Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems Best Paper Award
The journal Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems recognises excellence in research through the annual Best Paper Award. The award is given for the work published in the previous year that best meets the goal of the journal to publish work of long-lasting value in the study of civil engineering and environmental systems. There is no nomination process and all papers will be considered. The editors will make a decision on the award, and will call in members of the editorial board to assist in the case of potential conflicts of interest. Offers for sponsorship for the annual award will be considered. The first award was made for work published in 2019.
The winner of the Best Paper published in 2023, as chosen by the journal’s editors and Editorial Board, is ‘Safer and resilient schools in seismic regions: a systems perspective’ by J. Agarwal and others (volume 40, issue 3).
Judges’ Comments
The article develops a participatory, multidisciplinary and multicriteria approach based on a systems perspective with application to Nepal after the 2015 earthquakes damaged 19,000 classrooms. The school system model comprises the school community, buildings and associated infrastructure, resources and facilities, school governance, school community resourcefulness, and considers both human-induced and natural hazards.
The framework developed is comprehensive, practical, quantifiable, and transferable. The research involved development of a phone app to question stakeholders on resilience of educational communities, and the development of a resilience score. It changes the focus from stronger classrooms to safer and more resilient educational communities. It excels in the direct involvement with end-users, and its focus on communication of complexity to them.