Close to one million Rohingya refugees have sought safety from persecution in Bangladesh. Kutupalang in the Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, is the world’s largest refugee camp. Here, there are alarming living conditions, devastating environmental impacts caused by human occupation and staggering economic costs involved in camp management.
Services for refugees are all delivered through projects. Presently, there are 84 projects that are formally recognised, with over 200 organisations officially involved as stakeholders. BU researchers believe that project managers here should be doing more to negate environmental, economic and social impacts.
Drs Williams and Thompson are joined on the project by Dr Mehdi Chowdhury, a Senior Lecturer in Economics from the Faculty of Management, and Tilak Ginige, a Senior Lecturer in environmental law from the Faculty of Science and Technology.
The BU research team are now working with project organisers in Bangladesh to improve stakeholder management and further develop the RPM concept. Dr Thompson reveals exactly how her team are studying project management during this crisis.