Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Sustainable development A qualitative inquiry into the current state of the UK construction industry

Sustainable development A qualitative inquiry into the current state of the UK construction industry Purpose – Despite the surge of interest in construction sustainability and the many Government initiatives encouraging reform in the UK construction industry (CI), the prevalence of sustainable development (SD) in the industry is still largely lagging behind that of other industries. Given the amount of focus and activity identified nationally in this area, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons why this is not being translated into action and to seek counsel from industry professionals as to how they believe change can be achieved with a particular focus on how they believe higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute. Design/methodology/approach – An explorative, qualitative study using three focus groups was of construction professionals. Findings – Despite a lack of action, many in industry support sustainability and actively attempt to engage in sustainable practices but a number of barriers preclude successful implementation. Government initiatives are having a positive impact, with participants believing that both Government and HEIs are imperative in driving the sustainability agenda forward. Research limitations/implications – Whilst limited in scale, this paper highlights the current state of the CI in relation to SD and evidences that progress is being made albeit slowly. The findings may help both Government and HEIs alongside industry in achieving how this can be overcome. Originality/value – Previous research in this area has generally adopted a quantitative approach. Adopting a qualitative approach provides a more in depth view as to why the status quo remains with regards to SD in the CI. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Structural Survey Emerald Publishing

Sustainable development A qualitative inquiry into the current state of the UK construction industry

Michelle C. Brennan; Alison J. Cotgrave
Structural Survey , Volume 32 (4): 16 – Aug 5, 2014
Download PDF
16 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/sustainable-development-a-qualitative-inquiry-into-the-current-state-x9pHAI9tb6

References (70)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0263-080X
DOI
10.1108/SS-02-2014-0010
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – Despite the surge of interest in construction sustainability and the many Government initiatives encouraging reform in the UK construction industry (CI), the prevalence of sustainable development (SD) in the industry is still largely lagging behind that of other industries. Given the amount of focus and activity identified nationally in this area, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons why this is not being translated into action and to seek counsel from industry professionals as to how they believe change can be achieved with a particular focus on how they believe higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute. Design/methodology/approach – An explorative, qualitative study using three focus groups was of construction professionals. Findings – Despite a lack of action, many in industry support sustainability and actively attempt to engage in sustainable practices but a number of barriers preclude successful implementation. Government initiatives are having a positive impact, with participants believing that both Government and HEIs are imperative in driving the sustainability agenda forward. Research limitations/implications – Whilst limited in scale, this paper highlights the current state of the CI in relation to SD and evidences that progress is being made albeit slowly. The findings may help both Government and HEIs alongside industry in achieving how this can be overcome. Originality/value – Previous research in this area has generally adopted a quantitative approach. Adopting a qualitative approach provides a more in depth view as to why the status quo remains with regards to SD in the CI.

Journal

Structural Survey – Emerald Publishing

Published: Aug 5, 2014

Keywords: Higher education; Sustainable development; Qualitative; Focus group

There are no references for this article.