Title: Using Multicriteria Methods in Environmental Planning and Management

Authors: Risto Lahdelma, Pekka Salminen and Joonas Hokkanen,

Status: Environmental Management, Vol. 26, No. 6, pp. 595-605, 2000.

 


Keywords: Environmental planning, Multicriteria decision making, Group decision making

 In environmental planning and decision processes several alternatives are analyzed in terms of multiple noncommensurate criteria, and many different stakeholders with conflicting preferences are involved. Based on our experience in real-life applications, we discuss how multicriteria decision aid (MCDA) methods can be used successfully in such processes. MCDA methods support these processes by providing a framework for collecting, storing and processing all relevant information, thus making the decision process traceable and transparent. It is therefore possible to understand and explain why, under several conflicting preferences, a particular decision was made. The MCDA framework also makes the requirements for new information explicit, thus supporting the allocation of resources for the process.