Papers by Amy Javernick-Will
International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering, Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship
Global engineers must be taught to consider the historical and present causes of persistent pover... more Global engineers must be taught to consider the historical and present causes of persistent poverty and systematic barriers to prosperity. Such training will better inform the choices engineers make and help move the engineering sector away from a product and community-level focus towards working to address the root causes of poverty. A framing for Global Engineering has recently been proposed by the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, building on over 15 years of curricular efforts. Global Engineering, as taught by the Mortenson Center, positions the field as a complement to Global Health and Development Economics while further embracing a historically contextualized and anti-colonial training.
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Apr 1, 2010
The Collaboratory for Research on Global Projects at Stanford University is a multidisciplinary c... more The Collaboratory for Research on Global Projects at Stanford University is a multidisciplinary center that supports research, education and industry outreach to improve the sustainability of large infrastructure investment projects that involve participants from multiple institutional backgrounds. Its studies have examined public-private partnerships, infrastructure investment funds, stakeholder mapping and engagement strategies, comparative forms of project governance, and social, political, and institutional risk management.
Water sector literature attributes a substantial cause of rural water system failure in developin... more Water sector literature attributes a substantial cause of rural water system failure in developing countries to poor alignment between water service stakeholders. This study aimed to investigate a means for assessing stakeholder alignment by comparing the systemic interaction of stakeholder values, where the term ‘stakeholder values’ refers to aspects stakeholders believe are necessary to ensure rural water services are sustainable. The research held focus groups with key stakeholder groups involved in the management of rural water infrastructure in Terrabona, Nicaragua, to identify stakeholder values, and then used cross-impact analysis to evaluate how these values interacted to form stakeholder value networks (SVNs). Using normalized betweenness centrality measures, the structures of SVNs were compared to determine alignment. Results from this study showed high levels of stakeholder alignment on the topics of water resources and technology for the sustainability of rural water systems, while there was marked nonalignment regarding the involvement of local government and organizations in the management of water infrastructure. This study offers compelling evidence for future studies to assess stakeholder alignment by identifying and structurally analyzing SVNs.
Research has shown that sustainability of rural water infrastructure in developing countries is l... more Research has shown that sustainability of rural water infrastructure in developing countries is largely affected by the dynamic and systemic interactions of technical, social, financial, institutional, and environmental factors that can lead to premature water system failure. This research employs system dynamics modeling, which uses feedback mechanisms to understand how these factors interact dynamically to influence long-term rural water system functionality. To do this, the research first identified and aggregated key factors from the literature, then asked water sector experts to indicate the polarity and strength between factors through Delphi and cross impact survey questionnaires, and finally used system dynamics modeling to identify and prioritize feedback mechanisms. The resulting model identified 101 feedback mechanisms that were dominated primarily by three- and four-factor mechanisms that contained some combination of the factors: Water System Functionality, Community, Financial, Government, Management, and Technology, implying these factors were the most influential on long-term functionality. These feedback mechanisms were then scored and prioritized, with the most dominant feedback mechanism identified as Water System Functionality−Community−Finance−Management. This study showcases a way for practitioners to better understand the complexities inherent in rural water development using expert opinion and indicates the need for future research in rural water service sustainability that investigates the dynamic interaction of factors in different contexts.
International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 2015
Losses, Opportunities, and Mitigation, 2015
IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC 2014), 2014
Construction Research Congress 2012, 2012
Engineering Project Organization Journal, 2013
akes every effort t o ensure t he accuracy of all t he inform at ion ( t he " Cont ent " ) cont a... more akes every effort t o ensure t he accuracy of all t he inform at ion ( t he " Cont ent " ) cont ained in t he publicat ions on our plat form . However, Taylor & Francis, our agent s, and our licensors m ake no represent at ions or warrant ies what soever as t o t he accuracy, com plet eness, or suit abilit y for any purpose of t he Cont ent . Any opinions and views expressed in t his publicat ion are t he opinions and views of t he aut hors, and are not t he views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of t he Cont ent should not be relied upon and should be independent ly verified wit h prim ary sources of inform at ion. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, act ions, claim s, proceedings, dem ands, cost s, expenses, dam ages, and ot her liabilit ies what soever or howsoever caused arising direct ly or indirect ly in connect ion wit h, in relat ion t o or arising out of t he use of t he Cont ent .
Engineering Project Organization Journal, 2015
Engineering Management Journal, 2015
Development in Practice, 2015
Environmental science & technology, 2015
Research has shown that sustainability of rural water infrastructure in developing countries is l... more Research has shown that sustainability of rural water infrastructure in developing countries is largely affected by the dynamic and systemic interactions of technical, social, financial, institutional, and environmental factors that can lead to premature water system failure. This research employs system dynamics modeling, which uses feedback mechanisms to understand how these factors interact dynamically to influence long-term rural water system functionality. To do this, the research first identified and aggregated key factors from the literature, then asked water sector experts to indicate the polarity and strength between factors through Delphi and cross impact survey questionnaires, and finally used system dynamics modeling to identify and prioritize feedback mechanisms. The resulting model identified 101 feedback mechanisms that were dominated primarily by three- and four-factor mechanisms that contained some combination of the factors: Water System Functionality, Community, F...
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 2014
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 2015
10th Annual Conference of the International Institute for Infrastructure Renewal and Reconstruction, 2014
This early concept research outlines the need to better understand reconstruction processes in po... more This early concept research outlines the need to better understand reconstruction processes in post-disaster environments that can create resilient and sustainable infrastructure systems and proposes methodology aimed at addressing gaps in theory and practice. The paper first introduces the rationale for studying project outcomes of sustainability and resilience and proposes a new method to conceptualize resilience through a network perspective. Next, the paper reviews literature on three factors – coordination, stakeholder participation, and training – each of which is posited to influence these project outcomes. After research questions are identified, the paper proposes research methodology that will study coordination, participation, and training across phases of infrastructure reconstruction from a network perspective in the Central Visayas region in the Philippines. In addition to analyzing the influence of each of these factors individually on the project outcomes, fuzzy set ...
2014 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Proceedings, 2014
Construction Research Congress 2014, 2014
Construction Research Congress 2012, 2012
Disaster resilience and recovery have been studied from a variety of perspectives including socio... more Disaster resilience and recovery have been studied from a variety of perspectives including sociology, policy implementation, decision-making, engineering, geography and urban planning. For this reason, there is a wide range of definitions of resilience and recovery, and determining appropriate indicators of recovery and resilience is a challenge for both researchers and practitioners. We begin this paper with a discussion of the varying definitions of recovery, vulnerability and resilience and how they have been utilized in each field. In order to assess what indicators can be used to measure both resilience and recovery, we performed an indepth content analysis on definitions and indicators from existing literature. We analyzed articles from 2000 to 2010 in four disaster-focused journals that include perspectives of engineers, social scientists, practitioners and economists. Articles were selected by a keyword search and analyzed for resilience and recovery indicators using an emergent coding scheme. We classified the indicators of community resilience into infrastructure, social, economic and institutional categories. Recovery indicators were categorized as social, economic, environmental and infrastructure. Researchers can use these results for future studies of causal factors and recovery indicators. Similarly, practitioners will be able to have a condensed opinion of experts in the field of disaster recovery and planning.
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Papers by Amy Javernick-Will