Scientific Programming

The research program of the INFRA-S Chair aligns with Goal 9 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda adopted by the United Nations. This goal promotes, through a collaborative approach, the sustainable development of infrastructure to enhance the quality of life of local, national, and international citizens (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous).

The program is part of the broader movement to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria within organizations, with a particular focus on the social dimension.

The program is built upon the work of the Chair’s researchers, who consider infrastructure as common goods, emphasize the importance of community engagement in infrastructure projects, and study in depth both the positive and negative impacts of infrastructure on populations throughout their lifecycle and beyond.

This program innovates by adopting an approach that actively involves communities in creating social value for infrastructure. It also highlights the need to rethink traditional governance models by exploring new ways to generate value associated with infrastructure.

Program Objectives

The five objectives are :

1. Identify, understand, and analyze the dimensions valued by stakeholders to inform decision-making processes for key actors and maximize the social value of developed infrastructure;
2. Develop an innovative and integrative approach that benefits investors, policymakers, and infrastructure managers in generating social value;
3. Assess the impact of such an approach on infrastructure governance and propose and evaluate necessary changes;
4. Develop decision-support tools to assess and measure the social performance of infrastructure;
5. Critically examine the ESG approach used by infrastructure investors and suggest improvements to emerging initiatives in the field to meet both anticipated and existing social demands related to infrastructure.