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Structured decision making as a framework for linking quantitative decision support to community values
Citation:
Yee, S., R. Fulford, J. Carriger, AND M. Russell. Structured decision making as a framework for linking quantitative decision support to community values. Presented at CERF 2013, San Diego, CA, November 03 - 07, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
We apply principles of Structured Decision Making (SDM) as an engagement approach to identify the fundamental objectives of communities and the means to achieve them, and use this information to define decision alternatives and informative endpoints in a system dynamics model.
Description:
Community-level decisions can have large impacts on production and delivery of ecosystem services, which ultimately affects community well-being. But engaging stakeholders in a process to explore these impacts is a significant challenge. The principles of Structured Decision Making (SDM) can be used as an engagement approach to identify the fundamental objectives of communities and can simultaneously inform decision alternatives, means to achieve them and performance endpoints. Fundamental objectives are stakeholder goals that can be used to structure and weigh measures of community wellbeing. Characterizing the means (intermediary actions) to achieve the fundamental objectives can be used to identify decision options. Relationships between means and fundamental objectives, which can be represented in a diagram called a means-ends network, form the conceptual basis for parameterizing quantitative models to predict the effects of alternative decisions on community well-being. We reviewed strategic planning documents from coastal communities to characterize their fundamental objectives and potential means to achieve them, such as enhancing economic viability by promoting eco-tourism. Objectives derived from documents were compared to those identified by stakeholders through facilitated workshop discussions, and used to generate a suite of measures of community sustainability that reflect stakeholder values. This information will be used to develop scientific information and models to predict the outcomes of alternative decisions on the long-term well-being of communities. I Integration of stakeholder values and scientific knowledge allows for a higher level of stakeholder understanding and acceptance of potential trade-offs arising from decisions, providing a higher potential for success in guiding community decisions towards sustainable outcomes.