) of the city of Campinas-SP. The option for developing the present research in the Infantile Education was oriented for the belief that teachers of this level of formation are historic-politician-cultural citizens, therefore capable to construct knowledges from the reflection about the self expericence and rediscuss the reason of being of the Infantile Education. I find in Paulo Freire the epistemological structure needful to understand that to educate is a collective and participating act, that only the human beings are able to learn with joy in hope that a transformation is a possible act, even when the situation is unfavorable. The inventory of data of the present inquiry was constructed with the daily journals; the interviews with the teachers; the speech with members of the scholar community; the analyses of the pedagogical politician project and the education plannings of the group of teachers. The analyses suggest that the teaching collective work by action-research intensify: the reflection on the teaching practical in perspective of changes in the day-by-day of the school; the appearance and maintenance of group as space of formation, resistance, shelter and well-being; it opens other possibilities of partnerships as, for example, school-community, school-university. / Doutorado / Ensino e Práticas Culturais / Doutor em Educação