Considering some drawbacks of the mainstream approach to environmental management (EM),the conception and basic idea of Participatory EM(PEM) are put forward.PEM possesses some main features and benefits that are supe...Considering some drawbacks of the mainstream approach to environmental management (EM),the conception and basic idea of Participatory EM(PEM) are put forward.PEM possesses some main features and benefits that are superior to the mainstream approach,but also faces the crucial constraint in decision-making.The dilemma can be effectively settled by applying an advanced decision-making support tool-group decision support system(GDSS).On the basis of recognizing the complex decision-making environment of PEM,this paper describes the components of GDSS for PEM(PEM-GDSS) and further discusses the basic requirement of PEM-GDSS.展开更多
The complexity we take into account when dealing with complex issues and the way we deal with that complexity is not given or self-evident, it is framed and negotiated. Based on two environmental health decision suppo...The complexity we take into account when dealing with complex issues and the way we deal with that complexity is not given or self-evident, it is framed and negotiated. Based on two environmental health decision support case studies we address a set of key methodological choices, crucial in shaping the multi-criteria decision support and illuminate how they followed from transdisciplinary collaboration and negotiation: diversity tolerance, dealing with uncertainty and difference of opinion, weight of information and the epistemological divide between traditional closed and alternative open paradigms. The case studies exemplify the growing conviction amongst methodologists that, especially regarding complex issues, best methods do not exist as such: methods are chosen and tailored in practice and the quality to a large extent is dependent on the process in which methodological development is embedded. We hope to contribute to making explicit the importance of methodological decision making regarding environmental health complexity.展开更多
Decisions regarding relocation of people due to environmental requirements can be very complex and may have serious socio-economic implications. We present the design of a Decision Support System to support such decis...Decisions regarding relocation of people due to environmental requirements can be very complex and may have serious socio-economic implications. We present the design of a Decision Support System to support such decision making processes involving many inputs, human preferences and multiple objectives.展开更多
Decision makers involved in prevention of water contamination often lack the technical knowledge of water quality evaluation or the comprehension of complex software for environmental information management required t...Decision makers involved in prevention of water contamination often lack the technical knowledge of water quality evaluation or the comprehension of complex software for environmental information management required to make effective decisions. Providing information about the environment is not an easy task due to its complex structure, relationships, and dynamic processes. Because environmental models play an important role in environmental decision support systems, the integration of models into user-friendly integrated information systems is a key factor in the support of such users. This paper presents an environmental information system which supports water protection of Coatzacoalcos River in Mexico, having as a main building block water quality assessments supported by mathematical modeling through the two-dimensional Saint Venant and Advection-Diffusion-Reaction equations to calculate the river hydrodynamics and the contaminant transport, respectively. The mathematical modeling solution yields appropriate results representing the river contaminant distribution when compared with field measurements. But the direct use of these models by decision makers is difficult at best, meaning they are not likely to be used in making practical decisions. The system described in this paper integrates these models, and several other tools, into a seamless, user-centered application, improving model usability, initial configuration, and results visualization.展开更多
The development of spatial decision support for environmental resource management,e.g.forest and agroecosystem management,biodiversity conservation,or hydrological planning,started in the 1980s and was the focus of ma...The development of spatial decision support for environmental resource management,e.g.forest and agroecosystem management,biodiversity conservation,or hydrological planning,started in the 1980s and was the focus of many research groups in the 1990s.The combined availability of spatial data and communication,computing,positioning,geographic information system(GIS)-and remote sensing(RS)-technologies has been responsible for the implementation of complex SDSS since the late 1990s.The regional GIS-based modelling of environmental resources,and therefore ecosystems in general,requires setting-up an extensive geo and model database.Spatial data on topography,soil,climate,land use,hydrology,flora,fauna and anthropogenic activities have to be available.Therefore,GIS-and RS-technologies are of central importance for spatial data handling and analysis.In this context,the structure of spatial environmental information systems(SEIS)is introduced.In SEIS,the input data for environmental resource management are organised in at least seven subinformation systems:base geodata information system(BGDIS),climate information system(CIS),soil information system(SIS),land use information system(LUIS),hydrological information system(HIS),spatial/temporal biodiversity information system(STBIS),forest/agricultural management information system(FAMIS).The major tasks of a SEIS are to(i)provide environmental resource information on a regional level,(ii)analyse the impact of anthropogenic activities and(iii)simulate scenarios of different impacts.展开更多
Inadequate decision support tools have led to selection of inappropriate wastewater treatment technologies.The objectives of this research were to investigate performance data for wastewater treatment technologies,dev...Inadequate decision support tools have led to selection of inappropriate wastewater treatment technologies.The objectives of this research were to investigate performance data for wastewater treatment technologies,develop a Decision Support Method(DSM)for evaluating performance of technologies,and to validate the developed method.The method was developed through evaluation of performance of wastewater treatment technologies against environmental and economic indicators.Fuzzy logic techniques in form of linguistic variables were applied in order to support decision making under uncertainty.The DSM relied on performance evaluation in order to rate effectiveness of wastewater treatment technologies.DSM was validated through a training tool in ED-WAVE,a model developed by a consortium of European and Asian countries.The reliance of the DSM on performance evaluation was an improvement on the existing decision support tools such as ED-WAVE that relied on retrieval of past performance data.As DSM integrated environmental and economic factors in evaluating wastewater treatment technologies,it was thus able to select a process that was not only environmentally sustainable but also economically affordable.展开更多
文摘Considering some drawbacks of the mainstream approach to environmental management (EM),the conception and basic idea of Participatory EM(PEM) are put forward.PEM possesses some main features and benefits that are superior to the mainstream approach,but also faces the crucial constraint in decision-making.The dilemma can be effectively settled by applying an advanced decision-making support tool-group decision support system(GDSS).On the basis of recognizing the complex decision-making environment of PEM,this paper describes the components of GDSS for PEM(PEM-GDSS) and further discusses the basic requirement of PEM-GDSS.
文摘The complexity we take into account when dealing with complex issues and the way we deal with that complexity is not given or self-evident, it is framed and negotiated. Based on two environmental health decision support case studies we address a set of key methodological choices, crucial in shaping the multi-criteria decision support and illuminate how they followed from transdisciplinary collaboration and negotiation: diversity tolerance, dealing with uncertainty and difference of opinion, weight of information and the epistemological divide between traditional closed and alternative open paradigms. The case studies exemplify the growing conviction amongst methodologists that, especially regarding complex issues, best methods do not exist as such: methods are chosen and tailored in practice and the quality to a large extent is dependent on the process in which methodological development is embedded. We hope to contribute to making explicit the importance of methodological decision making regarding environmental health complexity.
文摘Decisions regarding relocation of people due to environmental requirements can be very complex and may have serious socio-economic implications. We present the design of a Decision Support System to support such decision making processes involving many inputs, human preferences and multiple objectives.
文摘Decision makers involved in prevention of water contamination often lack the technical knowledge of water quality evaluation or the comprehension of complex software for environmental information management required to make effective decisions. Providing information about the environment is not an easy task due to its complex structure, relationships, and dynamic processes. Because environmental models play an important role in environmental decision support systems, the integration of models into user-friendly integrated information systems is a key factor in the support of such users. This paper presents an environmental information system which supports water protection of Coatzacoalcos River in Mexico, having as a main building block water quality assessments supported by mathematical modeling through the two-dimensional Saint Venant and Advection-Diffusion-Reaction equations to calculate the river hydrodynamics and the contaminant transport, respectively. The mathematical modeling solution yields appropriate results representing the river contaminant distribution when compared with field measurements. But the direct use of these models by decision makers is difficult at best, meaning they are not likely to be used in making practical decisions. The system described in this paper integrates these models, and several other tools, into a seamless, user-centered application, improving model usability, initial configuration, and results visualization.
文摘The development of spatial decision support for environmental resource management,e.g.forest and agroecosystem management,biodiversity conservation,or hydrological planning,started in the 1980s and was the focus of many research groups in the 1990s.The combined availability of spatial data and communication,computing,positioning,geographic information system(GIS)-and remote sensing(RS)-technologies has been responsible for the implementation of complex SDSS since the late 1990s.The regional GIS-based modelling of environmental resources,and therefore ecosystems in general,requires setting-up an extensive geo and model database.Spatial data on topography,soil,climate,land use,hydrology,flora,fauna and anthropogenic activities have to be available.Therefore,GIS-and RS-technologies are of central importance for spatial data handling and analysis.In this context,the structure of spatial environmental information systems(SEIS)is introduced.In SEIS,the input data for environmental resource management are organised in at least seven subinformation systems:base geodata information system(BGDIS),climate information system(CIS),soil information system(SIS),land use information system(LUIS),hydrological information system(HIS),spatial/temporal biodiversity information system(STBIS),forest/agricultural management information system(FAMIS).The major tasks of a SEIS are to(i)provide environmental resource information on a regional level,(ii)analyse the impact of anthropogenic activities and(iii)simulate scenarios of different impacts.
基金The authors gratefully acknowledge support extended by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology,the Ministry of Water and Irrigation,Kenya and Lappeenranta University of Technology for research funding through the CIMO-JKUAT training program.
文摘Inadequate decision support tools have led to selection of inappropriate wastewater treatment technologies.The objectives of this research were to investigate performance data for wastewater treatment technologies,develop a Decision Support Method(DSM)for evaluating performance of technologies,and to validate the developed method.The method was developed through evaluation of performance of wastewater treatment technologies against environmental and economic indicators.Fuzzy logic techniques in form of linguistic variables were applied in order to support decision making under uncertainty.The DSM relied on performance evaluation in order to rate effectiveness of wastewater treatment technologies.DSM was validated through a training tool in ED-WAVE,a model developed by a consortium of European and Asian countries.The reliance of the DSM on performance evaluation was an improvement on the existing decision support tools such as ED-WAVE that relied on retrieval of past performance data.As DSM integrated environmental and economic factors in evaluating wastewater treatment technologies,it was thus able to select a process that was not only environmentally sustainable but also economically affordable.
