Rethinking Collaboration in Public Infrastructure Projects

At the ACFAS conference, Professor Caroline Coulombe took the stage to explore how collaboration can truly transform public infrastructure projects. Alongside Laure Poncet, Director at the Société Québécoise des Infrastructures (SQI), she shared insights from a research partnership with the organization.

Their presentation focused on new, more collaborative ways of working—like Progressive Design-Build (PDB) and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)—and how these methods stack up against traditional project approaches. With real-world data to back it up, they showed how these models help improve outcomes by fostering stronger, earlier, and more consistent collaboration.

This work shines a light on the value of tools like the collaboration indicator, which helps track and strengthen cooperation between stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. It’s a great example of how the research being done at the Québec Research Observatory on Collaboration (OQRC) and the Research Chair INFRA-S helping move the needle on better project delivery.