A decision-support methodology for assessing the sustainability of natural risk management strategies in urban areas

Abstract

Abstract. This paper attempts to provide a decision support framework that can help risk managers in urban areas to improve their decision-making processes related to sustainable management. Currently, risk management strategies should no longer be selected based primarily on economic and technical insight. Managers must address the sustainability of risk management by assessing the impacts of their decisions on the sustainable development of a given territory. These assessments require tools that allow ex ante comparisons of the effectiveness and the likely economic, social and ecological impacts of the alternative management strategies. Therefore, this paper reports a methodological and operational framework, which aims to incorporate sustainability principles in a particular decision by taking all the dimensions that affect sustainability into account. This paper is divided into two main parts: one on the theoretical aspects of the proposed methodology and the other on its application to a flood risks management case in a municipality located in Meurthe-etMoselle county (France). The results of the case study have shown how the methodology can be suitable for determining the most sustainable decision.

Application of a Sustainability Assessment Framework for Flood Mitigation Projects: A Case Study on a Flood Levee Project in Australia

“…The overall sustainability index (SI) could be sensitive to the weight of the sustainability indicators as well as to the uncertainty of the values of the indicators [11], [25]. The weights of indicators are dependent on the policy makers and stakeholders as well as on the context of the project [26], which could lead to various combinations of outputs.…”

“…Several sustainability assessment tools have been developed to measure the contribution of such development policies and programs towards the achievement of sustainable development. For instance, at the national level there exists the Genuine Progress Index (GPI) and the Dashboard of Sustainability [7], and for regional policy or program assessment several other options: the sustainability test [8], Telos sustainability assessment tools [9], sustainability appraisal guidance for regional and local authorities [10], decision-support methodology for assessing the sustainability of natural risk management strategies [11] and the sustainability assessment framework for regional-scale integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) [12]. Notably, none of the national and regional level sustainability assessment tools have been linked to individual projects implemented at the local level.…”

Sustainability assessment of flood mitigation projects: An innovative decision support framework

“…Every sustainability indicator should be attributed with both spatial (local and regional) and temporal (inter-and intra-generational) aspects of sustainable development. The SI for each alternative design option should be determined using multi-criteria analysis (MCA) techniques (Edjossan-Sossou et al, 2014;Ness et al, 2007) integrating the sustainability indicators.…”

“…Most literature has proposed different approaches for assessing sustainable development of a region or country, with few aiming to assess individual projects at the planning stage in order to choose an option with less negative environmental and societal impacts (Edjossan-Sossou et al, 2014;Dalal-Clayton and Sadler, 2014;Uehara et al, 2016). Some approaches have focused on integration of sustainable development principles and climate change adaptation into planning and implementation of flood mitigation projects (Swart et al, 2014;.…”

Comparative Risk Assessment for Fossil Energy Chains Using Bayesian Model Averaging

“…In this context, the calculation of objective risk indicators comprises a valuable element to support decision makers in the assessment of current and future technology portfolios [9]. Hence, there is a clear need for more and better data, and accordingly, improved uncertainty quantification for accident risk indicators, because they are the basis to support decision-makers and risk managers in their efforts to design and implement better risk management strategies, risk mitigation and prevention measures processes [10][11][12]. More recently, resilience-driven strategies have been proposed for environmental systems (e.g., marine ecosystems) that are synergistically based on risk assessment to appropriately protect against uncertain and unexpected events such as, for example, oil spills [13].…”