DeCyDe-4 is a practical method that can be implemented to give a “number” to a problem or an issue, i.e. to have a measure, to understand the size or the scale of a state/condition, especially in cases where everything is subjective or difficult to quantify. The DeCyDe-4 approach is in line with the trend of public policies to move from a purely conceptual and theoretical view to a more pragmatic approach, based on empirical evidence. When talking about decision support, the important questions are “who are the Decision Makers” and “what are their competences”. If a sophisticated and complex to users decision support system, aims to support decision makers who do not have high academic competences, then it should be expected that the system will not be used. This is the most common problem of the Decision Support Systems: in their majority they are complicated and difficult to use, resulting in decision makers who increasingly rely on their intuition and judgment and even interests.
The above issues were the challenges which led to the development of DeCyDe-4, a method that integrates logical processes, established scientific knowledge and real local data, together with local knowledge and experience and a high degree of participation. More than 10 years of implementing and improving simple decision support methods in real cases, led to the development of DeCyDe-4, a clear method and a friendly decision support tool, flexible to accommodate different kinds of decision problems when multiple decision alternatives exist. It offers a framework that supports the decision makers and the stakeholders to understand and justify the main issues that are involved in the process of decision and the trade-offs between different decision alternatives. At the same time it gives them the chance to a real participation, i.e. to incorporate their views, evaluations and perspectives in the process.
DeCyDe-4 incorporates principles from multi-criteria analysis, from public policies approaches, from vocational training structures (e.g. LitusGo structure) and even basic logic principles from Fuzzy theory (the theory of graded concepts, where everything is a matter of degree). It is a spreadsheet oriented decision support method including a flexible and easy to use tool.
DeCyDe-4 has been used to assist stakeholders and policy-makers in decision-making, in the following situations:
- – DeCyDe-4-Biodiversity: used by the Cypriot Department for the Environment to rank the extensive list of measures included in the Cypriot Biodiversity Strategy through a workshop involving the key stakeholders on the island. Click here to find out more.
- – DeCyDe-4-Sustainability: A decision support tool was developed to help coastal local authorities assess their territory’s sustainability and identify measures to apply in order to improve their sustainability. Click here to find out more.
- – DeCyDe-4-IRIS-SES: in this case DeCyDe-4 was adapted to the needs of the European funded project IRIS-SES, and applied through a series of workshops in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, to help policy and decision-makers to identify joint monitoring opportunities within the framework of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. A relevant paper has been published in Marine Policy. Click here to find our more.
- – DeCyDe-4-ActionMed: DeCyDe-4 was adapted to the needs of the European funded project ActionMed to help policy and decision-makers to define Programmes of Measures within the framework of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. A relevant paper has been published in Marine Policy. Click here to find our more.
- – DeCyDe-4-MARLISCO: the method and its associated toolbox were used to evaluate practices to address marine litter in Europe, based on their effectiveness and implementation potential. This work was implemented within the framework of the European funded project MARLISCO. Click here to find out more.
- – DeCyDe-4-SeaLevelRise: within the framework of project SaveMedCoasts, funded by DG ECHO, DeCyDe-4 and its toolbox were used to assist coastal local authorities threatened by sea level rise to assess their area’s risk and to identify measures that could be implemented to mitigate that risk.
Contact us to discuss the possibility to adapt DeCyDe-4 to your own needs.
Read more about the DeCyDe-4 method here: DeCyDe-4