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A high level of low compliance with continuing professional development (CPD) among construction professionals in developing countries is well acknowledged in existing literature. In spite of several interventions in CPD implementation, reforms and approaches in recent times, there does not seem to be an immediate improvement. This development calls for a re-think among stakeholders to adopt strategies that can yield the best results in uptake. Though several strategies have been proposed to potentially result in CPD uptake and compliance among construction professionals, these possible strategies have not been considered in an integrated manner. This study aims at identifying CPD delivery and implementation strategies that can significantly contribute to compliance and uptake among construction professionals in South Africa.

Using a quantitative research design and a questionnaire survey, this study sought to identify effective CPD implementation strategies for construction professionals from a plethora of suggested ones that can engender increased uptake and compliance.

By using multiple regression analysis, the results revealed “flexible e-learning platforms”, “standardisation of CPD model and formats by professional institutions”, “inclusion of CPD in tertiary curriculum to easily understand its importance” and “encouraging practices to have frequent in-house training sessions sharing experiences” as the most significant strategies that are likely to improve CPD uptake and compliance.

Against the backdrop of the need to increase CPD uptake and compliance among professionals through flexible integrated approach comes to the fore the understanding and knowledge of the strategies that can engender CPD uptake and compliance among construction professionals in the construction industry in South Africa.

To investigate the knowledge and perception of serving and prospective operation and maintenance (O&M) practitioners about the key aspects of sustainable buildings, and to study the contribution of the current education and training means to their knowledge level.

A self‐administered questionnaire survey was conducted on full‐time practitioners attending continuous professional development (CPD) courses related to building services engineering (BSE) or facilities management (FM); full‐time practitioners studying part‐time on undergraduate BSE/FM courses; and full‐time undergraduate BSE/FM students. A total of 168 responses were collected and analysed.

The respondents were largely unaware of the initiatives for promoting building environmental performance and sustainability. Their knowledge level about sustainable buildings was generally low and bore little correlation with their work experience, attendance to CPD training and undergraduate studies that they attended. Good O&M for buildings was perceived by both O&M practitioners and building designers to be highly relevant to sustainable buildings.

Further research is required to study how the education and training means should be revamped and coordinated to tailor for the O&M practitioners. More stringent CPD requirements by relevant professional bodies would help motivate the practitioners to continuously acquire knowledge which is essential for making buildings sustainable.

The findings have unveiled the need for tailor‐made undergraduate and CPD training programmes to effectively enhance the knowledge of O&M practitioners.

This paper presents an unpopular but important research which uncovered the state of knowledge and perception of O&M practitioners, who play a crucial role in realizing the goal of sustainable buildings.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a contextual analysis of the professional accounting education programmes in South Africa and India by benchmarking both programmes to the International Education Standards (IESs) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

The research methodology is a qualitative archival approach extracting information from secondary data (Statements of Membership Obligations’ compliance questionnaires available on the IFAC web site and information from the web sites of the relevant professional accountancy bodies).

With regards to the IESs, the study found that both countries comply with the standards, although important differences occur. In South Africa, most of the education takes place during the university phase; and while both countries cover the content requirements, India covers the acquisition of professional skills more formally; ethics is taught and examined in both countries; both countries require a three year training contract; both countries have a final examination but the content of the examinations are different; and South Africa requires more continuous professional development than India. These findings, when related to India's and South Africa's relative positions on certain of the Global Competitiveness Indices may indicate that India could learn from the South African accountancy education model in order to strengthen the Indian position with regards to auditing and reporting standards.

A limitation of the study is that it did not investigate the quality of the relative education programmes and it benchmarks both programmes at a single point in time.

India could strengthen its accounting profession by implementing some of the South African aspects of its education model. South African could consider adopting the flexibility in the entry requirements in the Indian education model in order to increase the number of accountants in South Africa. These findings may also be useful to other developing countries to identify practices which could be adopted if suitable in their respective countries.

The study is original as accountancy education programmes in India and South Africa have not been contrasted before. In view of their similar colonial background and the fact that both countries are major economic and political forces in their respective regions, the value of this study is that it provides useful and relevant information to India, South Africa and other countries with similar economic and social backgrounds.

Professions have evolved in contrasting ways in different countries, although this has only recently been recognised by sociologists, who long had an Anglo‐American bias in their work on this subject. In the UK professions have generally evolved “bottom‐up” (i.e. through the activities of the professionals) in contrast to “top‐down” (through state intervention) in Germany. Since the valuation profession in Germany has not been regulated by the state it has not evolved as a high status occupation and lacks high entry standards or effective self‐regulation. This has resulted in a different approach to valuation theory and practice from that in the UK.

Discusses the effects of EC legislation on the construction industry in the light of the opening of the Single European Market on 1st January 1993. Outlines the background to European legislation and then examines its four main categories: those covering product and materials, the purchase of goods and services by public bodies, the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and health and safety at work. Explains how this legislation operates and its likely effect on the construction industry, in the form of a personal view by the author. Concludes that while the industry needs to be aware of and prepare for the Single Market, the changes it will bring about should be considered opportunities rather than threats.

This study seeks to identify how professional accountants in France are educated in sustainability; we examine the French accounting programs in regard to sustainability accounting education recommendations.

We analyze a variety of documents to ascertain what comprises the typical accounting education program in France. Additionally, we conduct five interviews of various stakeholders to understand the importance of sustainability accounting and education in the French context.

We note an interesting paradox in the French context: while the government requires the reporting and auditing of corporate sustainability information, we find that sustainability is not greatly present in the government-funded French accounting education program. We determine that the government’s power in setting the education agenda combined with its budget restrictions and ability to defer responsibility to other parties has resulted in this paradox in the French setting.

This research draws attention to the consequences of society ignoring sustainability education for professional accountants.

This paper contributes to the discussion on how to educate responsible professional accountants and the implications for the planet if accountants are not trained in sustainability.

This research contributes to the important domain of sustainability accounting education. We also explore additional implications for the accounting profession and the general public.

The purpose of this paper is to report the development of internet‐based educational support to enable practitioners in built environment conservation (preservation in American terminology) to evaluate and, if necessary, improve their competence. In the UK it is a condition of project grant‐aid of some heritage bodies that the professional leading a conservation project is accredited, and several schemes, peer‐reviewed by professional bodies, have been set up in recent years. Since these require practitioners to provide evidence of their competence, there is a need for an increased understanding of the issues involved. The work aimed to define the basis for the competences and establish an educational framework for professional development in this area.

A structured framework of competences, consisting of five units dealing with all the stages of a conservation project, is presented and evaluated against the 1993 ICOMOS Guidelines on Education and Training in the Conservation of Monuments, Ensembles and Sites. The framework is appropriate for all professional disciplines and has been converted to a computer‐assisted self‐learning package that provides support for practitioners in developing their portfolio of evidence for submission for accreditation peer‐review.

The internet‐based educational support has been available since 2007 and receives over 2,000 visits per month from all over the world. It has the support of all the UK accreditation schemes in built environment conservation.

A desk survey of electronic resources in the subject domain suggests that the educational support material described in this paper is unique in the world.

It is widely acknowledged that in today’s society, one must actively pursue the goal of life long learning, both for career and personal growth. However the costs in terms of finances, time and commitment are often a deterrent to further education. The University of Technology, Department of Information Studies and the Internet Training Institute are working together to make workplace training and further education easier for information professionals, through the recognition of accredited workplace training as a legitimate component of tertiary library and information studies. The partnership essentially involves the ITI Train the Internet Trainer program, the first nationally accredited program of its kind in Australia. The Train the Internet Trainer program is a practical three‐day hands‐on training workshop designed to give professionals the skills to prepare and deliver effective Internet training programs within their organisation and to the wider community. The UTS and ITI partnership commenced with the academic year in 2000.