A site planning approach for rural buildings into a landscape using a spatial multi-criteria decision analysis methodology

Selection of rural buildings’ site is a complex process to solve a discordant relation with other components of rural landscapes and needs many diverse criteria to deal with its situation. This paper presents a multi-criteria spatial decision analysis approach using geographic information system (GIS) technique for evaluating the suitability of rural buildings site selection with a case study in Hervás (northern Extremadura region), Spain. The aim of the methodology is to evaluate the suitability of the study region in order to optimally site a new single dispersed tourism-related commercial building with landscapes. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used to generate the alternative decisions using the multi-criteria evaluation techniques standardised by fuzzy membership functions. The parameters are categorised into three criteria groups, namely physical, environmental and economic criteria and then the weights are verified by a group discussion with the experts for final weight consensus making them more objective. With the aid of the simple additive weighting (SAW) method, the calculation of final grading values in multiple criteria problem is evaluated for the study region. The resulting land suitability is reported on a grading scale of 0–10, which is, respectively, from least to most suitable areas. Combination of a spatial clustering process reveals the most suitable areas for rural buildings siting with their landscapes. The proposed methodology is intended to solve the rural building integration problem with its landscape and to facilitate the flexible methodology implementation from decision alternatives involved in the decision making process.     

Forcing Germany's renewable energy targets by increased energy crop production: A challenge for regulation to secure sustainable land use practices

According to European and German energy policies, the proportion of energy crops is to increase significantly in the coming years to meet the ambitious goals for renewable energies. Stimulated by the German Renewable Act (EEG), this has lead to a strong increment of energy crop, cultivation, especially maize for biogas production. The increased cultivation of energy crops can lead to severe negative impacts on ecosystem services (ES). Therefore, there is a necessity for a better regulation of bioenergy production. In our paper, we analyze possible impacts of an increased biomass production on ES and look at instruments to better regulate energy crop cultivation in Germany. We assess legal instruments, the EEG, how spatial planning might contribute for a better steering and in which way the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union influences framing practices in energy crop cultivation. It can be stated that the steering effects of many legal instruments are extremely weak to secure sustainability and ES. We can demonstrate that there is a necessity for precise minimum standards to be applied effectively at the local level. Also there is a strong need for tools and instruments to gain a spatial dimension for regulating bioenergy production.     

Is spatial planning a collaborative learning process? A case study from a rural–urban gradient in Sweden

International and national policies stress the importance of spatial planning for the long-term sustainability of regions. This paper identifies the extent to which the spatial planning in a Swedish region can be characterised as a collaborative learning process. By combining qualitative interviews and systems thinking methods we analysed the main attributes of public-led spatial (i.e. comprehensive) planning in nine municipalities representing a steep urban–rural gradient in the Bergslagen region of Central Sweden. We show that the attributes of strategic spatial planning needed for collaborative learning were absent or undeveloped. All studied municipalities experienced challenges in coordinating complex issues regarding long-term planning to steer territorial development and help to solve conflicts among competing interests. Stakeholder participation was identified as a basic condition for social learning in planning. Together with stakeholders we identified the causal structure behind stakeholder participation in municipal planning processes, including main drivers and feedback loops. We conclude that there is a need for arenas allowing and promoting stakeholder activity, participation and inclusion that combines both bottom-up and top-down approaches, and where evidence-based collaborative learning can occur.     

Accounting for farmers’ production responses to environmental restrictions within landscape planning

Environmental planning aims to safeguard and foster the ecological functionality of agricultural landscapes. In order to reach a sustainable development of agricultural landscapes, in addition to ecological objectives socio-economic ones also need to be considered. In this context, the authors draw attention to three points. First, whenever ecologically sensitive areas (“ecological sites”) are used for agricultural production, it is necessary to take account of the fact that farmers tend to adapt to environmental requirements by production responses outside the ecological site itself. Second, in order to identify the socially most “desirable” land-use responses it is necessary to supplement the above-mentioned environmental objectives by socio-economic ones. Third, when choosing an appropriate model for such multi-criteria decision analysis, the question of substitutability between criteria is of utmost importance. The paper discusses the above-mentioned issues against the background of a case study of environmental planning for an ecologically very valuable agricultural landscape in Germany, the Bayerisches Donauried. Two models of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) are applied, one based on the “single synthesizing criterion” method, and the other one based on the “synthesis by outranking” method. The models serve to evaluate four different land-use options, using criteria mainly derived from landscape functions and weights gained from interviews with major stakeholders. The paper presents the models’ results concerning the ranking of the different land-use options and discusses the implications for agri-environmental policies and rural development planning.     

Changing decisions in a changing landscape: How might forest owners in an urbanizing region respond to emerging bioenergy markets?

The global bioenergy market has considerable impacts on local land use patterns, including landscapes in the Southeastern United States where increased demand for bioenergy feedstocks in the form of woody biomass is likely to affect the management and availability of forest resources. Despite extensive research investigating the productivity and impacts of different bioenergy feedstocks, relatively few studies have assessed the preferences of private landowners, who control the majority of forests in the eastern U.S., to harvest biomass for the bioenergy market. To better understand contingent behaviors given emerging biomass markets, we administered a stated preference experiment to private forest owners in the rapidly urbanizing Charlotte Metropolitan region. Respondents indicated their preferences for harvesting woody biomass under a set of hypothetical market-based scenarios with varying forest management plans and levels of economic return. Our analytical framework also incorporated data from a previously-administered revealed preference survey and spatially-explicit remote sensing data, enabling us to analyze how individuals’ ownership characteristics, their emotional connection the forests they manage, and the spatial patterns of nearby land uses, influence willingness to grow bioenergy feedstocks. We found conditional support for feedstock production, even among woodland owners with no history of active management. Landowners preferred higher economic returns for each management plan. However low-intensity harvest options were always preferred to more intensive management alternatives regardless of economic return, suggesting that these landowners may be more strongly motivated by aesthetic or quality-of-life concerns than feedstock revenues. Our analysis indicated preferences were dependent upon individual and environmental characteristics, with younger, more rural landowners significantly more interested in growing feedstocks relative to their older and more urban counterparts. While this study focuses on one small sample of urban forest owners, our results do suggest that policy makers and resource managers can better inform stand-level decision-making by understanding how feedstock production preferences vary across populations.     

Are capacity deficits in local government leaving the Amazon vulnerable to environmental change?

The last 20 years have seen remarkable progress in monitoring and modelling environmental change in the Amazon region. As a result, scientists and policy makers now have robust and spatially explicit knowledge and forecasts of critical phenomena such as deforestation and bioclimatic uncertainty. However, whether this knowledge is used to support the implementation of policies and initiatives to cope with environmental changes in the Amazon depends on the ability of the political institutions to proactively integrate the scientific evidence into land planning at multiple spatial scales. In Brazil, municipalities are constitutionally responsible for legislating on land planning and therefore have a power to significantly influence the future trajectory of environmental change. Here, we assess the environmental capacity of municipalities in the Brazilian legal Amazon based on data from a self-assessment survey and from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics database. Municipalities generally have a low level of institutional capacity and there is no evidence that the municipalities most at threat from environmental change are taking proactive measures to reduce their vulnerability. We argue that structural reforms and capacity raising initiatives are urgently needed, especially in smaller, less economically developed municipalities located in areas at high risk of imminent environmental change.     

蛋鸡养殖场户清洁生产行为实施意愿及影响因素分析

[目的]确定影响蛋鸡养殖场户清洁生产行为的影响因素,分析影响因素间的关联关系和层次结构,推动蛋鸡养殖场户实施清洁生产行为,促进蛋鸡养殖业和环境保护协调发展。[方法]文章基于山东省16地市472家蛋鸡养殖场户的问卷调查数据,运用多元有序Logit模型和ISM模型确定了蛋鸡养殖场户清洁生产行为实施意愿的显著性影响因素及其关联关系和层次结构。[结果]决策者年龄、受教育年限、养殖模式、收入占比、养殖场选址标准认知、设施配置标准认知、清洁饲料标准认知、行为态度以及政府支持力度等9个因素对蛋鸡养殖场户清洁生产行为实施意愿有显著影响。其中,行为态度和政府支持力度是表层直接因素,养殖场选址标准认知、设施配置标准认知和清洁饲料标准认知是中层间接因素,决策者年龄、受教育年限、养殖模式和收入占比是深层根源因素。[结论]提高养殖场户认知、加大政府支持力度、培育养殖典范和保障养殖场户收益是推动养殖场户实施清洁生产行为的有效途径。     

Approaches to validating a mutual participatory web-planning interface in rural Extremadura (Spain)

In this work, a mutual participatory web-planning interface was developed to support rural tourism building integrations into a landscape that combines multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA); an application of the proposed interface for the Hervás region (northern Extremadura region) in Spain is further presented. Through the web interface with the given methods, stakeholders can reflect upon their individual experiences to achieve desirable planning outcomes through asynchronous, distributed collaboration with the public. Based on the qualitative and quantitative content and survey data set, this study examined the identification of spatial models that could implement different perceptions and promote the sharing of knowledge about integrating buildings into a rural landscape, the certification of the possible impact on tourism and the refining of the interface's usability. To strengthen data interpretation, these hypotheses were analysed by four different clusters of people with the aid of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis (PCA) tests: weak ties, socially linked, roots and resources, and dedicated to the place, based on social and emotional terms. In general, most participants gave a positive response to the questions and an interesting fact amongst the findings was the difference between roots and resources (positive to building integrations) and dedicated to the place (negative to building integrations). Thus, the analysed results demonstrated that the web interface could achieve a consensus on recommendations for the spatial planning with the implementation of decision alternatives and understanding of the other interest groups’ preferences.     

Local Action Groups and Rural Sustainable Development. A spatial multiple criteria approach for efficient territorial planning

Rural Sustainable Development is a very important topic under the European Union policy, and it is currently promoted through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2014–2020. This fund is managed at sub-regional level by the Community-Led Local Development approach that involves Local Action Groups in order to promote the objectives of Rural Sustainable Development within rural municipalities. Each Local Action Group applies the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis in order to identify for its own rural municipalities the strategic elements to which it will allocate the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development budget. Nevertheless, this analysis has some general shortcomings, including difficulties in managing a large number of Strength and Weakness factors. In addition, the importance of each factor cannot be measured quantitatively, and the same factor may be characterized both as a Strength and a Weakness. Further difficulties may occur in the case of partnerships between different Local Action Groups, such as disagreement about whether a given factor is a Strength or a Weakness, lack of information about the relationships between Strength and a Weakness factors and decision alternatives, as well as impossibility of ranking the decision alternatives.Thus, this research aims to overcome the drawbacks of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis and to support Local Action Group partnerships in the sustainability evaluation of their rural municipalities, and therefore to aid the identification of a common Rural Sustainable Development strategy to allocate the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development budget. This decision problem was tackled by applying a Multiple Criteria Spatial Decision Support System that integrates a Geographic Information System with the Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding methods “Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution” and “Dominance-based Rough Set Approach”.In order to demonstrate the validity of this methodological approach, this Multiple Criteria Spatial Decision Support System was applied to a study area of thirteen rural municipalities located in Apulia Region (Southern Italy); these municipalities belong to the same landscape unit, but they are managed by five different policy makers that represent the Local Action Groups. The results provided the maps of environmental, economic and social sustainability rankings of rural municipalities as well as their overall sustainability value. Based on these rankings, a specific Rural Sustainable Development strategy was identified for the allocation of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. This methodology provided a common decision making framework that can also be applied to Local Action Group partnerships within the European Union.     

An interactive dynamic multi-objective programming model to support better land use planning

This study develops a dynamic multi-objective programming (DMOP) approach to handle problems of optimization under conditions of uncertainty typified by multiple goals and dynamic subsystems. The proposed approach seamlessly integrates multi-objective programming, fuzzy set theory, and system dynamics tools to conduct optimal land use planning in dynamic and complex environmental systems. Based on the DMOP approach, this study constructs an interactive dynamic multi-objective programming model, investigates the connection between land use and future urban development, and incorporates the preferences of decision makers using a compromise index. A case study from Taiwan shows that the proposed modeling framework can accommodate more complete information, allowing improvements to be made in strategic planning for land use.     

Landowners’ willingness to promote bioenergy production on wasteland − future impact on land use of cutaway peatlands

Landowners are the key players in bioenergy production on wasteland; such as cutaway peatlands. In this study, the landowner’s interest to use cutaway peatlands for bioenergy production was investigated using a survey and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) methods in an area in South Ostrobothnia, Finland. The focus was to identify which different bioenergy production chains are preferred by the respondents: combustion, gasification or biogas production from agriculture, energy-willow short-rotation forestry or forestry based energy crops. Also, the influence of personal environmental values on the selection was measured and the future impacts and barriers for the land use were assessed.Afforestation was the most popular after-use method among the landowners. The next most favorable method was energy crop cultivation but it was highly dependent on economic profitability and subsidies. Currently, approximately 8.2% or 500 ha of the total peat extraction area could be used for bioenergy production in the region by 2035. Based on the survey, forest based biomass is the best option if bioenergy is to be produced. The next choice was agro biomass and the least favored plant was willow. This study suggests that the biggest cutaway peatlands will be converted to forest energy in the future. Suggestive results were that the owners with high environmental values are especially interested in agro biomass growing and the landowner having a distant home place does not have a negative influence on bioenergy production. Altogether, land use and biomass production of cutaway peatlands is connected with the demands of the Finnish bio-economy.     

Does research applying the DPSIR framework support decision making?

The Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework was developed in the late 1990s to structure and organize indicators in a meaningful way. Since then, the framework has increasingly been applied in research projects with the aim of supporting decision making. A number of attributes of the framework regarding structuring and communication issues in research further strengthen its original purpose of bridging the science policy gap. We reviewed several studies that were mainly concerned with criticism and drawbacks of the DPSIR framework. Based on these studies and our own experiences in applying the DPSIR framework in an EU project to develop a decision support tool, we developed two criteria that we believe are crucial for policy relevant research: (a) the development of conceptual models integrating knowledge from different disciplines, specialists and policy makers, as well as those affected by their decisions; and (b) the potential to explain the results and analysis of research to different disciplines, specialists, stakeholders and the public and to demonstrate alternatives and provide decision options. We analyzed 21 studies using the DPSIR framework with regard to their relevance for decision making. We analyzed the definitions of the five DPSIR elements and whether specific end users were addressed in the respective studies. We found that in many studies, the DPSIR elements were defined in literature review or by researchers and that only a few studies targeted specific government authorities as users of research results. Eight out of 21 studies applied transdisciplinary research concepts and integrated broad ranges of stakeholder opinions and values into the research. Nine out of 21 studies presented alternative outcomes to decision makers and used the valuation of these outcomes by stakeholders to add further support to the decision-making process. The different positive and negative implications of the DPSIR framework are discussed with reference to research that supports policy making. Finally, we conclude that studies employing DPSIR may provide effective solutions for “real world problems” by taking into account additional criteria based on knowledge integration, stakeholder involvement and the provision of alternatives. Therefore, DPSIR is a useful tool to support decision making by means of showing solid evidence with alternatives and decision options, rather than by presenting predetermined solutions.     

人工湿地植物能源化利用的机遇、挑战与展望

综合概述了利用人工湿地植物进行能源化再生产的方式、优势、存在问题和发展趋势。人工湿地植物具有生长不需额外施肥、较高的生物量、物种多样化等优势,是一种较好的生物质资源,可通过生物质固体成型燃料技术、沼气技术和燃料乙醇技术加以利用,进而建立人工湿地植物生物质能源化利用模式,实现应对能源挑战、进行污水处理和强化环境保护三者的有机统一。     

THE INTEGRATED USE OF SIMULATION AND STOCHASTIC PROGRAMMING FOR WHOLE FARM PLANNING UNDER RISK*

Methods of whole-farm planning under risk are briefly reviewed, noting especially associated operational problems. A planning problem relating to spatial diversification of beef production in the Clarence region of N.S.W. is investigated using a model comprising both simulation and linear programming components. It is concluded that such composite models are valuable for the analysis of sequential stochastic decision processes not presently amenable to solution by stochastic programming alone.     

Flat Earth Economics: The Far-reaching Consequences of Flat Payoff Functions in Economic Decision Making

Economists tend to emphasize the optimum, but in many cases, even large deviations from optimal decisions make little difference to the payoff. This has far-reaching implications that are under-recognized, including: ( a ) decision makers often have a wide margin for error in their production planning decisions, and flexibility to pursue factors not considered in the calculation of payoffs; ( b ) optimizing techniques are sometimes of limited practical relevance for decision support; ( c ) the value of information used to refine management decisions is often low; and ( d ) the benefits of using "precision farming" technologies to adjust production input levels are often low.     

Does Spatial Dependence Affect the Intention to Make Land Available for Bioenergy Crops?

We find spatial dependence in landowners’ stated intentions to make land available for bioenergy crops. Our data are generated from a contingent valuation survey of 599 owners of marginal land in southern Michigan. Employing a Bayesian framework and using these spatially explicit data, we estimate and compare non‐spatial probit and spatial Durbin probit models to examine the presence of spatial dependence in land rental intentions. Results show that intentions to rent land for bioenergy crop production are spatially dependent. This spatial dependence arises both from the land supply intentions of nearby landowners and from spatial spillover effects of landowner characteristics and attitudes towards environmental amenities and the disamenities of land rental. We show that ignoring spatial dependence in the intentions of neighbouring landowners to participate in land rental markets for bioenergy feedstocks can lead to distortions that underestimate total effects. Our finding implies that studies of land use and crop supply should test for spatial interactions in order to make accurate inferences.     

Regional heterogeneity and spatial interdependence as determinants of the cultivation of an emerging alternative crop: The case of the Styrian Oil Pumpkin

In the course of the liberalisation and globalisation of agricultural markets the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) has shifted from quantity-based to quality-based policies, encouraging a diversification of agricultural production. For policy makers it is therefore relevant to understand better the drivers which influence the adoption and spatial distribution of emerging alternative products and production systems in agriculture. Taking the Styrian Oil Pumpkin as an example, the aim of this study is to quantify the determinants of spatial variations in the cultivation of an emerging alternative crop. We estimate Tobit and SLX Tobit models for two regions, drawing on cross-sectional data from the year 2010 of 549 municipalities in the Styrian Oil Pumpkin Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) area. Our findings indicate that, apart from (i) crop-specific factors, there are also (ii) region-specific factors such as marketing possibilities and there is (iii) spatial interdependence influencing spatial variations in oil-pumpkin-cultivated area and we conclude that these factors also need to be considered for the support of other emerging alternative products and production systems in agriculture.     

Does the spatial representation affect criteria weights in environmental decision-making? Insights from a behavioral experiment

The need and interest to consider cognitive and motivational biases has been recognized in different disciplines (e.g. economics, decision theory, risk analysis) and has recently reached environmental decision-making. Within this domain, the intrinsic presence of a spatial dimension of both alternatives and criteria calls for the use of maps throughout the decision-making process to properly represent the spatial distribution of the features under analysis. This makes spatial Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) a particularly interesting domain to explore new dimensions of cognitive biases. This study proposes a behavioral experiment aimed at discovering to what extent the spatial visualization (i.e. maps) of criteria versus the non-spatial one (i.e. tables) can bias the weight elicitation phase of a spatial MCDA process. The experiment simulates a very common analysis in environmental and land use planning: land suitability analysis. Our findings show that there are significant consequences on how important we perceive a certain criterion to be, depending on whether it is represented as a map or as a table among a mix of maps and tables. Indeed, the map representation of the same criterion leads to higher weights attributed to that criterion compared to the table representation. Visualizing the same information as a map or as a table, although technically equivalent, is thus not psychologically equivalent for Decision Makers. The results of this experiment are expected to have implications for spatial decision-making processes, by generating better awareness on the impacts of map-mediated land suitability analysis.     

RISK DECISIONS FOR BEEF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN THE COLOMBIAN SAVANNAS

A beef simulation model was used to examine a range of production possibilities for increasing the output of extensive ranching systems in the tropical savannas of eastern Colombia through the use of sown grass-legume pastures of higher inherent digestibility than that of the native species. Generalised stochastic dominance was used to compare some promising alternatives with the unimproved savanna-based production system and with each other. As the planning horizon of the decision maker was reduced, so variability, measured as the coefficient of variation of output, increased significantly. The impact of risk on the long-term acceptability of a complete investment was limited.     

天津设施蔬菜种植户的生产决策行为及其影响因素分析

[目的]目前我国蔬菜已经超过粮食总产值,成为我国第一大农产品。蔬菜产业对促进农民增收,提高国民生活质量具有重要的战略意义。天津把"减粮增菜"作为"十三五"现代都市农业发展的重要目标之一,这一目标实现的关键是设施蔬菜种植户的经营决策行为。通过对天津32个村的223户设施蔬菜种植户的实地调研,掌握了天津设施蔬菜经营现状。[方法]构建了农户生产经营决策的评价指标体系,运用有序Logistic回归模型,分析蔬菜种植户的经营决策行为,并得出各影响因素的重要程度。[结果]农户年龄、生产年限、技术培训和政府的农业规划对农户设施生产决策行为具有显著性影响,而其他因素均不显著。[结论]文章得出政府应在农业技术培训、新型农业经营主体培育、财政支农政策、蔬菜产业发展规划等方面加大投入力度,以期推进设施蔬菜的规模化、科技化和专业化,从而促进农民增收、农业增效。