Dear Colleagues,

Public-Private Partnerships(PPPs) have been adopted worldwide as a procurement model able to leverage private capital and private expertise, to deliver and manage public infrastructure and public services. The focus on PPPs has been primarily financial, given the numerous financial and fiscal benefits provided by the model (although these potential benefits have turned negatively in some countries). Therefore, the evaluation of such projects has been primarily done in terms of their financial impact, comparing the (potential) gains with the alternative public management model. The results have been mixed across different sectors and distinct countries.

Traditional PPP models now have over 20–30 years’ experience, and a growing number of researchers has been questioning the absence of social, environmental, and larger economic KPIs able to provide a comprehensive evaluation of PPPs. Even from a strictly financial point of view, the lack of a life cycle perspective over expenditure, has led, in many countries (e.g., Greece, Portugal, Italy) to unsustainable financial burdens. Simultaneously, the challenge of climate change will require increased resilience of existing and new infrastructure, requiring a new perspective on how do we evaluate investments.

The debate and literature on PPP have grown significantly in the last decade. This Special Issue intends to bring sustainability to the center of debate on PPPs, providing a set of papers that can pave the way towards a more holistic evaluation, development, and implementation of PPPs. The following areas are most welcome (not exclusive):

• Sustainability assessment in PPPs;
• Monitoring sustainability in PPP projects;
• Financial sustainability of PPPs;
• PPPs for environmental projects;
• PPPs and resilient projects.

Dr. Carlos Oliveira Cruz
Dr. Joaquim Miranda Sarmento
Guest Editors

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• public–private partnerships
• concessions
• sustainability, project finance
• environment
• public-to-private cooperation