DRU Decision Support Systems and Multi-Stakeholder Environmental Problem Solving: Effects on Public Participation, Equity and Power

环境问题引发了我们社会面临的一些最复杂的问题解决过程。在这些进程中，多个利益攸关方代表有争议的目标，而关键变量只能估计，使预测充其量不确定。一个由各种影响、相互竞争的目标和不确定性组成的复杂网络，即使是最老练的决策者，也可能无法驾驭其认知能力。越来越多地采用基于计算机的决策支持系统（DSS）来协助利益相关者和决策者应对这些复杂问题。从地方流域委员会到环境保护局，再到大自然保护协会，各种组织都在广泛的环境问题解决方案中使用DSS。越来越多地使用决策支持系统的工具，在环境决策提出了一些问题，值得认真研究：这些技术工具是如何影响决策过程和公众参与的广度有什么影响？当一个基于计算机的决策支持系统出现在会议桌上时，哪些利益攸关方在辩论中的发言权得到了加强，哪些利益攸关方的发言权受到了削弱？这些工具在哪些背景和情景下促进各利益攸关方之间的公平？它们在哪些方面加强了现有的权力差异？对成本和收益的分配有什么影响？决策支持系统工具在复杂的多利益攸关方进程中是否提高了效率和效力？虽然大量的技术研究已经进入DSS工具的创建，这些关键问题仍然没有答案，并在很大程度上未被研究。该项目将通过对哥伦比亚河流域鲑鱼恢复过程进行研究，采用定性和定量方法来解决这些问题。以上问题的答案很重要。人们普遍认为，公众参与对于有效和持久地解决环境问题至关重要，因此，了解决策支持系统等工具的使用如何影响协作解决问题至关重要。该项目不仅旨在了解决策支持系统工具的效果，而且还旨在改进其设计和使用，从而为当今的环境问题提供更有效和更有弹性的解决方案。

Environmental problems give rise to some of the most complex problem-solving processes our society faces. In these processes multiple stakeholders represent contested objectives while critical variables can only be estimated, making projections uncertain at best. A complex network of influences, competing objectives and uncertainties can overwhelm the cognitive capacity of even the most sophisticated decision maker. Increasingly, statistically-based computer-implemented decision support systems (DSS) are being introduced to assist stakeholders and decision-makers in coping with these complexities. From local watershed councils to the Environmental Protection Agency, to the Nature Conservancy, organizations are using DSS in a wide range of environmental problem-solving scenarios. The increasing use of DSS tools in environmental decision making raises a number of questions that merit critical study: How are these technical tools influencing the decision-making process and what is the effect on breadth of public participation? When a computer-based decision support system arrives at the table, which stakeholders have their voice in the debate amplified and which have their voice diminished? In which contexts and scenarios do these tools promote equity among the various stakeholders? In which do they reinforce existing power differentials? What is the effect on the distribution of costs and benefits? Do DSS tools promote efficiency and effectiveness in complex multi-stakeholder processes? Although a great deal of technical research has gone into the creation of DSS tools these critical questions remain unanswered and are largely unstudied. This project will use qualitative and quantitative to address these questions by conducting a study of the salmon recovery process taking place in the Columbia River Basin. The answers to the above questions are important. It is widely acknowledged that public participation is crucial to effective and long-lasting solutions to environmental problems and so it is important to understand how the use of tools such as DSS affects collaborative problem-solving. This project not only seeks to understand the effects of DSS tools, but to improve their design and use, leading to more effective and more resilient solutions to today's environmental problems.