scholarly journals Comparison of decision-making approaches to prioritization of clean air action plans for sustainable development

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 257-268
Author(s):  
Ahmet Çalık

Background: Clean air action plans have been prepared and are still being implemented in Turkey to control and prevent air pollution, and improve the air quality. The plans reveal a picture of the current situation and available inventory information. However, in order to implement the identified plans in real life, they need to be prioritized. This study aimed to identify and prioritize clean air action plans for Turkey using a framework of both fuzzy and crisp evaluations. Methods: In this study, priorities of the plans were identified and analyzed with a decision-making model. A three-step research methodology was provided. First, literature was reviewed regarding sustainable development and action plans. Second, in order to narrow and specify action plans, the nominal group technique (NGT) was implemented. Finally, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and best-worst method (BWM) surveys were applied to environmental engineers and experts working on sustainable development to prioritize the action plans. Results: It was revealed that heating dimension is considered as the most important criterion with the weight of 0.7469 in fuzzy AHP and 0.758 in BWM. AP1 with a weight of 0.3356 in fuzzy AHP and AP3 with a weight of 0.3289 in BWM were the most important sub-criteria, which are the plans for reducing coal use ranked at the forefront in reducing air pollution. Conclusion: According to the results, there is no significant difference in the priority ranking results. The results of fuzzy AHP and BWM are very similar. For example, traffic criterion has the best performance in both methods in the evaluation of decision makers. In addition, the main and sub-criteria with the lowest priority are the same in these two methods

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uroš Kramar ◽  
Dejan Dragan ◽  
Darja Topolšek

The urban mobility system is an important factor in social development and must, therefore, be tackled in a way that enables balanced, sustainable development. The purpose of the present work was to introduce a new holistic approach to urban mobility system (UMS) planning, which involves a strategic decision-making process with a broad involvement of various stakeholders. For this purpose, an innovative model was created by synthesizing the focus group (FG) method with the nominal group technique (NGT), SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, and the fuzzy analytical hierarchical process (FAHP) method. The fuzzy approach was chosen for its ability to incorporate imprecise and vague information and make a decision-making UMS process more realistic. Accordingly, the objective of the paper was to propose a newly developed model that will (considering the integration of various urban mobility subsystems) enable the detection, identification, and ranking of key priorities required for a more holistic approach to UMS planning. The results revealed that the developed integrated model enables acquired areas to be ranked according to priorities, which further allows the development of scenarios. Moreover, the model allows a better understanding of how to search for compromises when one is faced with multi-criteria decision-making and coordination of frequently contradictory goals. A new integrated urban mobility model, as proposed herein, was also successfully tested in a real-life application, which proves its potential for use in sustainable urban mobility planning in a holistic way.


2017 ◽  
Vol 200 ◽  
pp. 693-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos Lelieveld

In atmospheric chemistry, interactions between air pollution, the biosphere and human health, often through reaction mixtures from both natural and anthropogenic sources, are of growing interest. Massive pollution emissions in the Anthropocene have transformed atmospheric composition to the extent that biogeochemical cycles, air quality and climate have changed globally and partly profoundly. It is estimated that mortality attributable to outdoor air pollution amounts to 4.33 million individuals per year, associated with 123 million years of life lost. Worldwide, air pollution is the major environmental risk factor to human health, and strict air quality standards have the potential to strongly reduce morbidity and mortality. Preserving clean air should be considered a human right, and is fundamental to many sustainable development goals of the United Nations, such as good health, climate action, sustainable cities, clean energy, and protecting life on land and in the water. It would be appropriate to adopt “clean air” as a sustainable development goal.


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_7) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Wheldon ◽  
J Morgan ◽  
MJ Lee ◽  
S Riley ◽  
SR Brown ◽  
...  

Abstract Aim We aimed to elicit key factors that influence healthcare professional decision-making when deciding treatment for BLNPCP. Background Benign large non-pedunculated colonic polyps (BLNPCP) may harbour covert malignancy and opinions differ about the optimal treatment modality. There are several options available, including endoscopic mucosal resection, endoscopic submucosal resection, combined endoscopic laparoscopic surgery and surgical resection. Despite widespread availability of endoscopic resection techniques, there are high rates of surgery in the UK. Methods Three focus groups of healthcare professionals, comprised of either consultant colorectal surgeons, nurse endoscopists and consultant gastroenterologists, were conducted virtually utilising the Nominal Group Technique. Meetings were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Themes were devolved using the framework approach for qualitative analysis. A priority-ranked list of factors influencing healthcare professional decision-making in this setting was generated. Results Five main themes were identified as influencing decision-making: Shared decision making (patient preference, informed consent); Patient factors (co-morbidity, age, life-expectancy); Polyp factors (Location, size, morphology, risk of cancer); Healthcare professionals (skill-set, personal preference); System factors (techniques availability locally, regional referral networks). Nominal Group Technique generated 55 items across the three focus groups. Nurses and gastroentologists ranked patient factors (particularly drug history and tolerance of procedure) and shared decision making (patient preference) more highly then surgeons. Surgeons placed greater emphasis on polyp factors particularly location and the risk of submucosal invasive carcinoma. Conclusion Decision making is complex and multifactorial. These results support the benefits of complex polyp MDTs and patient involvement in the decision-making. The complexity of decision-making may underpin wide variation in practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 5991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juin-Hao Ho ◽  
Gwo-Guang Lee ◽  
Ming-Tsang Lu

This study explores the implementation of legal artificial intelligence (AI) robot issues for sustainable development related to legal advisory institutions. While a legal advisory AI Bot using the unique arithmetic method of AI offers rules of convenient legal definitions, it has not been established whether users are ready to use one at legal advisory institutions. This study applies the MCDM (multicriteria decision-making) model DEMATEL (decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory)-based Analytical Network Process (ANP) with a modified VIKOR, to explore user behavior on the implementation of a legal AI bot. We first apply DEMATEL-based ANP, called influence weightings of DANP (DEMATEL-based ANP), to set up the complex adoption strategies via systematics and then to employ an M-VIKOR method to determine how to reduce any performance gaps between the ideal values and the existing situation. Lastly, we conduct an empirical case to show the efficacy and usefulness of this recommended integrated MCDM model. The findings are useful for identifying the priorities to be considered in the implementation of a legal AI bot and the issues related to enhancing its implementation process. Moreover, this research offers an understanding of users’ behaviors and their actual needs regarding a legal AI bot at legal advisory institutions. This research obtains the following results: (1) It effectively assembles a decision network of technical improvements and applications of a legal AI bot at legal advisory institutions and explains the feedbacks and interdependences of aspects/factors in real-life issues. (2) It describes how to vary effective results from the current alternative performances and situations into ideal values in order to fit the existing environments at legal advisory institutions with legal AI bot implementation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamisu M. Salihu ◽  
Abraham A. Salinas-Miranda ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
DeAnne Turner ◽  
Estrellita Lo Berry ◽  
...  

<em>Background</em>. Providing practitioners with an intuitive measure for priority setting that can be combined with diverse data collection methods is a necessary step to foster accountability of the decision-making process in community settings. Yet, there is a lack of easy-to-use, but methodologically robust measures, that can be feasibly implemented for reliable decision-making in community settings. To address this important gap in community based participatory research (CBPR), the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the utility, applicability, and validation of a community priority index in a community-based participatory research setting. <br /><em>Design and Methods</em>. Mixed-method study that combined focus groups findings, nominal group technique with six key informants, and the generation of a Community Priority Index (CPI) that integrated community importance, changeability, and target populations. Bootstrapping and simulation were performed for validation. <br /><em>Results</em>. For pregnant mothers, the top three highly important and highly changeable priorities were: stress (CPI=0.85; 95%CI: 0.70, 1.00), lack of affection (CPI=0.87; 95%CI: 0.69, 1.00), and nutritional issues (CPI=0.78; 95%CI: 0.48, 1.00). For non-pregnant women, top priorities were: low health literacy (CPI=0.87; 95%CI: 0.69, 1.00), low educational attainment (CPI=0.78; 95%CI: 0.48, 1.00), and lack of self-esteem (CPI=0.72; 95%CI: 0.44, 1.00). For children and adolescents, the top three priorities were: obesity (CPI=0.88; 95%CI: 0.69, 1.00), low self-esteem (CPI=0.81; 95%CI: 0.69, 0.94), and negative attitudes toward education (CPI=0.75; 95%CI: 0.50, 0.94). <br /><em>Conclusions</em>. This study demonstrates the applicability of the CPI as a simple and intuitive measure for priority setting in CBPR.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Xinman Zhu ◽  
Jie Dai ◽  
Haoran Wei ◽  
Debing Yang ◽  
Weilun Huang ◽  
...  

This paper integrates nominal group technique (NGT), analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach, and a case study has been used to demonstrate the fuzzy optimal selection model. From a literature review on the startup hub and the interviews conducted with officials and experts, the selection criteria are (1) convenience—promoted by the city’s entrepreneurial policies or its traffic infrastructure; (2) potentiality—promoted by a regional network or value chain of startups. Lastly, the best idle land resulted in this case study with equal decision-making power using the fuzzy method is Taipei Jianguo Brewery, and the difference of decision-making power might make the best idle land to be Wanbao Textile Factory.


2011 ◽  
Vol 460-461 ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
Jian Xi Shi ◽  
Yan Cui

The purpose of this article is to introduce a new perspective into the crisis management team rather than to focus on how to train the crisis management team like many recent researches. This paper adds product-line employees, shareholders, customer representatives, government officials to the crisis management team and use the modified nominal group technique in the decision-making process, which improves the efficiency of the team.


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