Methodological training: Social Multi-criteria evaluation, Gonzalo Gamboa (ICTA-UAB)

Thursday 9th July, 15.00-17.00, UAB Campus

 

Traditional top-down and technocratic approaches seem to be insufficient to tackle the many conflicts related to the sustainable use of natural resources. At the same time, reductionist and mono-disciplinary approaches lack the capacity to capture the complex interactions within evolving socio-ecological systems. This workshop presents a participatory integrated assessment process, known as Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) to show that improving the integration of diverse expertise and values can lead, through a mutual learning process, to the definition of relevant policy options and sound decisions in the face of complexity, value conflict and unavoidable uncertainty. The workshop will use as an illustration  the case of a two-year collaborative research process, between an interdisciplinary group of researchers and a diverse group of stakeholders in the Urdaibai Estuary (a Biosphere Reserve in the Basque Country, Northern Spain), in the context of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM).

 

Background reading: Garmendia, Eneko et al. 2010. Social multi-criteria evaluation as a decision support tool for integrated coastal zone management. Ocean & Costal Management, 53: 385-403.