Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The overall objective of the proposed research program is to devise multiple participant decision making techniques for innovatively addressing challenging environmental systems management problems with applications in sustainable development, climate change, water resources management, energy, and environmental engineering. More specifically, the graph model for conflict resolution (GMCR) methodology will be significantly developed to find resolutions that satisfy key systems properties such as sustainability, resilience, and fairness, for challenging environmental problems facing society. GMCR, originally developed by the applicant and his coworkers, constitutes a unique methodology for formally modeling and analyzing real-world multiple participant decision making problems. Within the proposed research program, using recent advances and expansions in GMCR, a new generation of a graph model-based decision support system along with implementation algorithms will be designed and developed to enable investigation of real-world complex disputes. To generate creative solutions in practice for resolving disputes, two types of decision methodologies will be developed: inverse analysis methods for determining how a decision maker (DM)'s thinking can be mobilized in order to achieve a win/win resolution and an agent-based framework for simulating and testing environmental policies that takes into account the value systems of DMs and harnesses the complexity of strategic interactions among DMs. Environmental systems management problems often involve multiple stakeholders, who usually have different objectives and value systems. Practical decision problems in environmental systems management and other areas will be used as case studies to develop, test, and improve the decision techniques studied. Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations will be incorporated in selecting case studies such that real-world disputes involving a diversity of stakeholder types and geographical locations will be investigated. The techniques and tools developed in the proposed research can be utilized by DMs, practitioners, and researchers interested in complex environmental management problems including sustainable development, which is a significant challenge for Canadian society. Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) will gain extensive knowledge and research training in developing multiple participant decision techniques, designing and implementing decision support systems, and applying the new and improved techniques to complex environmental systems management problems. EDI considerations will be embedded in the training of HQP. The training received will prepare HQP for pursuing their careers in academia, research and development, government, and consulting. It is expected that results from the proposed research should significantly contribute to the theory and practice of multiple participant decision making techniques.