Participatory Multi-criteria Decision Analysis Research Articles

A participatory multicriteria decision analysis of the adaptive capacity-building needs of Jordan's agribusiness actors discloses the indirect needs downstream the value chain as “post-requisites” to the direct upstream needs

Climate adaptive capacity-building initiatives and activities in developing countries, particularly those implemented by developmental agencies and international organizations, commonly focus on the upstream direct adaptive capacity-building needs of targeted vulnerable sectors. However, overlooking a holistic climate-adaptive capacity-building of a vulnerable sector down to the last link of its value chain renders inadequate contribution, jeopardizes the adaptation intervention, and prevents achieving a high level of buy-in of the chain actors for the results of the sought capacity-building programs. Thus, this study developed a hybrid system-wide and participatory (focus groups-based) multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to conduct adaptive-capacity needs assessments for the actors of the agribusiness value chain of the developing country of Jordan. Our holistic approach enabled highlighting the sector's climate vulnerability along the value chain, conducting self-regulated adaptive training needs assessment (TNA) of the sector's actors and identifying and prioritizing their real adaptive capacity-building needs. This approach proved to be uniquely advantageous in comparison to the sector's commonly used questionnaire-based surveys that are limited-participatory, researcher-regulated, and subsystem-oriented approaches. The advantages of this hybrid hands-on and wide-ranging MCDA–TNA approach are evident from its revelation of unique results. The approach enabled actors of such a highly vulnerable sector to spontaneously identify and prioritize the indirect downstream climate adaptive capacity-building needs surprisingly over the direct needs. This is because the actors considered the indirect needs more important to their businesses and livelihoods than the direct needs, thus considering the indirect needs as “post-requisites” of the fate of the direct upstream needs. The hybrid approach also enabled the beneficiaries to formulate the intervention outcomes, unveil the factors ignored by the conventional researcher-controlled approaches, secure high buy-in of the self-attained results, and prioritize the actual adaptive capacity-building demands. This robust combination of qualitative research methods and tools could be straightforwardly applied to design and conduct efficient and cost-effective adaptive capacity-building programs, especially during time-restricted and resource-limited interventions. The results of such types of quick and cost-effective qualitative investigations of adaptive capacity-building needs could be considered a preliminary and a first step toward deeper and more extensive quantitative studies, if needed.

Multimethod valuation of peatland ecosystem services: Combining choice experiment, multicriteria decision analysis and deliberative valuation

This paper presents a multi-method valuation study using discrete choice experiment, participatory multi-criteria decision analysis and deliberative citizens’ panels to evaluate the value of peatland ecosystem services in southern Finland. All three valuation studies addressed the same scenarios and drew on the same biophysical assessment data to facilitate a comparison of the valuation processes as well as the results. The results indicate that people place high value on regulating and cultural ecosystem services, especially on biodiversity, and less value on energy peat. The experiences sustain the argument that learning is important as people rarely have ordered set of preferences for unfamiliar objects like regulating services. They also illustrate the scope of citizen and consumer preferences and support the assumptions that preferences may change as a result of well-informed group deliberation. In terms of integration, the lesson learned is that regardless of the preference elicitation method, all valuation studies would benefit from structured and participatory approach when defining the scenarios as well as attributes and their levels. Furthermore, full integration is not possible among different valuation methods, which can be conceptualized as value articulating institutions, operating under different rationalities.

The role of multi-criteria decision analysis in a transdisciplinary process: co-developing a flood forecasting system in western Africa

Abstract. Climate change is projected to increase flood risks in western Africa. In the FANFAR project, a pre-operational flood early warning system (FEWS) for western Africa was co-designed in workshops with 50–60 stakeholders from 17 countries, adopting multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). We aimed at (i) designing a FEWS with western African stakeholders using MCDA and (ii) evaluating participatory MCDA as a transdisciplinary process. To achieve the first aim (i), we used MCDA methods for problem structuring and preference elicitation in workshops. Problem structuring included stakeholder analysis, creating 10 objectives to be achieved by the FANFAR FEWS and designing 11 possible FEWS configurations. Experts predicted FEWS configuration performance, which we integrated with stakeholder preferences. We tested MCDA results in sensitivity analyses. Three FEWSs showed good performance, despite uncertainty, and were robust across different preferences. For stakeholders it was most important that the FEWS produces accurate, clear, timely, and accessible flood risk information. To achieve the second aim (ii), we clustered common characteristics of collaborative governance frameworks from the sustainability science and transdisciplinary literature. Our framework emphasizes issues crucial to the earth systems sciences, such as uncertainty and integrating interdisciplinary knowledge. MCDA can address both well. Other strengths of MCDA are co-producing knowledge with stakeholders and providing a consistent methodology with unambiguous, shared results. Participatory MCDA including problem structuring can contribute to co-designing a project but does not achieve later phases of transdisciplinary processes well, such as co-disseminating and evaluating results. We encourage colleagues to use MCDA and the proposed framework for evaluating transdisciplinary hydrology research that engages with stakeholders and society.

Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis for sustainable energy planning

Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis for sustainable energy planning

Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis for sustainable energy planning

Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis for sustainable energy planning

Prioritising fished stocks for monitoring and assessment: A decision analysis approach for diverse fisheries of limited commercial value

Prioritising fished stocks for monitoring and assessment is a challenge for management of resource-limited fisheries. We developed a participatory multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to prioritise 141 fished stocks in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, based on their importance to fisheries management. The approach aimed to: (1) structure the decision problem, (2) force consideration of management objectives at the stock level, (3) balance trade-offs generated by competing objectives, and (4) balance differences in the perceived importance of objectives among fisheries managers. Performance scores and criteria weightings for ten management objectives were elicited from two groups of managers (commercial and recreational), combined into a total performance value for each stock, and ordered to infer priority for assessment. Stocks with higher total performance values typically had an exploitation status of Overfished, Growth-overfished, or Uncertain and were subject to a catch quota, because these criteria were weighted highly by both management groups. However, total performance was more sensitive to differences in weightings between management groups than to variations in relative magnitude of weightings among criteria. The priority list of stocks will assist decisions regarding the optimal allocation of resources for fisheries research in NSW. This MCDA approach is adaptive and can incorporate changes in management priorities through time and additional ecosystem components.

Planning for Pedestrians with a Participatory Multicriteria Approach

The design of accessible walking routes needs to take into account the different stakeholders' preferences and factors affecting walking. It is a complex issue which policy-makers should deal with to foster sustainable mobility. A participatory multicriteria decision analysis approach is presented to help the planning and designing of pedestrian routes, based on a sound analysis of factors affecting walking behavior and the attributes of the roads, and a stakeholder-driven evaluation of the same. A group of different stakeholders has been involved to select the criteria for designing pedestrian routes in the city center of Cartagena (Colombia). Some of them have been selected based on the results of a social network analysis (SNA) to be involved as key stakeholders for the evaluation of the selected criteria through an analytic network process (ANP). An index to measure the importance of each criterion in designing pedestrian routes has been obtained. Results provide valuable inputs to understand how to redesign and reconfigure streets for pedestrians in a city so as to improve walkability and foster a shift toward active and sustainable transport modes.

Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis in valuing peatland ecosystem services—Trade-offs related to peat extraction vs. pristine peatlands in Southern Finland

The use of peatlands and the multiple but mutually exclusive ecosystem services they provide is a highly debated issue worldwide. We used a participatory multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to address multiple value dimensions and trade-offs related to peatland ecosystem services in Southern Finland. We evaluated five peatland policy scenarios against provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services as well as socio-economic factors, and engaged key stakeholders in framing the assessment and assigning criteria weights. The MCDA process showed that while peat extraction can basically be reconciled with preserving the most important biodiversity values in Finland, the conflict between peat extraction and carbon stock as well as water quality impacts and the related amenity values is irreconcilable. The role of the participatory MCDA process in promoting learning and reflection was smaller than expected but it did facilitate learning about the flows of peatland ecosystem services. The role of the participants was important not only in making value judgements but also in contributing to the impact assessment, thereby supporting the calls for transdisciplinarity in ecosystem service assessments.

Stakeholder preferences for payments for ecosystem services (PES) versus other environmental management approaches for mangrove forests

Choosing from a range of environmental management options can be more effective when considering stakeholder preferences. This is particularly true in the coastal tropics, where numerous actors and institutions intersect to shape environmental governance. Here, we investigate stakeholder preferences for an array of options regarding the sustainable development and conservation of mangrove forests. These include: payments for ecosystem services (PES), ecotourism, selling non-timber forest products, bio-charcoal production, and forest restoration financed via corporate social responsibility (CSR). Empirical studies from two socio-ecological settings in Thailand reveal the preferences of government agencies, corporations, municipal and village heads, and several community associations (fishers, senior citizens, housewives, environmentalists, salt-flat workers, oil palm plantation owners). Interviews and participatory multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) elicited preferences based on the likelihood of achieving favourable environmental, economic, and social outcomes. Findings reveal (1) PES was favoured – although motivations were not driven solely by the prospect of financial gain, but by the land tenure security, collaborations, and long-term ecological benefits that were perceived to occur as a result; (2) PES for local services (water quality) were preferred over global services (climate change mitigation); (3) criteria related to wellbeing, livelihoods, and environmental stewardship are influenced by broad cultural and political ideologies, rather than site-specific characteristics; and (4) clear tensions both between private and public actors, and between national and local actors. Our study highlights the importance of involving all informed stakeholders in the decision-making process in order to understand the complex reasons driving environmental management preferences, and to gain greater acceptance of biodiversity conservation and natural resource management actions. We also call for greater transparency in MCDA studies by presenting more of the qualitative data used to subjectively construct the quantitative criteria.

Spatially Referenced Decision Analysis of Long-Term Forest Management Scenarios in Southwestern Finland

Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) of regional level long-term forest management scenarios was conducted by applying spatially explicit information to examine the trade-offs between ecological, economic and social impacts. Interval scale judgements were applied to mapped and numerical information jointly, while assessing the performance of alternative scenarios. The experts relied mostly on the numerical information, with which they might have been more confident and familiar. The weight elicitation was based on SMART using Swings (SMARTS) and SMART Exploiting Ranks (SMARTER). SMARTS resulted in two scenarios being quite equal either due to experts truly considering them equally important or being unconfident to express their weights applying SMARTS. SMARTER was considered more understandable, but lead to total utilities having wider range. However, impact information had a greater effect on the overall utility than the weighting. Future insights include use of dynamic approach, considering the issue more from ecosystem services point of view and tighter integration of participatory MCDA and geographic information systems (GIS).

Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis for prioritizing impacts in environmental and social impact assessments

Environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) can be an extremely useful tool for identifying and evaluating the repercussions of a wide range of initiatives. Typically when the project and its impacts are highly complex, an ESIA can detect a large number of issues that need to be prioritized so that they can be effectively and efficiently addressed. This article presents a mixed-methodology proposal for impact prioritization in ESIA, divided into four phases: (1) creation of the stakeholders’ platform; (2) identification and assessment of impacts; (3) impact categorization; and (4) impact assessment and prioritization using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). This procedure was applied as an ex-post evaluation of a golf-based tourism project in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (Huelva, Spain), but can also potentially be used to conduct ex-ante assessments. The main contribution of the study is in the design and testing of a parsimonious procedure, which condenses a large amount of qualitative information into relatively simple operations using MCDA. The process is grounded in the constructivist social impact assessment (SIA) paradigm through stakeholder evaluation of impacts and criteria.

Genecological zones and selection criteria for natural forest populations for conservation: the case of Boswellia papyrifera in Ethiopia

Rapid changes in land-use in the Combretum–Terminalia woodlands of northwestern Ethiopia are mainly due to the increases in commercial farming and immigration. We used integrated ecological and social data collection techniques, including subdivision of the vegetation zone, vegetation survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews, to identify genecological zones and set criteria for selection of viable populations of Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst in Ethiopia for conservation. Interviews of senior experts were supported with a rating method and involved 43 respondents and focused on identifying and weighting criteria and indicators of selection in a participatory way to prioritize populations for conservation. Using mean annual rainfall data, we reclassified the Combretum–Terminalia woodland vegetation region into three moisture zones (wet, moist and dry), and designated them as genecological zones for B. papyrifera conservation. A total of 35 woody species were identified at Lemlem Terara site in Metema district, and the Shannon diversity index and evenness were 2.01 and of 0.62, respectively. There were 405 adult trees, and 10 saplings and 3314 seedlings per ha. The trees were medium-sized with overall mean diameter at breast height (dbh) of 16.9 (±9.5) cm. Seedling recruitment was poor due to grazing, crop production and fire incidences. Through a multi-criteria decision analysis, five criteria and 20 quantitative indicators were identified and weighted to prioritize populations for conservation. These criteria in their descending order of importance are (1) forest ecosystem health and vitality, (2) forest cover and population structure of B. papyrifera, (3) productive function of the forest, (4) biological diversity in the forest, and (5) socioeconomic benefits of the forest to communities. Multivariate tests in the general linear model revealed significant differences among researchers and nonresearchers in rating the criteria and indicators, but not among foresters and nonforesters. Hence, participatory multi-criteria decision analysis should involve people from various institutions to rectify decisions on conservation of the species. Careful evaluation of the investment policy environment and engaging those government bodies that are responsible to allocate the dry forests for commercial farming is recommended before the proposed criteria are applied to select populations for conservation, thus ensuring subsequent use of the outcomes of such exercises and better reconciling conservation and agricultural production increment goals.

Participative multi-criteria decision analysis in marine management and conservation: Research progress and the challenge of integrating value judgments and uncertainty

Managers and practitioners have increasingly applied participative multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) in marine multi-objective management situations. Despite methodological advances and practical experiences, there is no systematic review that clarifies the current scope and challenges of participatory MCDA in fisheries management, aquaculture and marine conservation. Using the ISI Web of Science database, 95 peer-reviewed publications were found that report MCDA applications in marine management (fisheries or aquaculture) and marine conservation. Of these, 31 studies explicitly and systematically incorporate stakeholders’ engagement at one or more stages of the MCDA process. Results show how participative MCDA has been applied in a wide range of marine multi-objective problems. Interestingly, 76% of studies included participation and 24% consultation processes. Most MCDA studies in marine environments were developed in Europe and Asia. Results highlight that despite successful experiences in participative MCDA, participation has been generally fragmented. Participatory processes have focused mainly at particular stages, such as the establishment of objectives and criteria, and elicitation of weights of importance. Conversely, other important stages of MCDA, such as identifying alternatives, estimating consequences or prioritizing management alternatives, exhibited low levels of participation and/or consultation. In addition, results suggest that uncertainties around multiple values judgments are seldom treated in marine MCDA studies. Greater rigor in promoting an active participation in the complete decision process and fully considering the uncertainties around people's value judgments are important research gaps, which if addressed, could substantially improve participative MCDA applications aimed at achieving sustainable management and conservation.

Participatory risk mapping of malaria vector exposure in northern South America using environmental and population data

Malaria elimination remains a major public health challenge in many tropical regions, including large areas of northern South America. In this study, we present a new high spatial resolution (90 × 90 m) risk map for Colombia and surrounding areas based on environmental and human population data. The map was created through a participatory multi-criteria decision analysis in which expert opinion was solicited to determine key environmental and population risk factors, different fuzzy functions to standardize risk factor inputs, and variable factor weights to combine risk factors in a geographic information system. The new risk map was compared to a map of malaria cases in which cases were aggregated to the municipio (municipality) level. The relationship between mean municipio risk scores and total cases by muncipio showed a weak correlation. However, the relationship between pixel-level risk scores and vector occurrence points for two dominant vector species, Anopheles albimanus and Anopheles darlingi, was significantly different (p < 0.05) from a random point distribution, as was a pooled point distribution for these two vector species and Anopheles nuneztovari. Thus, we conclude that the new risk map based on expert opinion provides an accurate spatial representation of risk of potential vector exposure rather than malaria transmission as shown by the pattern of malaria cases, and therefore it may be used to inform public health authorities as to where vector control measures should be prioritized to limit human-vector contact in future malaria outbreaks.

Allocating fishing rights in South Africa: a participatory approach

Abstract A new fishing rights allocation system was introduced in South Africa in 2001. The system, its application and the complaints by fishers were assessed. In response to the weaknesses in the 2001 system, a participatory multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA)‐based approach was proposed as a new system for evaluating applicants. To test the approach, workshops were held with fishers and the authority responsible for allocating rights. The MCDA system allowed the concerns (criteria) of different stakeholders to be integrated into a coherent framework and for their priorities to be reflected in scores and weights. Simple MCDA approaches, accessible to fishers and the authority, were used to elicit scores and weights, thus providing a record of the process and a theoretically justifiable basis for the use of a weighted sum of scores. Although the perception was that the authority and fishers’ priorities were very different, they proved to be similar and could be accommodated in an integrated system.

Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis: a new tool for integrated development planning

This article proposes a new method for implementing integrated development planning as envisioned by the Local Government Municipal Systems Act of South Africa (2000). The method draws together stakeholders who fall into three broad groups: the communities who live in the municipal area, municipal officials and the elected local politicians. It is grounded in the principles of participatory action research, in which the participation of all interested and affected parties is valued. Within this participatory framework, tools of multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) are used to support the decision-making process by structuring and quantifying difficult decisions that need to be addressed. Community development measurement scales are formulated by communities, and form the basis for evaluations of proposed projects and ongoing monitoring of these communities' progress.

Participatory multicriteria decision analysis with Web-HIPRE: a case of lake regulation policy

Environmental decision making typically concerns several stakeholders with conflicting views. Multicriteria decision analysis provides transparent ways to elicit and communicate individual preferences. When the stakeholders clearly understand each other’s views, a consensus can be reached more easily. Computer software provides a substantial enhancement to support participatory decision making processes, for example, in the preference elicitation and in the analysis of the results. In this paper, we describe the first web-based multicriteria decision support software called Web-HIPRE, and the use of it in participatory environmental modelling. The world wide web provides new possibilities to support the process, for example, by allowing distributed decision support. The stakeholders can be located in different geographical areas, especially in environmental problems. We illustrate the use of Web-HIPRE in a case dealing with the evaluation of regulation policies for the Lake Päijänne in Finland. Decision analysis interviews were carried out and preference models of some typical stakeholders were collaboratively analyzed in order to increase the understanding of other stakeholders’ views. This proved to be an applicable approach in trying to reach consensus between the stakeholders. Web-HIPRE also provided a flexible way to allow complementary support via the web.

Designing multi-criteria decision analysis processes for priority setting in health policy

Public health policymaking has far reaching impacts on society. A sound policymaking process should provide for thorough assessment, followed by a careful balancing of scientific evidence and policy goals. This paper reports on two instances of a participatory multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach to priority setting as part of public health policymaking in the Netherlands. The first case describes the process of locating the most important health problems by ranking (clusters of) diseases in terms of their impact on public health. The second case describes the process of setting an agenda for efficiency improvements in the Dutch health care sector. The article focuses on the ways in which these processes were designed and implemented, and on the specific group MCDA support technology that was used. The similarities and differences in process design in the two cases are related to their respective outcomes, revealing the strengths and weaknesses of the approach. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.