Prioritization of land consolidation projects using the multi-criteria Best-Worst Method: a case study from Poland

In order to balance the needs of ecology, environment, and agricultural productivity with the aim of revitalizing rural areas, every local government unit that plans to implement a land consolidation (LC) project should decide where to start these projects as a priority. Traditionally, some of these decisions are made by groups of people connected to the consolidated area, while the others are made by groups of people from government departments, all trying to make the best possible decision. However, one of the most important conditions for the successful implementation of these projects, requiring large investment costs is, determining the priority areas for LC projects and allocating the investments to the appropriate areas meticulously. This study proposed a new model for determining priority areas for LC projects. In this study, by determining a set of criteria according to the parameters taken from 75 villages (Malopolska region, Poland), a model was developed for prioritizing LC projects using the Best-Worst Method (BWM), a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method. The proposed model enables the transparent identification and prioritization of villages for land consolidation by national and local authorities, effective management of resources, and equitable allocation of financial assistance.