Title
Evaluating the potential of qualitative reasoning models to contribute to sustainable catchment management
Abstract
Due to the world wide degradation of river catchments and their related aquatic resources the development of integrated management strategies has become an important issue. Tools and processes are required that support the integration of science, the needs of stakeholders and the local population, within existing political frameworks to achieve a sustainable catchment development. In this paper the potential of qualitative reasoning (QR) models for sustainable catchment management is evaluated by students and domain experts. This evaluation yields promising results. The evaluated QR models were found to represent complex knowledge in an understandable manner. Most people ‘largely or fully agreed’ that the presented QR models may significantly contribute to the understanding of students and stakeholders, concerning which entities and processes drive a sustainable development of a riverine landscape, and therefore enhances their decision-making capabilities. Due to its potential to integrate quantitative and qualitative knowledge, to build causal models, and to run dynamic simulations, the presented QR approach has great potential to become an important contribution to integrated catchment management at multiple levels of the implementation process thereof (such as education, decision-making, social learning, integration of different scientific disciplines, and communication).
Year
DOI
Venue
2009
10.1016/j.ecoinf.2009.09.007
Ecological Informatics
Keywords
Field
DocType
Qualitative reasoning,Integrated catchment management,Social learning,Model evaluation,Sustainable development,System dynamics and structure
Ecology,Population,Stakeholder,Computer science,Knowledge management,Integrated catchment management,Integrated management,Social learning,Sustainable development,Sustainability,Qualitative reasoning
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
4
5
1574-9541
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
10
0.69
8
Authors
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
A. Zitek1101.03
S. Schmutz2100.69
S. Preis3100.69
Paulo Salles4757.39
B. Bredeweg5618111.06
Susanne Muhar6121.39