The Dutch government has envisioned and is working towards a completely circular economy in the Netherlands by 2050. However, studies indicate that the current progress of the transition is insufficient to achieve set ambitions. Transforming the resource intensive construction sector is vital for the transition to circular economy. Since infrastructure projects are primarily procured by public entities, these client organizations can drive the development of a circular construction economy by boosting market demand through strategic purchasing policies. Incorporating changes to transition from linear to circular way of working place significant demands on client organizations. A notable group feeling this pressure is the Dutch regional water authorities. These public organizations are responsible for water management at the regional level. The 21 water authorities, together build and manage huge numbers of infrastructure assets like flood defences, navigable water ways, pumping stations and waste water treatment plants. These organizations directly deal with the consequences of climate change such as heavier rains and prolonged periods of drought. Despite recognizing the urgency for the transition, the water boards struggle to progress beyond pilot projects, increase maturity levels throughout the organization, and align new policies with daily practices. While the technical know-how for circular economy transition is extensively researched, successful implementation requires organizations to also adapt internally to support the transition. Therefore, this study addresses the pressing need for effective change strategies to adjust the internal organization of public clients to facilitate the transition to a circular way of working. The study proposes an organizational change framework, that provides recommendations on what internal changes can be implemented within the water boards to accelerate their transition to circular construction. With strong theoretical foundations from existing planned change management literature, the study offers practical recommendations for change based on case studies of two water authorities- Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland and Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe.

Construction projects are swiftly growing in complexity that poses a significant challenge to project success, performance, schedule and cost. Cross-functional teams are commonly arranged for complex projects to facilitate comprehensive problem-solving and decision making. Shared leadership, a critical success factor in project management associated with various benefits for team effectiveness, plays a pivotal role in cross-functional teams. However, there is scant research how this manifests in practice. This study sets out to explore shared leadership behaviors in Dutch project design teams, to promote a comprehensive understanding how it influences and enhances team effectiveness. Two complex construction projects were studied; 50/10kV main station and 150/20kV main station. The main research question that this study aims to answer is what effects do shared leadership behaviors have on team effectiveness in Project-Based Cross-Functional Design Teams under different project delivery methods in the Dutch construction industry?

This study adopted the mixed methods approach, with a comparative case study as the research strategy. Data was collected through a context analysis, participatory observations, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires. Qualitative data was analyzed by coding and annotating audio transcripts. Quantitative data was analyzed by calculating the baseline scores and team effectiveness scores. Subsequently, qualitative and quantitative data were integrated.

The study showed that that every task-focused and person-focused leadership behavior was exhibited, individually or in various combinations. This indicated that there is no one-size-fits-all leadership behavior. Moreover, the findings revealed the presence of situational leadership indicating the ability of individuals to adapt their leadership behaviors by prioritizing, steering and meeting the needs of the team. The second main finding suggested that high exhibition of leadership behaviors, especially person-focused behaviors during milestones, was associated with higher team effectiveness. Milestones were unveiled as critical moments that had a substantial impact on the exhibition of shared leadership behaviors and team effectiveness. An unexpected finding suggested that team composition -more than the project-delivery method- moderates the relationship between shared leadership and team effectiveness. Furthermore, the findings suggested that the project phase and responsibilities of individuals play a significant role in the involvement and presence during meetings. Hence, the study should be extended to fully observe and comprehend the influences of the project-delivery method on team composition. Therefore, two hypotheses are formulated that deserve further research, specifically suggesting that: 1) team composition moderates the relationship between shared leadership and team effectiveness in Project-Based Cross-Functional Design Teams; and 2) team composition in Project-Based Cross-Functional Design Teams are project phase-dependent.

In conclusion, this study provided valuable insights into the importance of shared leadership on team effectiveness in engineering design teams in the Dutch construction sector and has shown how various task-focused and person-focused leadership behaviors manifest in practice and how they can shape team effectiveness through time. The findings strengthen the idea that person-focused behaviors are equally important, if not, more important than task-focused behaviors in enhancing team effectiveness in Project-Based Cross-Functional Design Teams. Emphasizing person-focused behaviors should be beneficial to increasing overall performance, satisfaction and quality effectiveness. All team members can contribute to addressing this challenge, which promotes cohesion, satisfaction and improved team work.

The complexity inherent in large infrastructure projects often results in project delays, cost overruns, and failures. Managing this complexity, particularly in the construction industry, is essential for improving project outcomes. This research aims to contribute to the body of knowledge on project complexity by exploring the interdependencies between elements of complexity in infrastructure projects. Using a case study of the Zuidas-Tunnels project in the Netherlands, this study applies a hybrid fuzzy method to identify the most significant elements contributing to project complexity and analyze their interdependencies.

A literature review and exploratory interviews were conducted to assess existing complexity management strategies. The research utilizes the TOE (Technical, Organizational, Environmental) framework to categorize 47 complexity elements. The Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) methods were applied to model and analyze these interdependencies between these elements.

The results reveal that understanding the relationships between complexity elements is crucial for effective complexity management. This insight can help project managers develop more targeted strategies to mitigate complexity's impact, thus improving the performance of large-scale infrastructure projects. The study concludes by recommending that such methods be integrated into project management practices for dynamic assessment and management of complexity throughout the project lifecycle.

Large complex infrastructural projects and programs show cost overruns and delays. As these are often funded by governmental bodies, the cost overruns also have an economic impact for society. Where projects are focused on delivering their scope within time and budget, a program is focused on achieving a broader goal. To do so, a program consists of different projects that show interdependencies. This, complemented with many uncertainties and the program's long durations, make programs even more complex than projects. Program management needs to be flexible and able to adjust: adaptivity is a core characteristic of program management. An academic knowledge gap is seen on cooperation strategies that achieve adaptivity in programs. Therefore, this study focused on the identification of success factors for adaptive cooperation in programs. The different research methods have led to the identification of the following factor: mandate and formal structure that together determine the operational framework of teams and organisations. This factor influences the ability to be adaptive by setting rules for the teams. As adaptivity was often associated with social processes, this insight has an academic value and contributes to theory development on adaptivity in program management. In addition to this factor, factors focused on social processes can also influence the adaptivity. Program managers should define the mandate of teams and their formal structure before determining the social acts. This could enable adaptive cooperation in programs and reduce cost overruns and delays. This research provides a starting point for theory development on adaptive program management.

On January 1st 2024, the Environment and Planning Act (EPA) took effect in the Netherlands. This legislation aims to simplify existing environmental legislation for spatial projects by combining them into one. An important pillar of the EPA, specifically of the environmental permit, is public participation. However, the safeguarding of this in the law is limited since its organization is not regulated. In general, the methods for involving the public in environmental decision-making remain contentious, which has previously led to research into principles that define good public participation processes. The majority of the literature assumes that all parties involved in a process share the same principles, while it may be the case that stakeholders hold differing views on what constitutes a good process. In the EPA, a conscious choice was made to prohibit municipalities from imposing requirements on initiators on how they implement participation, the reason for this being enabling local customization. Yet, this uncertainty regarding the best practices for public participation can make it difficult for an initiator to set up participation for their project. This research aimed to gain insight into what constitutes a good public participation process by determining if and how stakeholders characterize this differently, specifically for real estate construction in residential areas. Therefore, the research question was as follows: What perspectives exist on what constitutes a good public participation process for real estate construction projects in residential areas and what characterizes the stakeholders within these perspectives?

Q-methodology was used to extract stakeholders' views on successful participation from the results of a survey. This resulted in the identification of four perspectives, representing four different collective views on good participation shared by several stakeholders. Perspective one, a trusted process leading to influence by the right people, considers participation to be good if trust is created and the input provided actually influences the initiative. The second perspective, a clearly defined process resulting in greater support, has a positive opinion about participation as long as the organized process is very clear, professional, and properly followed, and results in greater support for the initiative. The third perspective, achieving satisfaction with a tailor-made process, believes that participation is good if the process is situation-specific, followed well and there is satisfaction with how it went down, regardless of whether it resulted in adjustments to the design of the initiative. Lastly, perspective four, as long as everyone is heard, feels that participation is good when the design of the initiative is changed according to the input provided by participants who were involved from the start and whose expertise is valued. After the identification of these perspectives, it was investigated whether a relationship could be observed between a stakeholder's characteristic and their perspective. Here, it was observed that civil servants relatively adhere to perspective three more than the other groups.

This research has provided new scientific insights by showing that there are different views on what constitutes 'good' public participation. These perspectives have unique aspects but they also have some similarities. It is recommended that project initiators incorporate important aspects of all four perspectives when designing a participation process for an initiative, to ensure that it is as 'good' as possible. To aid initiators in doing so, a one-pager has been drafted which contains an overview of the important aspects of each of the perspectives. With this, the practical aim of the research - which was to provide support to project initiators for the setup of participation processes - was achieved.

The Dutch construction industry mainly operates on a linear economy model. However,
transitioning to a circular economy (CE) is seen as essential for meeting climate change
objectives and adhering to the Paris Agreement. However, the industry has been slow to
adopt CE principles, primarily due to its inherent aversion to risk and resistance to
change. This reluctance is further compounded by cognitive biases among stakeholders,
which create a "lock-in" effect that favours traditional practices over CE innovations.
The main question this research seeks to answer is, "How does cognitive lock-in at the
regime level of the construction industry hinder the implementation of the circular
economy?"
This research aims to explore how cognitive lock-in at the regime level impedes CE
implementation by examining socio-cultural barriers and the impact of cognitive biases
on decision-making processes.

The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are broadly divided into two categories: leading indicators and lagging indicators. Leading indicators measure activities that have a significant effect on future performance of a project. The leading indicator thus help in taking proactive measures, while lagging indicators measure the output of past activities, thus enables in taking reactive measures. The emphasis of this research is on leading indicators. The objective of this research is to identify the most relevant leading indicators in the engineering phase from the perspective of engineering consultants and determine how these indicators can be monitored.
Thus the main research question that the thesis aims to answer is: How can leading indicators be used to monitor the performance of an infrastructure project during the engineering phase of infrastructure projects.
The leading indicators that have an impact on the cost and schedule performance in the engineering phase are change requests, decision-making by the client, communication, project size, resource allocation, project team turnover and team efficiency.
The research not only involves the identification of leading indicators but also extends to the development of a framework for monitoring these identified leading indicators.

The world is facing environmental change, mainly due to human actions. To prevent serious environmental, economic, and societal impacts of climate change, all United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) member countries have committed to limit global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial level by 2050. Current mitigation measures, like moving to renewable energy, are not sufficient. Implementing circular economy can address this issue. A transition is required to move from a linear to a circular economy. The main research question for this research is: What can be learned about targeting the transition to a 100% circular Dutch infrastructure sector in 2050, through three social agreements if we take the perspective of Mission-oriented Innovation System (MIS)? This research also provided input for the second Integral Circular Economy Report (ICER) of 2023.
The Dutch economic model operates in a predominantly linear economy. The three principles for circular economy are: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials and regenerate nature. A large renovation awaits us. The very long lifespan of infrastructural projects makes the transition in this sector challenging. One of the four central frameworks to study transitions is the Mission-oriented Innovation System (MIS) approach. To tackle grand societal challenges, MIS also takes non-technological innovations into account. To see whether something has been learned from the transition process, four learning dimensions in sustainability-oriented learning have been identified. By pursuing all four dimensions, properties can be developed to take steps toward building a circular world.
The three cases studied for this research concern the materials concrete, wood, and steel. Per case a separate MIS analysis has been performed. The three cases have been generalized into two different categories: the “already established materials” and the “yet to be introduced materials”. The main dynamic in the already established materials is the negative feedback loop between the market formation and destabilization, availability of human and financial resources and the lack of directionality. Moreover, the lack of coordination also negatively affects the entire system. For the yet to be introduced materials the non-supportive socio-technical environment is the root cause of many negatively influenced system functions. Due to the lack of a supportive environment, there is a lack of financial resources which causes insufficient knowledge development. The lack of knowledge has as a result no clear direction for the transition and little possibilities to create a market for the new material.
The research question consists of four main elements: learning, transition, circular economy, and the MIS perspective. From studying the transition to a 100% circular Dutch infrastructure it can be learned that taking the scope of a social agreement can be a good start. In line with the learning dimension about boundary crossing and system thinking, the next step it to broaden the view. Also, there should be special attention to the successes in the strategy “narrow the loop” to motivate people.

This research casts a discerning lens on Benefit Management within Dutch infrastructure projects, endeavouring to bridge the gap between theoretical frameworks and their practical real-world application. The aim is to augment value realization and ensure efficient resource utilization to maximize project benefits.
Infrastructure projects, distinguished by their scale and complexity, are integral to societal advancement, providing essential facilities like roads and railways. However, their extended duration, coupled with inherent risks and uncertainty, pose substantial challenges in delivering the promised benefits. Benefit Management emerges as a strategic approach to identify, plan, and realize project benefits, ensuring alignment with strategic goals. Yet, the focus on benefits often wanes as infrastructure projects move from planning to execution, leading to a potential misalignment between project outputs and intended benefits.
The research design unfolds in three methodical parts: Part 1 lays the theoretical foundation through a literature review on Benefit Management, Governance Structures, and Opportunity Management. Part 2 transitions to practical exploration, featuring expert interviews within Rijkswaterstaat and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to gauge Benefit Management's real-world application. Thematic analysis of interview data unveils prevailing themes surrounding Benefit Management practice in Dutch capital infrastructure projects. Part 3 proposes solutions based on synthesized findings, validated through an expert workshop, aimed at fostering a conducive environment for adopting Benefit Management practices.
Section 4 takes a deep dive into Benefit Management practice within Rijkswaterstaat's Large Projects and Maintenance department (GPO) highlighted the necessity for a holistic approach spanning the entire project life cycle. Thematic analysis revealed four significant barriers: Limited forecasting capability, Limited flexibility in output, Limited flexibility in process, and Underemphasis on social-cultural benefits.
One of the primary solutions proposed is the adoption of ex-post evaluations. These evaluations are crucial for understanding the long-term impacts of infrastructure projects and ensuring that they continue to deliver value post-completion. Experts consulted during the research underscore the importance of ongoing monitoring and assessment to maximize benefits and minimize disbenefits.
Another significant area of focus is the potential of modular infrastructure. This approach is recognized for its ability to enhance adaptability and sustainability within the infrastructure sector. The study suggests that further research is needed to explore technological innovations that could facilitate modularity, alongside an economic impact assessment to evaluate the cost-benefit aspects of such approaches.
The research also delves into the re-evaluation of contract types, advocating for more flexible arrangements that allow for adaptability and accommodate changes without significant financial implications. This is complemented by the exploration of adjustments in high-level decision-making, particularly in the Tracéwet, to enable more dynamic and responsive decision-making processes.
Furthermore, the study proposes the establishment of an Independent Mobility Authority to streamline decision-making and management within the infrastructure sector. This centralized body would assume responsibility for the comprehensive role of modern infrastructure management, thereby reducing complexities in decision-making and stakeholder negotiations.
In summary, this thesis underscores the need for a holistic approach to benefit management in infrastructure projects. It highlights the necessity of continuous evaluation, adaptable infrastructure designs, flexible contract types, legislative adjustments, and a centralized authority structure. These solutions collectively address the unique challenges of benefit management in infrastructure projects, paving the way for more efficient, sustainable, and beneficial outcomes in the sector.

Precast concrete appears to be promising in dealing with delays in housing construction, yet long lead times are apparent in this industry. Lead time refers to the time that elapses between placing and receiving an order. The construction company Janssen de Jong recognizes the problem of sub-components’ long lead times in precast concrete house-building. Sub-components are those products being integrated into the precast concrete components and they are supplied to the precasting concrete factory by various suppliers. The company seeks to optimize sub-components’ lead times, so as to increase its competitiveness. Accordingly, the current research focuses on identifying the sources of sub-components’ long lead times in precast house-building industry and optimizing them, in order to improve projects’ performance in terms of time and costs. The research draws on literature review, interviews, mathematical optimization modelling and case study.

Literature review and interviews with Janssen de Jong, a precasting concrete factory, a windows and frames supplier and an installation technology supplier revealed the large batch size of batch-and-queue manufacturing method, as the main quantifiable source of long manufacturing time, affecting significantly the delivery of sub-components and so, extending their lead time. Batch-and-queue utilizes the equipment to its maximum capacity, yet leads to stock creation at each production step. On the contrary, one-piece-flow manufacturing method (batch size of one), was indicated as a value-adding process worth to approach, yet not easily achievable, not so efficient and more expensive. One-piece-flow refers to moving the product step-by-step through each process step without non-value-added time. The conflicting interests of the suppliers and Janssen de Jong call for solutions that could satisfy both time- and cost-related interests.

The mathematical optimization model was built based on the identified conflicting relation between reducing costs and shortening lead times, in relation to the batch size. This was done considering the arguments in favor of and against both manufacturing methods. In this way, the bias is reduced. Weights are assigned to each of the objectives, denoting their relative importance to the client. A set of optimal lead times and costs is obtained, after running the model for each supplier separately, enabling Janssen de Jong to improve the project performance as per the priorities each time.

A project of 23 precast concrete houses was utilized as a case study for the model validation. Out of the involved suppliers, only the windows and frames supplier made some data accessible. This supplier already follows one-piece-flow. Access to financial data was restricted, so, a supplementary Greek company, which is active in the same field and it is highly representative of the case, was utilized. The developed model yields reasonable results compared to the real figures.

Concluding, the model proves to be effective in optimizing sub-components’ lead time in precast concrete house-building industry. However, it is recommended the model to be validated using companies from other fields (e.g. installation technology company) and incorporate further information in a future version –complex to include this in the current thesis– to achieve even higher levels of realism and applicability.

Incorporating sustainable practices in projects through a project management approach has gained traction in recent years. The current definition of integrating sustainability in projects is ambiguous (Schipper, Sivius, & Nedeski, 2012) and stakeholders hold different perspectives on the topic. Integrating sustainability in projects has greatly shifted from the concept of reusing, recycling of materials in projects to reducing the delays in the projects to save the CO2 emissions and in increasing energy efficiencies in the projects (McPhee & Dias, 2020). Although, integrating sustainability into projects has gained traction in recent years, project management profession has faced difficulties in incorporating sustainability principles in large infrastructure projects especially in first of a kind project (“Progress of PM”, 2022). This is because, technologies or methods to be employed in these projects are unknown and there is no precedent or project expertise to guide these projects. This has proven to be vulnerable to severe cost and schedule overruns and performance deficiencies. These projects are built with a strong motive to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions but, due to the delays by new technology or methods involved, saving carbon dioxide emissions during the construction have been proved difficult (“Progress of PM”, 2022). The research is thus grounded by the gap of exploring tools/practices to reduce the delays in first of a kind project which will aid in saving the CO2 emissions and in meeting the energy efficiencies targets.

Within this thesis report the transition to LH2 infrastructure at the airport is tackled. Specifically, how the airport can develop and adopt the infrastructure needed for LH2 supply logistics, storage, and refueling is researched. This process can be defined as a socio-technical transition in which a new niche technology (LH2 aviation infrastructure) develops to ultimately replace the incumbent regime (traditional kerosene-based fuel infrastructure). The process of gaining a deeper understanding of how this transition will look is guided by the transition management cycle. The methodological framework of this research followed certain steps of the transition management cycle for a specific case airport in order to explore this transition. The transition to LH2 infrastructure for Schiphol airport was addressed in order to gain in-context knowledge on the transition at hand. An extensive literature review was used in part to develop an initial infrastructure vision for Schiphol. Then, in an iterative manner, expert interviews were used to further develop an infrastructure vision which is expected to work best for the specific environment in which Schiphol finds itself. The opportunities and challenges which are apparent with this infrastructure vision were then defined. These previous findings, along with transition management theory, were used to develop a transition roadmap for Schiphol. The Schiphol-specific infrastructure vision and transition roadmap gave insight into this transition in a specific context and allowed for more general learnings to be gained on the nuances and factors influencing such a transition. The key parameters which determine how LH2 infrastructure will look at an airport along with a generalized transition roadmap were generated with this knowledge.

The way in which the LH2 infrastructural systems for LH2 supply, storage, and refueling will look for an airport are very dependent on a number of factors. Regarding the supply of LH2, an airport needs to consider its geographic proximity to a transport hub; forecasted LH2 demand; and the area, natural resources, and funds available to the airport. Storage methods will largely be based on an optimization of efficiency, required sizing, and safety. And the refueling infrastructure will likely be dependent on LH2 demand, safety considerations, and the funding available. Determining these parameters and thus determining the LH2 infrastructure vision for an airport is a central step in this transition. However, there are many other steps which need to be taken in parallel in order to develop the niche effectively. In the transition roadmap actionable steps regarding developing operational procedures, supply chains, financial sustainability, and policy are all highlighted. Then, there is also a focus on the steps to take to ensure that scaling up of this infrastructure as LH2 aviation adoption increases is addressed.

Despite 20 years of research into opportunity management, construction organizations are struggling to capture opportunities in practice. The goal of this research was to improve the management of opportunities in a construction organization. Four sub-research questions were used to (1) create an overview of opportunity management theory, (2) create an overview of opportunity management practice in a construction organization, (3) identify gaps by comparative analysis of opportunity management theory and practice, and (4) suggest the steps that need to be taken to improve opportunity management practice. The literature review presented four themes that are essential for opportunity management that are used to guide the comparison: Language, culture, process, and infrastructure. From the exploration, it was concluded that there is very limited experience in the organization in managing opportunities. To gain experience, new opportunities need to be identified before they can be managed. Requirements for a practice guide of an opportunity identification session are formulated using the literature review and exploration. The practice guide describes the preparation, execution, and completion of the opportunity identification session. Concluding, start with the identification of opportunities to improve the management of opportunities. An incremental approach is suggested to gain experience in the management of opportunities. Future research into other construction organizations is needed to generalize the findings of opportunity management practice. Also, future research into the gaps between theory and practice should help to improve the overall practice of opportunity management in the construction industry.

The Netherlands must be natural gas-free by 2050. This means that neighbourhoods throughout the Netherlands will have to be overhauled for the construction of heat networks. In addition, we are increasingly faced with the effects of climate change, such as flooding and increasing heat. Both tasks require physical changes in the built environment and demand space in the built environment. An integrated approach to both the heat transition and climate adaptation has many benefits, but despite this tasks are often still tackled individually. The problem of not being able to integrate mitigation and climate adaptation measures appears to be not technical but organizational in nature. New governance approaches will be needed that can realize integration of the heat transition and climate adaptation. However, there is little knowledge of how different governance approaches perform to realise this goal. This research tries to fill that gap. The research question is: “How do hybrid governance approaches perform in realising integration between the implementation of heat transition and climate adaptation measures?” For answering this research question, cases are studied in which existing neighbourhoods undergo a transition to a natural gas-free heating system and consider climate adaptation to a greater or lesser extent. Their current governance approach is mapped and evaluated. All studied cases appeared to consist of different governance mixes and have a different dominant governance mode. Integration in projects is now often initiated by someone who sees the opportunity and acts on it, instead of considering it by default and assignments are not integrally defined. This makes it harder to integrate different sustainable transitions during the project. At the start of a project for the construction of a heat network, the project is under a certain time pressure. If climate adaptation measures were to be linked to this project, a plan would already have to be in place and a budget would have to be made available. Taking climate adaptation actions has to be seen as urgent and must be found worthwhile by the parties. There are different hybrid governance approaches that lead to integration of transition. However, it does seem that a Network approach with some elements of Hierarchy works well for integrated projects. Network and hierarchical actions could be taken to realize integration, like sharing knowledge and creating awareness for integrated projects and the municipality could take control over the subsoil by coordinating it more. A network structure needs to be created, combined with hierarchical forms of regulation. Consciously looking at the performance of current governance approaches can be helpful in adapting them appropriately to address complex societal issues. It will help to make deliberate choices for altering the current governance approach to realise integration of heat transition and climate adaptation tasks.

As a subset of Large Infrastructure Projects (LIPs), cross-border projects are characterized by their technical complexity, lead time, diverse actors involved and immense coordination and collaboration challenges due to the participation of organizations coming from different nations and institutional frameworks. As researchers recognize, these conditions are a source of managerial complexity as Project Delivery Organizations (PDOs) face interorganizational incompatibilities due to the multiple and sometimes conflicting logics or ways of thinking. To date, these conditions continue to be a source of managerial complexity, yet no formal addressing towards the importance of tackling these incompatibilities within the internationals PDOs collaborating has been made. Therefore, this study investigates the incompatibilities these organizations commonly face in theory and practice to provide a solution that addresses them on time so a collaborative partnership between PDOs can be achieved. To fulfill this objective this research follows the Double-Diamond methodology and divides this research into four parts, these being literature review, case studies, design of a conceptual framework for implementation and expert validation. In the first part of the research, literature is reviewed to gain insight into interorganizational incompatibilities and the influence these have on collaboration between PDO partners. Results from this step show that differences in Regulations, Norms, Culture, Interpartner relations and Structural characteristics are among the most frequent incompatibilities found. As a second step, exploratory interviews in two case studies are conducted to investigate the incompatibilities present in practice and delve into how different PDOs deal with them. Results from this step show that the incompatibilities found in the literature are similarly observed in practice. Similarly, it was found the presence of these incompatibilities often leads to misunderstandings, relationship damage, collaboration difficulties and others, which in turn hamper the management and performance of projects. In addition to the previously identified categories, incompatibilities in Interpartner relations and Politics are found. Based on these results, the third step of research focuses on developing a framework that PDOs can implement in the front-end phase of project development to establish a collaborative relationship between PDOs partners and thus overcome interorganizational differences. This framework consists of three preconditions that need to be present throughout the process of partnership establishment, while six other strategies follow a step-by-step approach for targeting the previously identified incompatibilities. As the last step of research, the previously designed framework is validated with four experts on its usefulness and applicability. The results from this study suggest that cross-border projects are more complex to manage due to multiple interdependent participants which are embedded in different institutional contexts. Yet, through the proposed conceptual framework, this research contributes to developing a coherent package of strategies for overcoming the most relevant incompatibilities so PDOs can improve the process of achieving interoperability and collaboration in cross-border projects.

The goal of this research is to provide insights into the relationships between complexities and risks to be used in risk analysis and management of complex construction projects. In preparation of the exploratory survey, a literature study is performed. After that, the CBRAT (Complexity Based Risk Assessment Technique) is designed to capture the cause-effect mechanisms between complexity elements and risk-factors. The CBRAT consist of the TOE (Technical-Organisational-External) framework, a RBS (Risk Breakdown Structure) and a risk-influence diagram. After that, the applicability of the CBRAT was tested on the Frankfurt Airport Terminal 3 project. In general, it can be concluded that it is of importance to process the complexities in construction projects more consistently during the implementation of risk management.

The use of the North Sea has transitioned into an intensely used industrial area, with the climate agreement as a driving force. The Paris agreement demands countries to change their main energy resources from oil, coal and gas to renewable resources such as wind. The Dutch government chose to use the space offshore for the development of wind farms. These developments require a durable collaboration between the various stakeholders in the North Sea. Tensions exist between the different stakeholders in the North Sea, and the projected developments are expected to pressure these relationships even further. The need for shared multi-use areas grows as the North Sea is used more and more intensely. This report presents a multidisciplinary design for an artificially enhanced fisheries system within an offshore wind farm (OWF). The goal of this design is to provide a nature inclusive solution to increasing pressure on the fishing industry by the growing offshore wind sector. The possible implementation of a fishing industry within OWFs was analysed. This resulted in a number of applicable solution spaces. A notable solution was the Fish-as-a-Service concept, which resolves several issues that currently hinder the development of multi-purpose OWFs. In this solution, a company would fulfil the role of managing the fisheries in OWFs without the need for wind farm clients to actively partake in the fishing industry. Five target species were selected that could be harvested from an artificial reef system within an OWF. These species were European lobster, Brown crab, Atlantic cod, European seabass and Cuttlefish. The selection of these species was made based on economic interest, ecological interest, the potential for non-intrusive fishing methods and previous successes in other studies and/or projects. These species formed the basis of further ecological and financial examinations. Based on the biological and technical criteria following from the stakeholder and biological analysis, the most suitable wind farm site where an artificially enhanced fishing area could be implemented was selected. It was concluded that the Borssele Wind Farm Zones 1 and 2 would be the most suitable sites. The bathymetry, soil conditions, seabed dynamics and metocean data were further analysed in order to create a design for the artificial reef. A range of possible reef concepts were developed, including loose rock revetment, placed block revetment, layer cakes, biohuts, block reefs, layered pipes, shipwrecks and decommissioned oil or gas platforms. These concepts were verified for their operability and whether they met the requirements for bio-enhanced fisheries. Three preliminary designs for an artificial reef system in the Borssele OWF were made based on these reef concepts and the circumstances at the site. Of these designs, the most desirable one includes block reefs, natural stones, layer cakes, decommissioned oil or gas platforms and shipwrecks in order to promote biodiversity and yield as much biomass as possible. An Ecopath with Ecosim model was designed using available literature studies. This model was used to predict the amount of biomass produced in an OWF with and without hard substrate. An immense biomass increase in the target species European lobster (2.157.265%) and Brown crab (857.281%) was predicted with the addition of hard substrate. additionally, target species Atlantic cod and cuttlefish showed an increase of 1897% and 175% respectively. Surprisingly, European seabass was predicted to decrease with 93%. The estimated biomass was included in a study in the strengths and weaknesses of the business opportunities based on the Fish-as-a-Service concept. Costs and revenues throughout the lifetime of the sustainable fishery were taken into account, resulting in a final investment advice. The PERTH method was used to account for the uncertainty of estimating the costs of such a project. A detailed cash flow analysis was carried out in order to present a clear view on the different financial scenarios. The cash flow analysis showed a final Net Present Value (NPV) at year 25 of values between 3000 and 6000 mln EUR. This shows the profitability of the proposed design, with an Internal Rate of Return after tax of 69,90%.

Worldwide, more and more actors have started to speak out their belief in a future with three-dimensional mobility as one of the solutions for congesting and polluted cities. Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicles – more popularly referred to as drones – are supposed to relieve the current infrastructure network, mainly roads, and quickly transport cargo and people through the sky to their desired location. This new mode of transportation is also called Urban Air Mobility (UAM). To make UAM a reality, three main components are required: the aircraft and aircrew, the management of the airspace and the integration in the community. Over the last years, the industry has made major steps in the first two aspects. However, the community integration of UAM – which is about infrastructure, social acceptance and regulations, among others – has fallen behind, as cities are barely preparing themselves for this new transportation mode. Still, UAM may become a reality much earlier than those cities may expect. When that happens, cities will have to be prepared for this. It is therefore important to explore what it means and takes when UAM is integrated into a community. It is the latter which forms the fundament for this research. Where the literature extensively discusses the aircraft and airspace integration, a knowledge gap can be identified on the community integration of UAM. For this reason, the main goal for the research was to analyze the required changes in the urban mobility regime, which challenges this will cause and what actions communities can take in preparation for UAM. To contribute to the understanding of the subject and analyze the practical elaboration of UAM Community Integration, the research tried to answer the question how the transition of Urban Air Mobility can be realised in communities, which formed the main research question. To answer the research question, a qualitative approach was chosen, recommended to be used when the investigated phenomenon is new and when the investigator seeks to answer “why” and “how” questions. A combination of different qualitative data gathering methods was adopted: literature reviews and semi-structured interviews. This thesis shows that there is a lot involved in the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional urban transport, or Urban Air Mobility. The transition is driven by large-scale developments such as urbanization, mobility growth and climate change, putting pressure on the mobility regime. Besides, there are technological innovations in development, such as battery and communication technologies and automation, which the development of UAM as a new mode of transportation will depend on. In addition, there are internal frictions in the existing mobility system, such as congestion, which require new, sustainable mobility solutions. The comparison between the existing and future mobility regime – the latter including UAM – makes clear that the community integration of UAM requires changes in every single dimension in the mobility regime. This is accompanied by various challenges and requires actions from cities. Major challenges are mainly found within the dimensions of sectoral policy, infrastructure and culture or symbolic meaning. The most important actions that cities can take therefore also address these challenges. For example, there are currently a patchwork of rules that restrict or prohibit the use of drones and thus make UAM virtually impossible. This requires standardization of rules, which above all allow the use of drones, while respecting the social impact that drones can have. Furthermore, there is usually a lack of existing infrastructure, which means that new infrastructure must be developed. However, the limited space, suitability of existing buildings, financial feasibility and social value of UAM are some important factors that make infrastructure development within urban centers a challenging task. Cities will have to identify suitable locations for vertiports, taking these types of factors into account. Existing energy capacity can also be an obstacle. Whereas typical passenger vehicle DC fast charging typically ranges from 50kW-350kW, UAM requires charging capacities of up to 600 kW. To provide this, cities may have to make adjustments to their existing energy network. Finally, UAM will likely have a significant social impact in terms of noise, horizon pollution, privacy, safety and price,. The risk of social resistance is therefore high. It is important that cities anticipate this by, among other things, informing and educating the community about UAM, carrying out pilot projects and drawing up social guidelines. Other actions that cities can take to prepare for UAM include the exploration of potential user practices and the definition and division of stakeholder roles, among others. To conclude, the realization of UAM in communities is only in its infancy and involves an extensive process of (interdependent) developments and actions. Once the variety of niche-innovations have developed into a more mature state – which can still take several years –, UAM will be able to start its breakthrough into the urban mobility regime. This transition requires changes in all regime dimensions. The integration in the community will have impact in different ways, of which it is assumed that the spatial, energy and social domains will be impacted most. Challenges rise, mainly with regard to the sectoral policy, infrastructure and culture or symbolic meaning within the mobility regime. In order to realise the transition of UAM in communities, these must be addressed. This thesis proposed some of the more important actions that communities can take for the community integration of UAM. These are outlined in the final roadmap, which should give the final answer on how the transition of UAM can be realized in communities. The research recommends cities to take up the identified actions for UAM community integration. They provide an insight into what needs to be done to enable the community integration of UAM. This research has taken a first, exploratory step in the right direction, but the identified actions - logically - have no outcome yet. Further research into these actions is therefore required. Cities are therefore recommended to continue with this, so that they can find an answer to the implicit research questions that lie hidden in these actions.

Construction projects deal with a lot of uncertainties in the design stage and therefore, changes in the design are sometimes unavoidable. There are various factors leading to design changes, however, the most frequent factor is the client. Clients often produce vague design briefs and as a result, design changes are expected at a later stage, leading to time and cost overruns as well as lower productivity. The objective of this research is to create a framework for design teams, in order to improve the management of changes initiated by the client in the design stage of a construction project. This objective is achieved thanks to the use of Agile Project Management (APM), which offers a proactive approach. The proposed Agile framework is validated on the basis of a single case study, and the findings of the validation show that the Agile framework offers benefits in terms of managing of client’s changes (e.g. potential for minimization of changes, improved visibility of changes, reduction of abortive work). However, there are also barriers that hinder the employment of the framework in practice, such as the contractual constraints and the number of stakeholders that have to be aligned with the proposed way of working. Further research should be conducted in order to investigate the real-world application of the framework.

This study explores towards the positive side of project uncertainties i.e., opportunity. Opportunities occuring in such projects has the potential to enhance the project’s initial objective and could add more value to the project. However, due to lack of an effective approach for opportunity identification and several constraints prevailing in such large projects, opportunities are not being identified properly. This study investigates the concept of opportunity in infrastructure projects and crucial factors that could stimulate opportunity identification in such projects along with constraint’s study that hinders such identification process. Here, a roadmap is developed for opportunity identification consisting of a procedure for identifying opportunity during tender phase with an assessment model that could help in identifying value-creating opportunities for the project. This identified opportunities could be then used by the project team to exploit benefit for the contractor involved in execution but also to the client for whom the project will be delivered.