Complexity and Sustainability in Megaprojects

Megaprojects, characterized by their large-scale, capital-intensive nature and significant societal impact, are human-designed social tools that have become increasingly prevalent in various domains such as infrastructure development, urban planning, transportation, energy, defense, and technology to produce science (Ceric ́ et al., 2021; Schindler et al., 2019; Söderlund et al., 2017, Miller and Lessard 2000; Gil & Pinto 2018). If project- based enterprises are designed to extend beyond a self-financing logic that disregards distributional concerns, they have the potential to generate positive change in the social, economic, and environmental aspects of society. By addressing constraints on planetary resources and other global challenges, these enterprises can shape landscapes, stimulate economies, enable self-actualization, and address pressing global issues. Megaprojects, in particular, present a unique opportunity to create and distribute value, as they possess the potential to foster positive change in multiple areas (Gil et al., 2021; Gil 2023). They are not simple, straightforward endeavors as they are commonly assumed to be by outdated social norms, regulations, and early academic research (Merrow, McDonnell, and Arguden 1988, Flyvbjerg, Berzelius, and Rothengatter, 2003). Instead, they should be viewed as “wicked” enterprises that have a significant impact on many stakeholders and generate both support and opposition based on perceived positive and negative externalities. This new and more nuanced understanding of what a megaproject entails challenges the notion that it is primarily caused by agency and capability issues. However, it also raises the important question of how to balance stakeholder governance with supply chain management while maintaining the norms that define “success” as staying on target. This dilemma leads us to consider “who is in and out” and “who gets what” in a megaproject, which are fundamental questions that can help us better understand value creation and distribution. MeRIT Conference and Workshop The Megaproject Research Interdisciplinary Team (MeRIT) was established in 2018 by researchers and academics from Politecnico di Milano and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore to combine the multiple aspects related to the design and implementation of megaprojects. The goal of this initiative is to spark conversations about megaprojects among all stakeholders in the supply chain, with the aim of increasing awareness of the intricate issues that cause criticalities and common problems worldwide. By doing so, we hope to improve performance throughout the entire life cycle of a megaproject, which includes selection, design, construction, operation, and decommissioning. The work- shop includes innovative research work presentation on the topic of complex projects on a broad spectrum of disciplines, such as engineering, organizational studies, law, eco- nomics, social studies, and others. The workshop brings together various stakeholders from the megaproject implementation industry, to debate with academics, researchers, and other professionals about what are the best and worse practices on megaproject development and to look all together on practical solution to improve them. Each year, the conference is gaining increasing international recognition, and it has become a regular fixture on the schedules of numerous megaproject leaders.