This year, we are honoured to have Professor George Ofori from London South Bank University joining us for a lecture on the complex relationship between crises, construction and corruption.

The amount of devastation caused by crises such as earthquakes, windstorms and flood is directly linked to the quality of construction of a village, neighbourhood, town or city. Construction, in turn, is often at risk of corrupt practices, leading to poor quality buildings and infrastructure that collapse more easily. It is no surprise then that the worst so-called ‘natural disasters’ occur in societies where corruption is highest.

Construction has a reputation for corruption in all countries. Some of the unique inherent features of construction contribute to this. It is evident at all stages of the long process of completing any project. Thus, it is difficult to reduce the level of corruption in the industry. The implications of this are numerous and highly significant. They include a drain on public finances, poor quality products and services, possible loss of life as the built items fail. Many initiatives are in place to attempt to do this. They address some key features and have different areas of focus including: building trust, increasing transparency, improving regulation and enforcement.

Following the lecture there will be an in conversation with both speakers and an audience Q&A, with the opportunity to ask questions during the event by submitting your questions.

This lecture marks the opening of the Second Urban Resilience Asia Pacific (URAP2) conference, which this year is online and free to attend. For further information visit the conference webpage here.

If you would like to pre-record a question for our speakers to address during the livestream please follow the questions in the booking process.

Be sure to join the conversation by registering above.

How to watch and participate

This lecture will be livestreamed to UNSW YouTube. A link to participate will be sent to all that register before the day. This can also be found via the eventbrite button 'Access the event' above.

Audience Q&A

The audience QnA will be conducted via YouTube ‘Live chat’. If you are on a web browser this is at the top right corner. If you are on a mobile device this is directly under the video. Please post your questions here and they will be passed on to the speakers.

Closed Captions

Closed captions will be available during the live stream. Please click the 'CC' button on YouTube.

Contact

To discuss your access requirements, please email BE.events@unsw.edu.au

We look forward to seeing you at this online event!

Professor George Ofori

Dr Ofori is currently Dean of the School of the Built Environment and Architecture at London South Bank University (LBSU). Dr Ofori specialises in construction management and economics at the project, company and industry levels. His main subject of research is the improvement of the capacity and capability of the construction industry, especially in developing countries.

For nearly four decades, Dr Ofori has been a consultant to international development agencies (including Australia Aid, Department for International Development, UK, and Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs); international organisations such as the International Labour Office, United Nations Human Settlements Programme and Commonwealth Secretariat; and governments. He has undertaken consultancy assignments in Malaysia, Bahrain, Botswana, Ghana, Indonesia, Malawi, Singapore, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania.

Dr Ofori was a Visiting Chair Professor at Tsinghua University in China. He is currently the Joint Co-ordinator of TG95 on Professionalism and Ethics in Construction. He was a member of the Board of the CIB. He is the Deputy Chairman of the International Board of CoST, the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative; and a Member of the Board of Trustees of Engineers Against Poverty.

Professor David Sanderson

David has over 25 years’ experience working across the world in development and emergencies, both with NGOs and in academia. He has been a visiting Professor at Harvard University, and for eight years was Director of CENDEP, a centre at Oxford Brookes University. David is currently the Inaugural Judith Neilson Chair in Architecture at UNSW.