Introducing the use of integrated Decision Support System in Natural Resources Planning

The target subject of Natural Resources Planning (NRP) includes various systems and their elements, all of which are centered around the natural resource system. Given this characteristic complexity and a high degree of uncertainty, it is impossible to holistically understand the entire target system of NRP. Therefore, collecting the knowledge and experiences of all the stakeholders in all associated systems and then drawing a more adaptive agreement are regarded as the best method for dealing with this complexity and uncertainty. However, varying interests and values among stakeholders often lead to generation of deep conflicts and further prevent them from moving the process forward. The core problem lies in finding out how to reach consensus by managing conflicts arising from various group interactions; this necessitated the creation of appropriate heuristics with guidelines and framework. However, the current implementation of the appropriate and comprehensive heuristics like the Consensus Building approach faces various challenges regarding time and cost. In this thesis, I introduce the Decision Support System (DSS), which has previously been developed and utilized mainly in the management field, for providing a new platform for conducting a participatory process and facilitating the process by mitigating current challenges. I examined the various functions and aspects of multiple DSSs that could be beneficial to the process of NRP.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Park, Hye Yeon, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• John R. Williams.

• Engineering Systems Division.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/53218

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/53218