International cooperation and construction:
The relationship between bureaucracy and innovation
The activity of institutions involved in international cooperation is associated with substantial amounts of construction, from large infrastructure to small-scale building, and subsequent relevant economic investment.
The work is generally subject to stringent bureaucratic protocols whilst often betraying a tendency for real-politik. Since construction is regarded as a sector potentially prone to conflict with local interests, it tends to be threaded on conservatively, and by many agencies as an administrative by-product of core business.
Does this tendency assure an optimal return on the resources invested? Does construction fulfil its economic multiplier and development potential when tackled as a corollary to other programs rather than an autonomous engine of social and industrial growth?
Moderator:
Paolo Tombesi, EPFL ENAC IA FAR
Presenters/Discussants:
Tomà Berlanda, University of Cape Town
Elise Berodier, EPFL
Andre Ullal, EPFL ENAC IA FAR
Riccardo Vannucci, EPFL ENAC IA FAR