A streamlined sustainability assessment tool for improved decision making in the urban water industry

The beginnings and progress in implementing sustainable development in different areas with large impacts on the environment, society, and economy in the last decade is summarized. Thus, the different existing approaches and possible future developments for applying the sustainability concept are analyzed, starting with municipalities and urban planning but also including the applications to engineering projects and companies in the recent search for global sustainable development. An analysis is developed of the weaknesses and strengths in existing proposals for assessing sustainability and the consideration of the basis for sustainable development in all sustainability assessment applications is proposed. Through this approach, from the lessons learned in previous experiences, a framework to manage and to create sustainability assessment models is proposed, including standard procedures, allowing trend settings to designers, the government, developers, and decision-making centers. Key performance indicators are being widely used in such applications, becoming the sustainability assessment tool of any project or activity. The ultimate aim of this chapter is to enhance the awareness of all stakeholders in the need for a more sustainable global development, considering actions not only in the immediate environment but also in indirect environments in space and time.

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Sustainability assessment of urban water planning using a multi-criteria analytical tool – a case study in Ningbo, China

Water Policy ◽

10.2166/wp.2016.241 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 532-555 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lie Wu ◽

Xianqiang Mao ◽

Xiaoming Yang ◽

Zhibo Li ◽

Songchuan Fang

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

High Water ◽

Urban Water ◽

Managerial Decision ◽

Bottom Line ◽

Criteria Weights ◽

Design Options ◽

The Cost

Sustainable urban water infrastructure planning has become one of the major concerns when facing the growing urbanization pace and challenges in China. The paper aims to integrate the modern decision support tools in urban water supply system (WSS) planning and programing. A case study of Ningbo, China is presented to assess the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of the selected WSS. A multi-criteria sustainability analysis (MCSA) approach is adopted for dealing with the trade-off among a spectrum of criteria including those related to life-cycle costing and the triple bottom line concept. The results show that the three options for the WSS have the priority values 0.571, 0.632, and 0.631 and the second option is the best fit, while the first is least preferred owing to the high water–energy nexus. The analysis on the sensitivity is conducted revealing that decision-making is susceptible to the criteria weights and some quantification issues when assessing environmental and social sustainability. The third option might be a reversal of decision, against the second, depending partly on the criticality of relevant criteria weights. Finally, the MCSA approach is demonstrated to be employed not only for planning but for detailed design options' comparison later on and for managerial decision-making during operation.

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Decision support tools for urban water and wastewater systems – focussing on hazardous flows assessment

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2005.0221 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 51 (8) ◽

pp. 41-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

P.-A. Malmqvist ◽

H. Palmquist

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Decision Support ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Hazardous Substances ◽

Urban Water ◽

Combined System ◽

Chemical Safety ◽

Wastewater Systems ◽

Water And Wastewater ◽

Decision Support Process

The Swedish research programme Urban Water has developed a concept of a multi-criteria basis intended to support decision-making for urban water and wastewater systems. Five criteria groups were established for sustainability assessment of urban water systems: Health and Hygiene, Environment, Economy, Socio-culture, and Technology. Each criterion requires a set of indicators corresponding to quantifiable facts and figures, or qualitative data to comparatively assess the different alternatives in the decision process. The decision support process starts as a baseline study where the existing conditions are addressed. Alternative strategies of the future urban water system are developed and analysed by different tools and methodologies in assessing the five criteria groups. Eventually, the results and conclusions are integrated and synthesised into a basis for decision-making. As an example of a decision support basis for chemical safety, a barrier perspective was introduced to find out if and to what extent hazardous substances can be stopped, diverged, or transformed at various points in the wastewater system. A set of barriers was suggested, i.e. behaviour, systems design, process design, optional recipients, and organisational. The barrier approach was applied to two alternative municipal wastewater system designs – a combined wastewater system vs. a source separated system – analysing the fate of phosphorus, cadmium, and triclosan. The study showed that the combined system caused a higher substance flow to the receiving waterbody than the separated system. The combined system also brought more phosphorus and cadmium to the farmland than the separated system, but only half the amount of triclosan.

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Solution spaces for decision-making—a sustainability assessment tool for city-regions

Environmental Impact Assessment Review ◽

10.1016/j.eiar.2004.09.009 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 25 (6) ◽

pp. 589-608 ◽

Cited By ~ 110

Author(s):

Arnim Wiek ◽

Claudia Binder

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

City Regions

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Sustainability Assessment and Agricultural Supply Chains Evidence-Based Multidimensional Analyses as Tools for Strategic Decision-Making—The Case of the Pineapple Supply Chain in Benin

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13042060 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 2060

Author(s):

Doriane Desclee ◽

David Sohinto ◽

Freddy Padonou

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Supply Chains ◽

Agricultural Sector ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Strategic Decision ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Agricultural Supply

Contributing to Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030 is a shared objective of all institutions and people. The challenges differ according to the characteristics of every context. In developing countries, strongly dependent on the agricultural sector, agricultural supply chains are recognized as crucial for economic growth and enablers for livelihood improvement. Moreover, sustainable development issues are correlated and can meet in agricultural supply chains. For several decades, parallel to decision-makers, the research community has elaborated sustainability assessment tools. Such tools evolved to fit with actuality, but it is challenging to find decision-making support tools for sustainable development adequate in agricultural supply chains and developing countries contexts. There is a necessity to define evidence-based tools and exhaustive analytical frameworks according to sustainability multidimensionality and strategical tradeoffs necessity. The VCA4D method aims to go beyond the limits of previous methods. It proposes a combination of multidisciplinary analytical tools applied empirically to analyze agricultural supply chains in their context. It provides evidence-based analytical results allowing to identify enablers for strategic sustainable and inclusive interventions. However, to even better meet contextual exhaustiveness’s expectations and indicators’ robustness to lead to relevant interventions, we should insist on a stricter framing of contextual data collection processes.

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An integrated fuzzy intuitionistic sustainability assessment framework for manufacturing supply chain: a study of UK based firms

Annals of Operations Research ◽

10.1007/s10479-019-03452-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alok Choudhary ◽

Arijit De ◽

Karim Ahmed ◽

Ravi Shankar

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Supply Chain ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Assessment Framework ◽

Mixed Method Approach ◽

Sustainability Performance ◽

Intuitionistic Fuzzy ◽

Intuitionistic Fuzzy Topsis ◽

Method Approach

AbstractThe increasing importance of sustainability has put pressure on organisations to assess their supply chain sustainability performance, which requires a holistic set of key performance indicators (KPIs) related to strategic, tactical and operational decision making of firms. This paper presents a comprehensive set of KPIs for sustainable supply chain management using a mixed method approach including analysing data from the literature survey, content analysis of sustainability reports of manufacturing firms and expert interviews. A 3-level hierarchical model is developed by classifying the identified KPIs into key sustainability dimensions as well as key supply chain decision-making areas including strategic, tactical and operational. A novel multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) based sustainability assessment framework is proposed. The proposed framework integrates value focussed thinking (VFT), intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and IF Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods. The novelty of the research lies in (1) using a rigorous mixed method approach for KPIs identification and industrial validation (2) the development of a novel integrated intuitionistic sustainability assessment framework for decision making and (3) the innovative application of the proposed framework and associated methodologies in the context not explored before. The practical data on the performance ratings of various KPIs were obtained from the experts and a novel intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS was applied to benchmark the organisations for their sustainability performance. Furthermore, the case study shows the applicability of the proposed framework to evaluate and identify the problem areas of the organisations and yield guidance on KPIs by recognising the most significant areas requiring improvement. This research contributes to the practical implication by providing an innovative sustainability assessment framework for supply chain managers to evaluate and manage sustainability performance by making informed decisions related to KPIs.

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How Do We Assess Patient Skills in a Competence-Based Program? Assessment of Patient Competences Using the Spanish Version of the Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire and Real Practical Cases in Women with Pelvic Floor Disorders

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052377 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2377

Author(s):

Beatriz Sánchez-Sánchez ◽

Beatriz Arranz-Martín ◽

Beatriz Navarro-Brazález ◽

Fernando Vergara-Pérez ◽

Javier Bailón-Cerezo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Pelvic Floor ◽

Discriminant Validity ◽

Pelvic Floor Disorders ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Pelvic Organ ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Measurement Properties ◽

Competence Assessment ◽

Knowledge Questionnaire

Therapeutic patient education programs must assess the competences that patients achieve. Evaluation in the pedagogical domain ensures that learning has taken place among patients. The Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire (PIKQ) is a tool for assessing patient knowledge about urinary (UI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) conditions. The aim of this study was to translate the Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire (PIKQ) into Spanish and test its measurement properties, as well as propose real practical cases as a competence assessment tool. The cross-cultural adaptation was conducted by a standardized translation/back-translation method. Measurement properties analysis was performed by assessing the validity, reliability, responsiveness, and interpretability. A total of 275 women were recruited. The discriminant validity showed statistically significant differences in the PIKQ scores between patients and expert groups. Cronbach’s alpha revealed good internal consistency. The test–retest reliability showed excellent correlation with UI and POP scales. Regarding responsiveness, the effect size, and standardized response mean demonstrated excellent values. No floor or ceiling effects were shown. In addition, three “real practical cases” evaluating skills in identifying and analyzing, decision making, and problem-solving were developed and tested. The Spanish PIKQ is a comprehensible, valid, reliable, and responsive tool for the Spanish population. Real practical cases are useful competence assessment tools that are well accepted by women with pelvic floor disorders (PFD), improving their understanding and their decision-making regarding PFD.

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