Keywords
environmental tools, decision support systems, dpsir, water framework directive
Start Date
1-7-2004 12:00 AM
Abstract
One of the main issues in the environmental decision making field is the necessity, sometimes obligation imposed by the legislation, to communicate the decision process and make it more comprehensible. In other words, the objective is to increase the transparency of the decision making available all the relevant information related to the decision process for all interested actors. For this reason, many tools have been developed over the last decades: indicators, conceptual frameworks, and impact assessment studies are examples. However, many of these tools try to represent the environmental situation or hypothetical future states without any explicit reference to how decisions are taken or should be taken. Some environmental decision support systems are developed for that specific purpose. One critical point in the development of such a DSS is the connection between the representation of reality and the elicitation of preferences of the decision makers. Moreover, environmental decision making requires that preferences and value judgments refer to technical and scientific information that is not easy to communicate to people in general. The European project, MULINO (contract no. EVK1-2000-22089), completed at the end of 2003, has focused on connecting environmental tools and decision support methods, by combining the DPSIR approach with multicriteria analysis methods in a decision support system called mDSS. The DPSIR is a conceptual framework developed by the EEA through which environmental problems can be structured and explored in a heuristic way. This process may be undertaken in a group (e.g. the decision makers and the stakeholders together) using the framework to structure discussion between those who decide and those who are involved in the problem. In this paper, we describe the MULINO approach, focusing on the experience gained with the end users involved in the project in applying the mDSS software. In particular, we present the use of the DPSIR approach to structure and communicate their decis ion context and the potentials for stakeholders’ involvement.
Water Management, Public Participation and Decision Support Systems: the MULINO Approach
One of the main issues in the environmental decision making field is the necessity, sometimes obligation imposed by the legislation, to communicate the decision process and make it more comprehensible. In other words, the objective is to increase the transparency of the decision making available all the relevant information related to the decision process for all interested actors. For this reason, many tools have been developed over the last decades: indicators, conceptual frameworks, and impact assessment studies are examples. However, many of these tools try to represent the environmental situation or hypothetical future states without any explicit reference to how decisions are taken or should be taken. Some environmental decision support systems are developed for that specific purpose. One critical point in the development of such a DSS is the connection between the representation of reality and the elicitation of preferences of the decision makers. Moreover, environmental decision making requires that preferences and value judgments refer to technical and scientific information that is not easy to communicate to people in general. The European project, MULINO (contract no. EVK1-2000-22089), completed at the end of 2003, has focused on connecting environmental tools and decision support methods, by combining the DPSIR approach with multicriteria analysis methods in a decision support system called mDSS. The DPSIR is a conceptual framework developed by the EEA through which environmental problems can be structured and explored in a heuristic way. This process may be undertaken in a group (e.g. the decision makers and the stakeholders together) using the framework to structure discussion between those who decide and those who are involved in the problem. In this paper, we describe the MULINO approach, focusing on the experience gained with the end users involved in the project in applying the mDSS software. In particular, we present the use of the DPSIR approach to structure and communicate their decis ion context and the potentials for stakeholders’ involvement.
