TY - JOUR

T1 - Deliberating options for nature-based river development

T2 - Insights from a participatory multi-criteria evaluation

AU - Brillinger, Mario

AU - Scheuer, Sebastian

AU - Albert, Christian

N1 - Funding Information: The study was realized in the context of the PlanSmart research group funded by Grant01UU1601A and B from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung – BMBF). Sebastian Scheuer was supported by the CLEARING HOUSE (Collaborative Learning in Research, Information-sharing and Governance on How Urban tree-based solutions support Sino-European urban futures) Horizon 2020 project (grant no. 821242) and by the BMBF-funded GreenCityLabHue Project (FKZ 01LE 1910A1). We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their time spent on reviewing our manuscript and their thoughtful comments helping us to improve the article. We further thank Thea Eleahnora Maria Kelly for language editing the final version of the manuscript. Funding Information: The study was realized in the context of the PlanSmart research group funded by Grant 01UU1601A and B from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research ( Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung – BMBF ). Sebastian Scheuer was supported by the CLEARING HOUSE ( Collaborative Learning in Research , Information-sharing and Governance on How Urban tree-based solutions support Sino-European urban futures) Horizon 2020 project (grant no. 821242 ) and by the BMBF -funded GreenCityLabHue Project ( FKZ 01LE 1910A1 ). We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their time spent on reviewing our manuscript and their thoughtful comments helping us to improve the article. We further thank Thea Eleahnora Maria Kelly for language editing the final version of the manuscript.

PY - 2022/9/1

Y1 - 2022/9/1

N2 - To address societal challenges in river landscapes, various options are conceivable that differ in the degree of adopting nature-based solutions (NBS) and the respective impacts on people and nature. Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) can aid participatory deliberations about the performance and significance of such options. However, little experience and evidence exist from the application of participatory MCE in planning NBS in river landscapes. This study aims to expand the understanding of individual and collaborative judgments of agency representatives about river development options with varying levels of NBS interventions. A process tracing approach with a rigorous participatory MCE for four alternatives to develop an exemplary river in Germany is adopted, as well as weighted linear aggregation, descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and decision tree modelling for data analysis. The results reveal a wide agreement among participants on the positive impacts of NBS on biodiversity and water quality. Participants also tended to judge those ecological dimensions as more important than non-ecological ones. The rankings of alternatives differed when elicited individually but seemed to converge during the deliberation process. Overall, the results indicate a relative preference of participants for medium NBS interventions, but also shed light on potential implementation hurdles. The study closes by proposing key questions to consider for MCE of NBS.

AB - To address societal challenges in river landscapes, various options are conceivable that differ in the degree of adopting nature-based solutions (NBS) and the respective impacts on people and nature. Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) can aid participatory deliberations about the performance and significance of such options. However, little experience and evidence exist from the application of participatory MCE in planning NBS in river landscapes. This study aims to expand the understanding of individual and collaborative judgments of agency representatives about river development options with varying levels of NBS interventions. A process tracing approach with a rigorous participatory MCE for four alternatives to develop an exemplary river in Germany is adopted, as well as weighted linear aggregation, descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and decision tree modelling for data analysis. The results reveal a wide agreement among participants on the positive impacts of NBS on biodiversity and water quality. Participants also tended to judge those ecological dimensions as more important than non-ecological ones. The rankings of alternatives differed when elicited individually but seemed to converge during the deliberation process. Overall, the results indicate a relative preference of participants for medium NBS interventions, but also shed light on potential implementation hurdles. The study closes by proposing key questions to consider for MCE of NBS.

KW - Multi-criteria evaluation

KW - Nature-based solutions

KW - Participatory approach

KW - River basin planning

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130575967&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115350

DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115350

M3 - Article

C2 - 35642817

AN - SCOPUS:85130575967

VL - 317

JO - Journal of Environmental Management

JF - Journal of Environmental Management

SN - 0301-4797

M1 - 115350

ER -