Benjamin D. Trump

Decision analysis has become widely recognized as an important process for translating science into management actions. With climate change and other systemic threats as driving forces in creating environmental and engineering problems, there is a great need for understanding decision making frameworks through a case-study based approach. Management of environmental and engineering projects is often complicated and multidisciplinary in scope and nature, thus issues that arise can be difficult to solve analytically. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis: Case Studies in Engineering and the Environment provides detailed description of MCDA methods and tools and illustrates their applications through case studies focused on sustainability and system engineering applications. New in the Second Edition: Addresses current and emerging environmental and engineering problems Includes seven new case studies to illustrate different management situations applicable at the international level Builds on real case studies from recent and relevant environmental and engineering management experience Describes advanced MCDA techniques and extensions used by practitioners Provides corresponding decision models implemented using the DECERNS software package Gives a more holistic approach to teaching MCDA methodology with a focus on sustainable solutions and adoption of new technologies, including nanotechnology and synthetic biologyGiven the novelty and inherent applicability of this decision-making framework to the environmental and engineering fields, a greater number of teaching tools for this topic need to be made available. This book provides those teaching tools, covering the breadth of the applications of MCDA methodologies with clear explanations of the MCDA process. The case studies are implemented in the DECERNS software package, allowing readers to experiment and explore and to understand the full process by which environmental managers assess these problems. This book is a great resource for professionals and students seeking to learn decision analysis techniques and apply similar frameworks to environmental and engineering projects

Decision analysis has become widely recognized as an important process for translating science into management actions. With climate change and other systemic threats as driving forces in creating environmental and engineering problems, there is a great need for understanding decision making frameworks through a case-study based approach. Management of environmental and engineering projects is often complicated and multidisciplinary in scope and nature, thus issues that arise can be difficult to solve analytically. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis: Case Studies in Engineering and the Environment provides detailed description of MCDA methods and tools and illustrates their applications through case studies focused on sustainability and system engineering applications. New in the Second Edition: Addresses current and emerging environmental and engineering problems Includes seven new case studies to illustrate different management situations applicable at the international level Builds on real case studies from recent and relevant environmental and engineering management experience Describes advanced MCDA techniques and extensions used by practitioners Provides corresponding decision models implemented using the DECERNS software package Gives a more holistic approach to teaching MCDA methodology with a focus on sustainable solutions and adoption of new technologies, including nanotechnology and synthetic biologyGiven the novelty and inherent applicability of this decision-making framework to the environmental and engineering fields, a greater number of teaching tools for this topic need to be made available. This book provides those teaching tools, covering the breadth of the applications of MCDA methodologies with clear explanations of the MCDA process. The case studies are implemented in the DECERNS software package, allowing readers to experiment and explore and to understand the full process by which environmental managers assess these problems. This book is a great resource for professionals and students seeking to learn decision analysis techniques and apply similar frameworks to environmental and engineering projects

This book explores the challenges that confront leaders in government and industry when making decisions in the areas of environmental health and safety. Today, decision making demands transparency, robustness, and resiliency. However thoughtfully they are devised, decisions made by governments and enterprises can often trigger immediate, passionate public response. Expertise Under Scrutiny shows how leaders can establish organizational decision making processes that yield valid, workable choices even in fast-changing and uncertain conditions. The first part of the book examines the organizational decision making process, describing the often-contentious environment in which important environmental health and safety decisions are made, and received. The authors review the roles of actors and experts in the decision making process. The book goes on to address such topics as:· The roles of actors and experts in the decision making process· Ethics and analytics as drivers of good decisions· Why managing problems in safety, security, environment, and health Part II offers an outline for adopting a formal decision support structure, including the use of decision support tools. It includes a chapter devoted to ELECTRE (ELimination and Choice Expressing Reality), a multi-criteria decision analysis system. The book concludes with an insightful appraisal and analysis of the expertise, structure and resources needed for navigating well-supported, risk-informed decisions in our 21st Century world. Expertise Under Scrutiny benefits a broad audience of students, academics, researchers, and working professionals in management and related disciplines, especially in the field of environmental health and safety.

This book offers a comprehensive view on resilience based upon state-of-the-science theories and methodological applications that resilience may fill. Specifically, this text provides a compendium of knowledge on the theory, methods, and practice of resilience across a variety of country and case contexts, and demonstrates how a resilience-based approach can help further improved infrastructure, vibrant societies, and sustainable environments and ecologies, among many others. Resilience is a term with thousands of years of history. Only recently has resilience been applied to the management of complex interconnected systems, yet its impact as a governing philosophy and an engineering practice has been pronounced. Colloquially, resilience has been used as a synonym for ‘bouncing back’. Philosophically and methodologically, however, it is much more. In a world defined by interconnected and interdependent systems such as water, food, energy, transportation, and the internet, asudden and unexpected disruption to one critical system can lead to significant challenges for many others. The Science and Practice of Resilience is beneficial for those seeking to gain a rich knowledge of the resilience world, as well as for practitioners looking for methods and tools by which resilience may be applied in real-world contexts.