Application of morphological analysis to policy formulation for wastewater treatment
- 1 — School of Industrial Engineering and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology
- 2 — Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Lodz; School of Industrial Engineering and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology
Abstract
Wastewater treatment, water protection and conservation, and rational water use are impor-tant elements of water management. The goals of water management are achieved by implementation of a set of appropriate policy measures creating a coherent policy. However; policy formulation is a complex decision-making problem involving a large number of stakeholders and many possible measures. The objective of this work is to implement a method for facilitating decision-making and identify suitable policy measures for the location and operation of wastewater treatment facilities. This type of problem is very complex and is usually formulated with many contradictory requirements. It is an example of a socalled wicked problem, for which the application of traditional multi-objective decision-making approaches has clear limitations. In this paper, Morphological Analysis (MA), an approach applicable to wicked problems, is used to structure policy measures relevant to the problem of the location and operation of waste-water treatment facilities. The application of MA enables identification and selection of stake-holders, decision-making criteria and policy measures to tackle legal, financial, technical, social and environmental aspects of wastewater treatment. A case study is presented to illustrate the iden-tification of criteria and policy measures applicable to the location and operation of wastewater treatment facilities. Use of MA allows the decision-making process of identification and selection of appropriate policy measures to be structured and accelerated while simultaneously minimizing conflicts among stakeholders.
References
- Coyle R.G., Crawshay R., Sutton L. 1994. Futures assessments by field anomaly relaxation. Futures 26 (1): 25-43.
- Coyle R.G., McGlone G., 1995. Projecting scenarios for south-east Asia and the south-west Pacific. Futures 26 (1): 65-79.
- Coyle R.G., Yong Y.C., 1996. A scenario projection for the South China Sea. Futures 28 (3): 269-283.
- Coyle R.G. 2001. Morphological forecasting-field anomaly relaxation (FAR). Futures Research Methodology-V2.0 [Download PDF][accessed 15.09.2013].
- Eriksson T., Ritchey T. 2002. Scenario development and force requirements using morphological analysis. Presented at the Winchester International OR Conference, Winchester, March, England.
- European Commission. 2000. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council Establishing a Framework for the Community Action in the field of water policy: (European Commission, Brussels).
- Levin M.Sh. 2012. Morphological methods for design of modular systems (a survey). Http://Arxiv.Org/Pdf/ 1201.1712.Pdf [accessed 30 January 2013].
- Pidd M. 1996. Tools for Thinking-Modelling in Management Science. 2nd Edition. Willey, London.
- Rhyne R. 1995. Field anomaly relaxation – the arts of usage. Futures 27 (6): 657-674.
- Rickards T. 1980. Designing for creativity: A state of the art review. Design Studies 1 (5): 262-272.
- Ritchey T. 1991. Analysis and synthesis – on scientific method based on a study by Bernhard Riemann. Systems Research 8: 4, 21-41.
- Ritchey T. 2011. Wicked Problems-Social Messes: Decision Support Modelling with Morphological Analysis: 1st Edition, Springer.
- Rittel H. 1972. On the planning crisis: systems analysis of the ‘first and second generations’. Bedriftsøkonomen, 8.
- Rittel H., Webber M. 1973. Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sciences 4: 155-169 Elsevier Scien-tific Publishing Company, Inc: Amsterdam.
- Yoon B., Park Y. 2007. Development of new technology forecasting algorithm: hybrid approach for morphology analysis and conjoint analysis of patent information. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 54 (3): 588-599.
- Zwicky F. 1969. Discovery, Invention, Research – Through the Morphological Approach. The Macmillan Com-pany: Toronto.
- Zwicky F., Wilson A. (eds). 1967. New Methods of Thought and Procedure: Contributions to the Symposium on Methodologies, Pasadena, 22-24 May; New York: Springer-Verlag, http://www.swemorph.com/pdf/new-methods.pdf [ac-cessed 20 January 2013].