Incorporating environmental sustainability in project management practices in Ghana
Date
2021-06-23
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Abstract
Sustainability concerns in delivering construction projects have come to the forefront of the
world, and the gap between project management and sustainability is still been built. It is
therefore important for project managers to identify how their organizations can become
ecologically sustainable, socially responsible and economically competitive. This is a
quantitative study that was conducted in the Kumasi metropolis with an aim of identifying ways
of incorporating environmental sustainability into project management practices in Ghana. The
primary research was conducted using survey questionnaires. The structured questionnaires were
used to obtain data to ascertain the negative impacts of projects on the sustainability of the
environment, challenges associated with incorporating environmental sustainability into project
management practices and strategies could be adopted to enhance incorporation of
environmental sustainability in project management. A total number of fifty questionnaires were
administered and forty were retrieved representing a response rate of 80%. Relative Importance
Index rankings were the main tool used for analysis. The findings of the research revealed the
main impacts of projects on the environment as air pollution, destruction of virgin land and noise
pollution. The main challenges associated with the incorporation of environmental sustainability
into project management practices are slow government programs, lack of public education, and
lack of support from top management. However, the strategies to enhance the incorporation of
environmental sustainability in project management; considering environmental sustainability at
planning and design stage, effective legislative frame work and creating awareness programs
were also ascertained. It was recommended that there should be public education on how
environmental sustainability could be incorporated into project management practices
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and Management, College of Art and Built Environment, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Award of Master of Science.
Keywords
Environment, Environmental sustainability, Project management, Ghana