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Cladding has been used to improve the quality of buildings over the years. However, flammable cladding materials have presented safety risks and problems in some properties. About 800 multi-owned buildings in Victoria have been identified as having flammable cladding. The purpose of this paper is to explore managing flammable cladding risk in multi-owned residential buildings in Melbourne.

This research adopts a qualitative approach through focus groups of property stakeholders. Narratives from owners’ corporations, strata property managers, building committee members and lot owners were collected to elicit first-hand experiences in managing/living in problematic residential multi-owned properties.

This study suggests stakeholders experience an asymmetry in information access and availability regarding cladding risk information. Property managers indicated that cladding risk information is available, while other stakeholders, such as committee members, reported a lack of risk information to support informed decision-making for rectification. It was also identified that a lack of a transparent data register of cladding properties is problematic.

A targeted housing policy that effectively monitors occupant health and safety to guarantee building safety compliance would ensure current and future residential housing is fit for purpose. Also, this study recommends that local governments work with multi-owned developments to construct a live database of flammable cladding properties, categorizing properties with a risk rating to aid emergency services.

This paper contributes to the literature on flammable cladding used in multi-owned properties.

This paper examines the impact of lived experiences and attitudinal blueprints on researchers within the context of masculinities research. It explores the negotiation of gendered roles, exploring how personal narratives shape our engagement in gender research and the collaborative process of meaning-making. It discusses the methodological tensions surrounding narrative research and naturalistic inquiry when investigating masculinities.

Adopting a feminist post-structuralist lens, this paper analyses the discursive nature of masculinities and its theoretical and historical construction, alongside the use of narrative research methodologies in research practices.

The paper reinforces the importance of feminist frameworks in deconstructing gender norms and challenging implicit assumptions. The role of reflexivity in the research process and the potential for researcher subjectivity as a resource is emphasised. Drawing on existing scholarship and the authors' empirical research experiences, the importance of researcher reflexivity in recognising the potential for gender performativity in the research setting is emphasised, especially in gendered research spaces and when engaging with methodologies tacitly understood through gendered ideological lenses.

The paper contributes to ongoing scholarly discussions exploring the intersection of gender, theory and practice.

The paper's theoretical exploration contributes to understandings of gender dynamics in research and offers insights into the complexities of conducting masculinities research from a critical perspective. The paper contributes to ongoing scholarly discussions exploring the intersection of gender, theory and practice.

In 2013, Honduras Congress passed the Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDE) Organic Law, along with some constitutional changes, to create ZEDEs, which are essentially special economic zones with some unique features. Prospera Honduras Inc., a company with substantial United States investment, invested in Honduras relying on the ZEDE Organic Law and the Free Trade Agreement between Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States of America (CAFTA-DR). In 2022, Honduras cancelled the ZEDE Organic Law, allegedly harming Prospera Honduras Inc.’s investments. Prospera and some other foreign investors have initiated an investor-state arbitration against Honduras for several alleged breaches of CAFTA-DR provisions. Honduras has remained silent and decided not to participate in the arbitration. This paper aims to examine whether the cancellation of the ZEDE Organic Law gives rise to international investment law obligations under the CAFTA-DR.

This is a doctrinal research and contains qualitative analysis.

The article concludes that CAFTA-DR preserves some regulatory space for host states; therefore, it would be wrong to assume that the arbitral decision in Prospera Inc. and others v. Honduras will favour only the foreign investors. This article also argues that, drawing insights from this dispute, future International Investment Agreements should better preserve Indigenous people’s rights. Moreover, the host states should reconsider whether they intend International Investment Agreements (IIAs) to apply to special economic zones in future.

There is no existing scholarly work examining the international investment law issues relating to the cancellation of ZEDEs in Honduras. Therefore, the findings of this article will be novel.