Title: Integrated river basin project evaluation: a comparative study

Authors: E.S. Van Leeuwen, R. Vreeker, F.R. Bruinsma

Addresses: Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam 1081 HV, The Netherlands. ' Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam 1081 HV, The Netherlands. ' Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam 1081 HV, The Netherlands

Abstract: Projects carried out in river basin areas often impose changes in spatial functions that are situated in these areas. For decades, project evaluation was carried out by measuring tangible streams of cost and benefits summarised in a cost-benefit analysis. Recently, environmental and social aspects gradually have got more attention in the public decision making process by means of, for example, multi-criteria analysis. This method is a tool to evaluate the scores of totally different indicators with the great advantage that they do not necessarily have to be expressed in monetary or even quantitative terms. In this paper, we carry out a comparative analysis of evaluation techniques used in the appraisal of projects carried out in river basin areas. We will analyse the relationships between the evaluation technique chosen and various project characteristics. The analysis of such relationships is done by means of rough set analysis. For this analysis, projects concerning river basins, carried out in different river regions of Europe, with different kind of problems are selected, ensuring a degree of diversity.

Keywords: river basin projects; project evaluation; meta-analysis; rough set analysis; environmental management; decision making; multicriteria analysis; sustainable governance; river basins.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2006.008257

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2006 Vol.6 No.1/2, pp.123 - 140

Published online: 26 Nov 2005 *

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