scholarly journals Integrated Impact Assessment for Sustainable Hydropower Planning in the Vjosa Catchment (Greece, Albania)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1514
Author(s):  
Rebecca Peters ◽  
Jürgen Berlekamp ◽  
Ana Lucía ◽  
Vittoria Stefani ◽  
Klement Tockner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Northern Greece ◽  
Hydropower Plants ◽  
Hydropower Planning

Mitigating climate change, while human population and economy are growing globally, requires a bold shift to renewable energy sources. Among renewables, hydropower is currently the most economic and efficient technique. However, due to a lack of impact assessments at the catchment scale in the planning process, the construction of hydropower plants (HPP) may have unexpected ecological, socioeconomic, and political ramifications in the short and in the long term. The Vjosa River, draining parts of Northern Greece and Albania, is one of the few predominantly free-flowing rivers left in Europe; at the same time its catchment is identified an important resource for future hydropower development. While current hydropower plants are located along tributaries, planned HPP would highly impact the free-flowing main stem. Taking the Vjosa catchment as a case study, the aim of this study was to develop a transferable impact assessment that ranks potential hydropower sites according to their projected impacts on a catchment scale. Therefore, we integrated established ecological, social, and economic indicators for all HPP planned in the river catchment, while considering their capacity, and developed a ranking method based on impact categories. For the Vjosa catchment, ten hydropower sites were ranked as very harmful to the environment as well as to society. A sensitivity analysis revealed that this ranking is dependent upon the selection of indicators. Small HPP showed higher cumulative impacts than large HPP, when normalized to capacity. This study empowers decision-makers to compare both the ranked impacts and the generated energy of planned dam projects at the catchment scale.

Assessment of Socioeconomic Impact Diversification from Transport Infrastructure Projects: The Case of a New Regional Airport

2022 ◽  
pp. 036119812110649
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Dimitriou ◽  
Maria Sartzetaki
Keyword(s):  
Planning Process ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Tourist Destinations ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Development Prospects

In most cases, the decision to invest in a new airport is not simple, mainly because of the complications in the planning process, the amount of capital that needs to be invested before the establishment of the business, and the number of stakeholders involved in the decision. The decision process is more complicated in restricted economic and financing conditions, where the performance of the business plan is strongly related to regional development prospects and future airport business outputs in the medium and long term. This paper provides an evaluation methodology approach to support decisions on airport development projects. The proposed methodology provides an evaluation framework based on a combination of an ex ante assessment analysis, considering the airport’s economic impact and its contribution to a specific regional economy. The Input–Output (IO) analysis framework is used to determine the economic footprint of the airport development. A series of key performance indicators (KPIs) are introduced to review the project performance in a given economic system. The case study is examined, focussing on a new airport at Heraklion in Crete (in the Kasteli valley), one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the southeast Mediterranean. Conventional wisdom is to present a systematic approach appropriate to relevant projects, providing essential tools that support decisions at the level of strategic planning. The approach is essential to provide key messages to national governments, decision makers, and stakeholders on the contribution of an airport investment to regional economic development and its contribution to the business ecosystem in the post-COVID-19 era.

scholarly journals Assessing the Capacity of Adaptive Policy Pathways to Adapt on Time by Mapping Trigger Values to Their Outcomes

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Raso ◽  
Jan Kwakkel ◽  
Jos Timmermans
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring System ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Level Of Confidence ◽  
Adaptive Policy ◽  
Misclassification Errors ◽  
The Future ◽  
Adaptive Action ◽  
The Face

Climate change raises serious concerns for policymakers that want to ensure the success of long-term policies. To guarantee satisfactory decisions in the face of deep uncertainties, adaptive policy pathways might be used. Adaptive policy pathways are designed to take actions according to how the future will actually unfold. In adaptive pathways, a monitoring system collects the evidence required for activating the next adaptive action. This monitoring system is made of signposts and triggers. Signposts are indicators that track the performance of the pathway. When signposts reach pre-specified trigger values, the next action on the pathway is implemented. The effectiveness of the monitoring system is pivotal to the success of adaptive policy pathways, therefore the decision-makers would like to have sufficient confidence about the future capacity to adapt on time. “On time” means activating the next action on a pathway neither so early that it incurs unnecessary costs, nor so late that it incurs avoidable damages. In this paper, we show how mapping the relations between triggers and the probability of misclassification errors inform the level of confidence that a monitoring system for adaptive policy pathways can provide. Specifically, we present the “trigger-probability” mapping and the “trigger-consequences” mappings. The former mapping displays the interplay between trigger values for a given signpost and the level of confidence regarding whether change occurs and adaptation is needed. The latter mapping displays the interplay between trigger values for a given signpost and the consequences of misclassification errors for both adapting the policy or not. In a case study, we illustrate how these mappings can be used to test the effectiveness of a monitoring system, and how they can be integrated into the process of designing an adaptive policy.

Drifting the goals archetype: a systemic study

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virupaxi Bagodi ◽  
Biswajit Mahanty
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Current Reality

PurposeManagerial decision-making is an area of interest to both academia and practitioners. Researchers found that managers often fail to manage complex decision-making tasks and system thinkers assert that generic structures known as systems archetypes help them to a great deal in handling such situations. In this paper, it is demonstrated that decision makers resort to lowering of goal (quick-fix) in order to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality in the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.Design/methodology/approachA real-life case study is taken up to highlight the pitfalls of “drifting the goals” systems archetype for a decision situation in the Indian two-wheeler industry. System dynamics modeling is made use of to obtain the results.FindingsThe decision makers fail to realize the pitfall of lowering the goal to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality. It is seen that, irrespective of current less-than-desirable performance, managers adopting corrective actions other than lowering of goals perform better in the long run. Further, it is demonstrated that extending the boundary and experimentation results in designing a better service system and setting benchmarks.Practical implicationsThe best possible way to avoid the pitfall is to hold the vision and not lower the long term goal. The managers must be aware of the pitfalls beforehand.Originality/valueSystems thinking is important in complex decision-making tasks. Managers need to embrace long-term perspective in decision-making. This paper demonstrates the value of systems thinking in terms of a case study on the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.

scholarly journals Long-term ecological observatories needed to understand ecohydrological systems in the Anthropocene: a catchment-scale case study in Brittany, France

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Thomas ◽  
Pauline Rousseau-Gueutin ◽  
Benjamin W. Abbott ◽  
Tamara Kolbe ◽  
Hugo Le Lay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Catchment Scale

scholarly journals Alternatives to groundwater abstraction as a measure to stop land subsidence: a case study of Semarang, Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 01003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley Beek ◽  
Bart Letitre ◽  
H. Hadiyanto ◽  
S. Sudarno
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Groundwater Abstraction ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Treatment Services

The Water as Leverage project aims to lay a blueprint for urban coastal areas around the world that are facing a variety of water-related issues. The blueprint is based upon three real case studies in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia. The case of Indonesia focuses on Semarang, a city that faces issues like flooding, increased water demand, and a lack of wastewater treatment. In this report I summarise the different techniques available to tackling these issues. Along with this I provide a cost-benefit analysis to support decision makers. For a short term it is recommended to produce industrial water from (polluted) surface water as a means to offer an alternative to groundwater abstraction. On a long term it is recommended to install additional wastewater and drinking water treatment services to facilitate better hygiene and a higher quality of life.

scholarly journals Low-cost monitoring buoys network tracking biogeochemical changes in lakes and marine environments – a regional case study

2018 ◽  
Vol 90 (10) ◽  
pp. 1631-1646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro J. Vitale ◽  
Gerardo M.E. Perillo ◽  
Sibila A. Genchi ◽  
Andrés H. Arias ◽  
María Cintia Piccolo
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Shallow Waters ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Temperate Region ◽  
Coastal Marine ◽  
The Cost

AbstractLakes, rivers, estuaries and ocean waters control many important natural functions at the regional-global level. Hence, integrative and frequent long-term water monitoring is required globally. This paper describes the main features and innovations of a low-cost monitoring buoys network (MBN) deployed in a temperate region of Argentina. The MBN was designed to record extended time series at high-frequency, which is of great value for the scientific community, as well as for decision-makers. In addition, two innovative designs belonging to two versions of moored buoys (i.e. shallow waters and coastal marine waters) were presented. It was shown that the cost of either of two versions of the buoy is low, which can be considered as the main advantage.

Influential Factors in IT Outsourcing Relationship in a Swedish Municipality

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreea Daniela Pana Talpeanu ◽  
Lazar Rusu
Keyword(s):  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
The Public ◽  
Is Research ◽  
Core Capabilities

Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) has generated considerable interest within Information Systems (IS) research as a consequence of its benefits in terms of cost efficiency and freedom to focus on core capabilities. This study covers the area of ITO in the public sector, specifically, in Swedish Municipalities where ITO has become a mainstream strategy. The influential ITO factors of the post-contract stage of an ITO relationship are examined and debated in light of existent research literature. The research is based on a case study of a Swedish Municipality and a direct IT vendor. A thematic analysis brings light upon three new ITO influential factors which are: (1) mutual understanding and long-term engagement; (2) Multi-sourcing, and (3) Communication between Municipalities, together with other seven factors present in the research literature that have an influence on the ITO relationship. The findings of this study can support ITO decision-makers from Swedish municipalities in improving the ITO relationship between their organizations and IT vendors.

Systemic Analysis for the Use of Renewable Sources of Energy for the Electric Automobile. Case Study for Romania

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-69
Author(s):  
N. Vasile ◽  
C.I. Salisteanu ◽  
Otilia Nedelcu ◽  
I. Istudor
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Systemic Analysis ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
Electric Automobile ◽  
Oil And Gas Resources ◽  
Technical Solutions

AbstractThe introduction of the electric energy in more and more diverse applications currently represents an evolution which is considered normal, taking into account the durable development concept, which are required among the decision makers, and also due to the fact that the oil and gas resources are not evenly distributed in the world, and those who do not have these resources look for solutions to provide them a certain independence over those who have resources. One of the technical solutions, available on Earth, is currently represented by the renewable energy sources. Their usage in the field of the electric automobile charging, is both an economic and technical challenge. Technical solutions are available, and they are developing, but their industrial application is related to an economic strategic approach and a systemic one, which are treated below.

scholarly journals Prioritization of Renewable Energy Alternatives for China by Using a Hybrid FMCDM Methodology with Uncertain Information

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4649
Author(s):  
Dongxiao Niu ◽  
Hao Zhen ◽  
Min Yu ◽  
Keke Wang ◽  
Lijie Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Multicriteria Decision Making ◽  
Biomass Energy ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Ecological Environment ◽  
Uncertain Information ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Interval Valued

With the deteriorating ecological environment and increasing energy consumption, developing clean and renewable energy sources has become a key measure to solve environmental problems and energy shortages. The multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) technique is widely used in the assessment of renewable energy alternatives (REA) to determine the most sustainable and appropriate option for a country or region. Classic REA ranking is conducted in a deterministic environment through MCDM techniques. However, with the increasing complexity of environmental and energy issues, the REA ranking method is unsuitable for use in today’s China. Therefore, in this paper, a fuzzy MCDM technique based on the interval-valued hesitant fuzzy elimination and choice expressing reality (IVHF-ELECTRE II) method, taking into account the uncertainty and ambiguity of the information, is proposed for REA ranking. A case study in China is conducted to elaborate on the rationality and feasibility of the proposed framework. According to the ranking results, hydro is determined as the best REA in China, followed by wind energy, solar photovoltaic, geothermal, biomass energy, and solar thermal. This research provides a feasible method and insightful reference for national decision-makers to utilize when evaluating the REA and establishing a macroplanning policy for renewable energy under an uncertain environment.

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