Investigating flood resilience perceptions and supporting collective decision-making through fuzzy cognitive mapping

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Urban Planning
• Risk Management

Background:

• Community flood resilience requires understanding risks, options, and stakeholder priorities.
• Selecting and implementing flood resilience solutions is challenging for decision-makers.
• Traditional assessments lack participatory processes for system-level intervention identification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how combined modeling and measurement methods can aid flood resilience strategies.
• To apply a participatory system thinking approach using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) and Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC).
• To support decision-making on flood resilience interventions in Lowestoft, England.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a participatory system thinking approach.
• Combined Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) with the Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC) framework.
• Elicited and aggregated stakeholder mental models to identify beneficial resilience actions.

Main Results:

• Investigated stakeholder biases on flood resilience interventions.
• Identified key aspects of flood resilience and their interrelations through aggregated mental models.
• Determined the most beneficial resilience actions based on direct and indirect impacts.

Conclusions:

• The combined FCM and FRMC approach enables system-level thinking for flood resilience.
• Inclusive decision-making processes can encourage transformative prioritization of actions and investments.
• This methodology supports local authorities in enhancing community flood resilience strategies.