ROTI, the condition of the built environment, is an expert assessment on the condition of the built environment carried out every other year. It offers impartial information and viewpoints for experts, decision-makers and citizens alike.
ROTI is based on the national construction policy program ratified by the Finnish Council of State in 2003. The assessment is founded on a broad factual base and the work of expert panels. Leading decision-makers and experts in the industry are invited as panelists, which ensures connections to other ongoing development projects both in Finland and abroad.
The ROTI 2017 report raises the issues of architecture, planning, design, and art in the built environment alongside the issues familiar from earlier assessments, i.e., buildings, transportation networks, water, waste and energy services, education, and development. In addition, the section Digital Solutions, which was discussed as a separate entity for the first time in 2015, is also part of the 2017 ROTI. This time, the special theme is questions and action recommendations concerning the management of the built environment in municipalities.
The ROTI report published in 2017 is the sixth of its kind. It is based on the views of almost 160 experts on the current condition and near future of the built environment. Also, over 70 investigations, studies, reports and statistics have been used as sources and background material.
The group of experts, divided into six panels, assembled over 30 times during the autumn of 2016 and winter of 2017. During the meetings, the experts contemplated the central drivers and challenges in the industry and looked for ways of solving those issues. In addition to the guided discussions, scenario work and electronic surveys, among other methods, were used as tools.
ROTI 2017 does not represent the view of an individual panelist or financier on the state of affairs. The action recommendations given in the report have been formed on the basis of the discussions in the panel meetings, the results of the electronic surveys and other advance and background material.
The central goal of the ROTI project is compiling up-to-date information concerning the built environment and raising awareness of its condition.
The results of the work are the ROTI 2017 report, this web page, and the Facebook-, Twitter- and blog feeds.
The benefits produced by ROTI have been shown to include:
– Providing an up-to-date summary on and a centralized information bank concerning the condition of the built environment.
– Identifying the current societal challenges from the point of view of the industry.
– Providing transparency and enhancing interaction across the entire field.
– Informing the top political management, professionals and general public about the results.
The models for this system are the systems for the assessment of the state of the infrastructure developed in the United States and Great Britain:
American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE, USA: http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/
Institution of Civil Engineering ICE, UK: https://www.ice.org.uk/media-and-policy/state-of-the-nation