Spatial evaluation of ecological qualities to support interactive land-use planning

Information on ecological qualities can play an important role in land-use planning. This information is not always in a form that is suitable to support planning and negotiation among stakeholders. In this paper we describe an approach that uses ecological information based on expert knowledge in combination with spatial multicriteria analysis. Important elements of this approach are selection of evaluation criteria, assessment of scores, standardization, weighting, and aggregation. The approach was tested as part of the land-use planning process of the Bodegraven polder, a peat meadow area in the Netherlands. An interactive mapping device (the ‘touch table’) was used to support a series of interactive workshops with the various stakeholders to generate, assess, and discuss land-use plans for the Bodegraven polder. This paper shows the use of ecological information to support decision making and negotiation. <br> <b>Keywords:</b> ecological qualities, spatial ecological evaluation, multicriteria analysis, interactive decision support