FP7Individual fellowship2009–2012

RURAL DECISIONS · Development of a framework for managing uncertain decisions in agricultural and environmental policies – Towards an integrated policy for decision-making support in rural areas

FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)

Duration
2009-06-01 → 2012-07-31
EU contribution
€232,684
Participants
1
Scheme
MC-IOF

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Results in brief

Development of a framework for managing uncertain decisions in agricultural and environmental policies – Towards an integrated policy for decision-making support in rural areas

The Marie Curie project gave me a great opportunity to pursue independent research, establish research collaborations in the EU, US and worldwide, present my research at international conferences and publish them in peer-reviewed journals. The research conducted with the grant created a basis for my post-PhD degree (habilitation) that I received from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 2013. 1 Summary of research activities The research objectives have been achieved successfully and according to the research plan and schedule. All anticipated research stages, indicated in the research proposal, have been completed on time. Those included: 1) Literature review and data analysis on the topic ‘Multi-criteria decision-making methods and uncertainty in agricultural and environmental policies’ 2) Testing methods in computer laboratory 3) Survey with environmental experts in the Centre for Sustainable Resource Development, California Environmental Protection Agency, FAPRI, IFPRI, USDA 4) Structuring and evaluation of interview results 5) Presentations of approaches and intermediate results at seminars at UC Berkeley 6) Preparation of working papers and publications in scientific journals 7) Presentations of the research results at international conferences 2 Summary of the progress of the researcher training activities/transfer of knowledge activities/integration activities I have attended many career development courses both during the outgoing and the returning phase, as well as participated in several extension activities. The details are listed in a bullet form below. Topical courses: 1) Environmental and Resource Economics 2) Mathematical Methods for Agricultural and Resource Economics 3) Mathematical Programming, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research 4) Economic Theory 5) Decision Analysis 6) Environmental Economics 7) Macroeconomics Career development courses: 1) Advanced Project Management: Building Stakeholder Relationships 2) Speaking and Editing for UC Berkeley Post-Docs and Visiting Scholars 3) Putting your science to work, Workshop for research scholars 4) Writing well for professional settings 5) Social networking workshop – guide to managing relations 6) Introduction to career development planning for supervisors and managers Other extension and scientific activities: 1) Participation in the Environmental and Resource Economics Seminar and the Departmental Seminar, UC Berkeley 2) Participation in the, ARE, UC Berkeley 3) Sacramento Valley extension excursion (UC Berkeley, UC Davis) 4) Library research visit – Georgia University of Technology, Atlanta 5) Scientific visit at Kyoto University, Japan 6) Research visit: Harvard University, Yale University, New York University, George Washington University I have also collaborated with scientists from the following universities and research institutions: University of Missouri, NASA, Arizona State University, Economic Research Service of USDA, and Environmental Protection Agency, Kyoto University - Japan, Delhi Technological University - India, and Kongju National University - South Korea. Other activities: 1) Steering Committee Member for the EU Project MACE (Modern Agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe), Berlin, Germany 2) Member in AAEA 3) Member in Agricultural Economics Research Association (AERA India) 4) Session chair at International Conference on Social Sciences, Honolulu 5) Reviewer for the International Association of Agricultural Economists Conference in Beijing, China and the Energy Journal Presentations at conferences: − Int. Conf. on Fuzzy Systems and Neural Computing, Paris, 11/2011 − European Association of Agricultural Economists Conference, Zurich, Switzerland, 08/09-2011 − AAEA Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 07/2010 − Int. Renewable Energy Conference, Yokohama, Japan, 06/07-2010 − 14th ICABR (International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research) Conference, Ravello, Italy, 06/2010 − Int. Conf. on Social Sciences, Honolulu, 06/2010 − 4th MACE Conference (Modern Agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe), Berlin, Germany, 01/2010 − 1st Int. Conf. on New Frontiers in Biofuels, New Delhi, India, 01/2010 − 27th Int. Conf. of Agricultural Economists, Beijing, China, 08/2009 Additional outcomes and added value of the project: 1. Habilitation at the Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt University of Berlin in January 2013 2. Teaching activities: a) Natural Resource & Renewable Energy Economics and Policy, Instructor, Summer 2012 b) Market and Policy Analysis, Co-instructor, Summer 2012, Fall 2011 3. Elected member of the Young Academy National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina/Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Current political and scientific debates are focused on finding a long-term policy beneficial both for environment and economy in rural areas in the EU member states. The proposed research project aims to methodologically reinforce these efforts and to contribute to development of an integrated policy for decision-making support in rural areas in an interdisciplinary process. The objective of the research is to develop a methodological framework integrating uncertain economic and ecological aspects in multiobjective decision-support systems in agricultural and environmental policies for Germany, Poland, and the U.S. Several analyses have been undertaken on multicriteria decision-making approaches and the problems of uncertainty in the European Union in different disciplines. However, most of them are focused on illustrating relations between them and comparing them. With the proposed research, the existing uncertainties will be directly incorporated in decision-support systems while uncertain and fuzzy information provided by experts will be firstly operationalised by means of the PROMETHEE approach. In order to progressively evaluate political problems an integrative programming model will be constructed to integrate fuzzy information as well as game theory to consider interactive decision-making between political stakeholders. The project will provide a novel, original and sustainable scientific tool for practical implementation to improve policy evaluation and design and to alleviate interactive decision-making processes in rural areas in the European countries. Thereby, an existing scientific gap in policy evaluation and in supporting political decision-making processes in rural areas in Europe can be filled, improving European scientific competitiveness and excellence in the researched field. The fellowship will be pivotal for the scientific progress of the researcher, reaching professional maturity and for preparing for the independent scientific career.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITAET ZU BERLIN · BerlinCoordinatorGermany

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union