Multi-stakeholder Decision-making Process Research Articles

A Review of Climate Adaptation Impacts and Strategies in Coastal Communities: From Agent-Based Modeling towards a System of Systems Approach

Global warming and climate variations are expected to alter hydrologic conditions and exacerbate flooding, primarily through increasingly frequent and intense storm events and sea-level rise. The interactions between coastlines and their inhabitants around the world are highly diverse, making them challenging to model due to the non-homogeneous, nonlinear, and complex nature of human decision-making. Agent-based modeling has proven valuable in various fields, enabling researchers to explore various social phenomena and emergent patterns under different institutional frameworks, including climate change scenarios and policy decisions, particularly at local scales. This approach is particularly useful in providing insights into possible outcomes and feedback resulting from the convergence of individual- and community-level adaptation decisions, and it has increasingly been used to model coastal systems. However, there are a limited number of studies that examine the effects of climate adaptation decisions on coastal tourism systems. This paper aims to address this gap by first providing an overview of the current state of agent-based modeling literature that explores coastal community adaptation responses to climate change. Subsequently, the paper argues for the application of these methods to simulate the effects of adaptation on coastal tourism dynamics. To better capture the interactions within subsystems and potential redistributed effects inherent in multi-scale and multi-stakeholder decision-making processes within these systems, we propose integrating agent-based modeling with a novel system of socio-environmental systems (SoSES) approach. This integration aims to assist city planners, policymakers, stakeholders, and attraction managers in effectively assessing adaptation options to safeguard their communities from the multifaceted impacts of climate change.

A Goal Programming Model to Guide Decision-Making Processes towards Conservation Consensuses

In this paper we propose a goal programming model that provides a consensual aggregated solution minimizing conflicts to guide multi-stakeholder decision-making processes and generates information regarding stakeholder groups to be exploited for negotiation purposes. This model permits to quantify variations in conflicts when the relative contribution of each criteria changes and gives insight to negotiation strategies with application in conservation areas. A dataset of a case study in the Meseta Ibérica Biosphere Reserve (Portugal-Spain) was used to test and validate the model. Fifty people belonging to four groups (scientists, government, farmers and businesspersons) assessed 20 management objectives in four dimensions: conservation, logistical support, development, and governance. The results showed the highest conflicts to be found for fauna and flora, education, and guarantees objectives while the most conflictive groups were scientists and farmers. The proposed model substantially reduced the global and intergroup conflicts associated to the same objectives, modelling the weights assigned to each objective in each dimension to find the most consensual/least conflictive solutions. This model can be a useful tool to improve complex decision-making processes in conservation areas with strong conflicts between stakeholders, such as transboundary biosphere reserves.

Applying information for national adaptation planning and decision making: present and future practice in the Pacific Islands

Climate change adaptation decision-making frameworks have evolved over the past three decades, with the management of information and knowledge now a key element of these processes. This paper examines the use of climate change-related information for national adaptation planning and decision-making in the Pacific Islands region to better understand the use of, and demand for, such information. Using an appreciative inquiry approach, a situation analysis was undertaken to examine the information praxis of national governments in Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Tuvalu, as well as the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. The study revealed that adaptation decisions are (i) driven by national strategies and priorities which are innately community-centred, (ii) largely made through collaborative structures involving multiple stakeholders within a specific governance or project setting, and (iii) informed by a range of climatic and nonclimatic information from domestic, regional and international sources. The study also affirmed the importance of information and knowledge management to national adaptation planning and decision-making, evidence of collaborative and multistakeholder decision-making processes, and the trend towards country-driven and user-centred information and knowledge production. The study recommends dedicated commitment to and investment in information and knowledge management for Pacific Islands, and the need for a holistic understanding of the complex environment in which climate change adaptation takes place.

Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization of children and adolescents in Northern Greece: Retrospective epidemiological study and related ethical issues.

The aim of the present study was to investigate epidemiological data on involuntary hospitalization of underage patients in psychiatric settings and illustrate the related ethical issues. The medical records of 131 involuntary psychiatric admissions of children and adolescents ordered by public prosecutor between 2005 and 2014 were examined carefully. The examined variables involved the place of origin, the place of residence of minors after discharge, the length of stay in hospitals, the discharge diagnosis, the rate at which the minors were introduced to police and other authorities before their hospitalization, and the results of the neuropsychological assessment (WISC II). Data were analyzed by SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The mean age of the minors was 14.19 years (Male: Female ratio; 1.6:1). First, a high rate of incidences of compulsory admissions was found [5-year period (2005-2009):(2010-2014) ratio; 1:1.85] most likely due to organizational factors, which, however, could have been avoided in a more patient-oriented healthcare system. It is most likely that the criteria used for making decisions in favor of compulsory admissions were disproportionately (unduly) broad. In parallel, it was observed that, during 2010-2014, despite the increase in the rate of the prosecutor's orders, there was a decrease in the duration of coercive hospitalization of minors in psychiatric departments of hospitals in comparison to the period 2005-2009 [5-year period duration of hospitalization (2005-2009):(2010-2014) ratio; 2.33:1]. Furthermore, family was found likely to wield considerable influence on the decision-making for compulsory admissions. In addition, the effectiveness of a compulsory hospitalization of minors in a child and adolescent psychiatry department was found largely dependent on the type of the underlying mental health problem. In that respect, low rates of recidivism (7.6%) indicated that the measure of involuntary hospitalization was necessary and effective. It was also observed that the short-term removal of the minor from the family environment was a potentially relieving strategy for both the child and the family apart from the need for therapeutic intervention. The paper concludes by highlighting the role of a multi-stakeholder decision-making process (which entails shared decision-making as an integral component of providing mental healthcare to minors) in facilitating a decision about involuntary psychiatric hospitalization that is proportional and respectful to patient autonomy.

Records of engagement and decision making for environmental and socio-ecological challenges

We propose creating and maintaining records of engagement and decision-making (RoED) to help us and our communities better understand ourselves, our goals, our decisions, and the dynamic systems in which we all live. The purpose of RoED is to go well beyond noting that dialogue occurred or a decision was reached. The records should, in ways appropriate to the context and participants, document interactions and note biases, beliefs, emotions, behaviors, norms, and values. These crucial aspects are generally absent in academic papers and formal reports, yet they always play a role in decision-making processes. While not a panacea for addressing critical biophysical and social challenges, we propose that a comprehensive framework for promoting realistic, legitimate and inclusive engagement could enhance trust, establish institutional memory, and when and where appropriate, ensure greater transparency. The aim is to create and maintain RoED to collect significant information and share insights from multi-stakeholder decision-making processes from diverse institutions, contexts, and disciplinary domains. In the long-term RoED could promote more effective adaptive management or governance approaches. This paper describes an exploratory phase intended to catalyze collaborative efforts worldwide.

A system dynamics model for supporting decision-makers in irrigation water management

Water management is a controversial environmental policy issue, due to the heterogeneity of interests associated with a shared resource and the increasing level of conflict among water uses and users. Nowadays, there is a cumulative interest in enhancing multi-stakeholder decision-making processes, overtaking binding mercantile business, in water management domain. This requires the development of dynamic decision-aiding tools able to integrate the different problem frames held by the decision makers, to clarify the differences, to support the creation of collaborative decision-making processes and to provide shared platforms of interactions. In literature, these issues are faced by concepts such as Ostrom's action arena and Ostanello-Tsoukiàs’ interaction space (IS). The analysis of the interactions structure and of the different problem framing involved are fundamental premises for a successful debate for the management of a common-pool resource. Specifically, the present paper suggests a dynamic evolution of the IS, highlighting its criticalities. It develops an alternative perspective on the problem, using a System Dynamics Model (SDM), exploring how different actions can influence the decision-making processes of various stakeholders involved in the IS. The SDM has been implemented in a multi-stakeholders decision-making situation in order to support water management and groundwater protection in the agricultural systems in the Capitanata area (Apulia region, Southern Italy).

Integrated watershed management and Ontario’s conservation authorities

In Ontario, integrated watershed management has evolved into a fragmented, multi-agency environment that has made effective management difficult. In the 1990s, two approaches emerged – a local voluntary approach based on informal agency partnerships, and a regulatory approach established in provincial legislation. This paper describes the successes, challenges and lessons learned by drawing upon the experiences of Ontario’s conservation authorities. Key lessons learned include the need for an interactive planning cycle and a multi-stakeholder decision-making process. While significant progress has been made in the practical application of integrated watershed management, significant challenges remain including the lack of a comprehensive policy and inadequate resources.

Making sense of stakeholder values emergence

Relatively little is known about how the concept of sensemaking is triggered by knowledge of human values during the multi-stakeholder decision-making process of construction projects. The emergent, complex and dynamic nature of a cultural value and values system is modelled on a longitudinal case study to demonstrate stakeholders' unique perceptions. Empirical data were gathered through action research and the 'value in design' method were used to structure stakeholder dialogues at three interventions in the briefing and design stages of a new primary school project over a two-year period. A universal theory of human values was subsequently used to theoretically triangulate and postulate on the emergence of unique stakeholder values. The findings contribute new insights into the complex and emerging interrelationship between stakeholder value and values systems. It provides a dynamic perspective of a project culture and illustrates the role of universal values in supporting sensemaking.

The Formulation of Consensus on Nutrition Policy: Policy Actors' Perspectives on Good Process

Food security and nutrition are ascendant issues on global and national policy agendas in recent years, as a result of the global food crisis and growing recognition of the magnitude and consequences of these problems for human and economic development. The translation of this attention into effective action at the country level will require multistakeholder agreements concerning priority problems, interventions, delivery strategies, roles and responsibilities, and other matters, but this has proven to be a difficult and contentious process in many countries. This study explores stakeholders' perspectives on the characteristics of a good process in Guatemala, a country that has encountered difficulties deciding such matters in recent years, as well as their views on decision acceptance and the feasibility of implementing a good process. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 participants in earlier policy deliberations who were identified through snowball sampling. The constant comparative method was used for analysis. These participants attach great importance to the quality of decision processes, have strong support for decision principles derived from theory and experience elsewhere, would be willing to participate in such a process and accept the resulting decisions, and feel such a process would be challenging but feasible in the Guatemalan context. These findings, together with experiences elsewhere, suggest that countries would do well to seek agreement on the design of a multistakeholder decision-making process before they seek agreement on priority nutrition problems, target groups, interventions, delivery strategies, and other matters that have proven contentious in many settings.

Resolving Water Conflicts in Mining Areas of Ghana Through Public Participation A Communication Perspective

Mining as a sector is vital to a country's economic growth but the impact of the activities on environment can be an important cause of concern. In Wassa West district of Ghana, mining as an industry has been promoted in the recent past, but with significant impact on environmental aspects, especially water, leading to conflicts between the local communities and the mining companies. The practical theory of ‘Trinity of Voice’ (TOV) has been proposed for understanding the community-related intricacies underlying multi-stakeholder decision-making processes and proposing a futuristic course of action for effective public participation in the same. This article attempts to understand the causes underlying the mining-related water conflicts in Ghana using the TOV theory. Using this theory, the article proposes a practical framework for enhanced effective participation of members from local host communities that in turn can enable resolving the existing conflicts and preventing the same in future.

The Environmental Round Table Role-Play Exercise: The Dynamics of Multistakeholder Decision-Making Processes

The Environmental Round Table role-play simulation demonstrates the challenges of collaboration, consensus decision making, and group conflict in multistakeholder initiatives designed to resolve complex metaproblems in society.