Abolish, Accept, Apply: Coping With Ignorance in Project Ecologies

Abstract

This article seeks to advance the current debate on the role of ignorance in the management of large projects by mobilizing insights from recent literature on the interplay between temporary projects and permanent contexts. Instead of examining how ignorance shapes the success or failure of isolated projects, we intend to examine how ignorance is addressed and framed within these projects and their wider environment and how this framing shapes the practices of planning and managing projects. The usefulness of the proposed framework is gauged with two empirical vignettes that elucidate different perspectives on ignorance in recent, German, large construction projects.