The article attempts to demonstrate the role of decision-making process in actions for sustainable development implemented as part of environmental protection, which is viewed here in a systemic way. The article presents the definition of a system and its surroundings (environment), and points out that environmental protection can be described in this systemic perspective both in general and specific terms. This makes it possible to indicate the scheme and structure of decision-making process. The article examines the possibility of applying Mazur’s control system for designing a scheme of actions that would be adequate for environmental protection, with emphasis placed on the optimisation stage. The author shows that the system developed by Mazur can be used in the PDCA methodology, which is based on the Deming cycle and included in the ISO 14001 standard. As a result, the potential of the systemic approach to environmental protection is shown and it is explained how to move from this approach to a broader strategy for environmental protection and ultimately, to the implementation of sustainable development goals.

In the paper, the author makes an attempt to identify the components and a course of decision-making process in the area of environmental protection. Simultaneously, he pays attention to its conditions and context. The issues related to environmental protection are presented in a systemic approach with emphasis on their practical nature. It is due to the necessity of decision making and a specific scheme of conduct. The author constructs such a scheme referring to a control system (in the context of a decision-making problems-solving) proposed by Marian Mazur and presented in the Deming cycle. At the same time, he points to the guidelines and characters of the efficient operation, whereby the broadly understood decision-making process becomes more efficient and more effective. He also pays special attention to the optimization stage including the selection of a precise (the most efficient and the most effective) action meaning a decision. The choice mentioned entails necessity of including certain criteria. Thus, it is disclosed that a decision-making process depends on the defined set of values.

In the paper, the author attempts to identify the components and a course of the decision-making process in the area of environmental protection. Simultaneously, he pays attention to its conditions and context. The issues related to environmental protection are presented in a systemic approach with an emphasis on their practical nature. It is due to the necessity of decision making and a specific scheme of conduct. The author constructs such a scheme referring to a control system (in the context of a decision-making problems-solving) proposed by Marian Mazur and presented in the Deming cycle. At the same time, he points to the guidelines and characters of the efficient operation, whereby the broadly understood decision-making process becomes more efficient and more effective. He also pays special attention to the optimization stage including the selection of a precise (the most efficient and the most effective) action meaning a decision. The choice mentioned entails necessity of including certain criteria. Thus, it is disclosed that a decision-making process depends on the defined set of values.

The systemic perspective on environmental action adopted in the paper, allows in this thematic area, issues related to the decision-making process. Due to the current crisis affecting human-environment relationships, these issues call for special attention and specific solutions. Against this backdrop, the paper draws on selected patterns, which constitute a point of reference in the formulation of the decision-making process, namely, the Deming Cycle, and the control system worked out by Marian Mazur. Among the manifold determinants of the decision-making process, special emphasis is put on the anthropological one, with reference to the approach proposed by Michał Gierycz. In turn, the idea of oikophilia, as presented by Roger Scruton, has been used as an exemplification of the discussed issues. More specifically, an attempt has been made to determine the influence of the adopted anthropological perspective on the shape and course of the decision-making process, which is the aim of the study. The paper analyses further how a defined profile of the performer, influences the structure and course of the decision-making process in environmental protection. The conducted analyses enable the formulation of a postulate, in order that the adopted vision of the decision-maker, should be treated as a point of reference in the design and construction of a methodology for environmental protection.