Structured Decision Making for the Real World: A Qualitative Analysis of How Governance Structures En(Dis)able SDM in...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Management
• Public Policy
• Decision Science

Background:

• Structured decision making (SDM) involves clarifying context, defining objectives, developing alternatives, predicting consequences, evaluating tradeoffs, and monitoring outcomes.
• Incorporating diverse values into objective selection and fostering shared understanding are key for public decision-making.
• Rigid SDM processes often exceed the capacity of public agencies; however, governance structures can facilitate partial SDM adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the governance factors enabling the use of SDM as a decision support tool within watershed groups.
• To understand how different governance structures influence the application of SDM stages in public decision-making.
• To explore the integration of human wellbeing objectives with natural resource health objectives in watershed management.

Main Methods:

• A 4-year participatory research project involving four different watershed groups.
• Analysis of governance factors influencing the adoption and application of SDM steps.
• Qualitative assessment of how objective definition and decision-making processes impact SDM engagement.

Main Results:

• The definition of objectives and planning outputs, along with decision-making processes, significantly influenced the extent to which SDM steps were completed.
• Engaging in each step of the SDM process demonstrably improved decision-making outcomes.
• Successful decision-making does not necessitate the completion of every single SDM step.

Conclusions:

• Governance structures play a crucial role in enabling the adaptive use of SDM in public agencies.
• Partial engagement with SDM steps can yield substantial improvements in decision quality.
• Future research should focus on optimizing governance for effective, iterative SDM application in environmental management.