On behalf of Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, it is my great pleasure to welcome you all to this international scientific conference. Drylands are often considered fragile ecosystems, yet they have a remarkable resilience to stress. They are home to unique and well-adapted plant and animal species that we need to conserve. Some of the world’s greatest cultures and belief systems have originated in drylands. On the other hand, desertification and land degradation in drylands often result in poverty and cause environmental refugees to abandon their homes. These problems can only be addressed in a holistic manner, based on sound scientific research and findings. Solutions to the problems of dryland degradation need to be communicated as widely as possible through education at all levels. These are many reasons why UNESCO – within its mandate of science, education, culture and communication – took the intiative to organize this conference. And we are glad that so many partners have responded to our call. UNESCO considers this conference as its main contribution to the observance of the International Year of Deserts and Desertification in 2006. We have deliberately chosen the title ‘The Future of Drylands’ as we feel it is time to redefine our priorities for science, education and governance in the drylands based on 50 years of scientific research in arid and semi-arid zones. In fact UNESCO has one of the longest traditions, within the UN system, of addressing dryland problems from an interdisciplinary, scientific point of view. In 1955, the ‘International Arid Land Meetings’ were held in Socorro, New Mexico (USA). They were organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), sponsored by UNESCO and supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. One important output of the International Arid Land Meetings was a book entitled The Future of Drylands, edited by Gilbert F. White and published in

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Underlying social factors for evaluating heritage conservation in urban renewal districts

An approach integrating geographic information system and building information modelling to assess the building health of commercial buildings

Implementation and integration of sustainable development within a management framework is the main problem of urban regeneration projects. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a sustainable heritage-led urban regeneration planning framework, which will act as an urban regeneration project life cycle model and aid sustainable planning and decision-making processes for project managers. First, a literature review is used to conceptualise the first version of the sustainable planning framework. Then, it is validated by conducting interviews with professionals in Northern Cyprus. Sustainable heritage-led urban regeneration planning problems exist in the case study region. Therefore, the data collected for this research is significant to the research problem. Results showed that there is a lack of knowledge towards heritage-led urban regeneration among the local community and it is the main source of sustainable planning problems. Therefore, a questionnaire survey is conducted to validate this problem. The results validated that there is a sustainability perception difference between the local community and professionals, and the knowledge level of the local community was not satisfactory. Finally, a knowledge management system is introduced in the final version of the framework in order to empower stakeholders, and the “eye of sustainable planning” is introduced. Perception differences between the local community and professionals and the lack of knowledge of the local community towards heritage-led urban regeneration is introduced by this research. This study is limited to heritage-led regeneration projects and future studies may extend the scope of this study to different countries.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1343/pdf

Eye of sustainable planning: A conceptual heritage-led urban regeneration planning framework

Buildings inevitably deteriorate with time. Schools buildings are no exception and require refurbishment at times. Despite the UK Government announcing the £1 billion funding for rebuilding 50 schools over 10 years starting 2010–2021, it is common practice for builders and designers to, upon completion of a building project, move on to the next development without considering how the completed building performs. This research undertakes a post occupancy evaluation (POE) of three schools in the West Midlands, UK with specific focus on building services, viz., heating, lighting, and air conditioning and ventilation. The research adopted a mixed philosophical approach of interpretivism and post-positivism to conduct inductive reasoning. A questionnaire that collected both quantitative and qualitative primary data was distributed to the end-users of the schools. Data was analysed using the Cronbach’s alpha, one sample t-test and Kruskal–Wallis test to identify any differences between the questionnaire responses. Findings revealed that building users demanded greater control of the internal environment thus contradicting the current trend for automated ‘intelligent systems’ approaches. This research represents the first work to consider the contractor’s perspective towards developing a better understanding of client satisfaction with the school buildings. Moreover, the POE result represents a notable pragmatic advancement to knowledge that will influence the contractor’s knowledge and understanding of client satisfaction, and where to improve upon these.

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Post Occupancy Evaluation of School Refurbishment Projects: Multiple Case Study in the UK

Heritage Conservation and Regeneration of Historic Areas in Malaysia

Functional Assessment through Post Occupancy Review on Refurbished Historical Public Building in Kuala Lumpur

Assessing Score of Applicability and Importance on Functional Performance Criteria for Historical Building

Health care and hospital buildings are among the most complex construction in the built environment which comprises a broad range of utility, services, and functional units. The objectives of the study are to review the built environment performance level of the public teaching health care hospital in meeting user’s need. Three (3) public training health care hospitals in Selangor district in Malaysia are selected as a case study sample. Based on the finding the study revealed that the correlation coefficient between technical building performance and the importance of POE Guideline are positively correlated based on security, safety, and efficiency and health criteria. © 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies, Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. Keywords:  Health care; public; training hospital; performance

/pdf/health-care-building-assessment-through-post-occupancy-audit-23s3lo8xot.pdf

Health Care Building Assessment through Post Occupancy Audit

This paper covers the theoretical aspect of building functional evaluation through Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) concept. POE concept has been applied to identify problems in building, and to develop guidance and criteria for future design. Through functional evaluation, it addresses how a building could support the organisation’s goals and user needs. Malaysian historical buildings built over the last century are valuable assets to the country for their architectural landmark and tourism potential. Nevertheless, most of these buildings are dilapidated and left unattended. Several initiatives have been carried out to sustain the buildings such as upgrading and refurbishment works. The issue of inherent complexity and uncertainties of refurbishment work were cited to be one of the main reasons that affect functional performance evaluation. Other issues are constrained by heritage regulations and restrictions in judgment and decision. Other than that, little research has been carried out on POE toward historical building in Malaysia including functional performance evaluation. The main aim of this study is to identify the criteria in POE. Second, is to highlight relevant criteria to be used in measuring functional performance for refurbished historical buildings. The research adopts comprehensive literature reviews from numerous published sources such as journals, magazines, government reports, unpublished thesis, and website documents focusing on refurbished historical buildings in Malaysia. The paper anticipated several criteria that require building managers to ensure good functional performance of future historical building refurbishment projects in Malaysia. The criteria are space relationship, aesthetic value, comfort, amenity, services safety, operational management, and life cycle cost. This research has the potential to create awareness among the designer and building management team on the relevant criteria for future historical building refurbishment which may enhance occupants’ satisfaction.

Hasnizan Aksah

Papers

Heritage Conservation and Regeneration of Historic Areas in Malaysia

Functional Assessment through Post Occupancy Review on Refurbished Historical Public Building in Kuala Lumpur

Assessing Score of Applicability and Importance on Functional Performance Criteria for Historical Building

Health Care Building Assessment through Post Occupancy Audit

Criteria Overview for Functional Performance Evaluation Pertaining to Refurbished Historical Building