Water Policies and Conflict Resolution of Public Participation Decision-Making Processes Using Prioritized Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) Operators

[EN] There is a growing interest in environmental policies about how to implement public participation engagement in the context of water resources management. This paper presents a robust methodology, based on ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators, to conflict resolution decision-making problems under uncertain environments due to both information and stakeholders' preferences. The methodology allows integrating heterogeneous interests of the general public and stakeholders on account of their different degree of acceptance or preference and level of influence or power regarding the measures and policies to be adopted, and also of their level of involvement (i.e., information supply, consultation and active involvement). These considerations lead to different environmental and socio-economic outcomes, and levels of stakeholders' satisfaction. The methodology establishes a prioritization relationship over the stakeholders. The individual stakeholders' preferences are aggregated through their associated weights, which depend on the satisfaction of the higher priority decision maker. The methodology ranks the optimal management strategies to maximize the stakeholders' satisfaction. It has been successfully applied to a real case study, providing greater fairness, transparency, social equity and consensus among actors. Furthermore, it provides support to environmental policies, such as the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), improving integrated water management while covering a wide range of objectives, management alternatives and stakeholders.Llopis Albert, C.; Merigó-Lindahl, JM.; Liao, H.; Xu, Y.; Grima-Olmedo, J.; Grima-Olmedo, C. (2018). Water Policies and Conflict Resolution of Public Participation Decision-Making Processes Using Prioritized Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) Operators. Water Resources Management. 32(2):497-510. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1823-2S497510322Amin GR, Sadeghi H (2010) Application of prioritized aggregation operators in preference voting. Int J Intell Syst 25(10):1027–1034Chen TY (2014) A prioritized aggregation operator-based approach to multiple criteria decision making using interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets: A comparative perspective. Inf Sci 281:97–112Chen LH, Xu ZS (2014) A prioritized aggregation operator based on the OWA operator and prioritized measures. J Intell Fuzzy Syst 27:1297–1307Chen LH, Xu ZS, Yu XH (2014a) Prioritized measure-guided aggregation operators. IEEE Trans Fuzzy Syst 22:1127–1138Chen LH, Xu ZS, Yu XH (2014b) Weakly prioritized measure aggregation in prioritized multicriteria decision making. Int J Intell Syst 29:439–461CHJ (2016). Júcar river basin authority http://www.chj.es/CHS (2016). Segura river basin authority http://www.chsegura.es/Dong JY, Wan SP (2016) A new method for prioritized multi-criteria group decision making with triangular intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. J Intell Fuzzy Syst 30:1719–1733EC (2000). Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 23 2000 Establishing a Framework for Community Action in the Field of Water Policy. Official Journal of the European Communities, L327/1eL327/72 22.12.2000Jackson S, Tan P-L, Nolan S (2012) Tools to enhance public participation and confidence in the development of the Howard East aquifer water plan, Northern Territory. J Hydrol 474:22–28Jin FF, Ni ZW, Chen HY (2016) Note on “Hesitant fuzzy prioritized operators and their application to multiple attribute decision making”. Knowl-Based Syst 96:115–119Kentel E, Aral MM (2007) Fuzzy Multiobjective Decision-Making Approach for Groundwater Resources Management. J Hydrol Eng 12(2):206–217. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1084-0699(2007)12:2(206).Kirchherr J, Charles KJ, Walton MJ (2016) Multi-causal pathways of public opposition to dam project in Asia: A fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Glob Environ Chang 41:33–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.08.001Llopis-Albert C, Pulido-Velazquez D (2015) Using MODFLOW code to approach transient hydraulic head with a sharp-interface solution. Hydrol Process 29(8):2052–2064. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10354Llopis-Albert C, Palacios-Marqués D, Soto-Acosta P (2015) Decision-making and stakeholders constructive participation in environmental projects. J Bus Res 68:1641–1644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.02.010Llopis-Albert C, Merigó JM, Xu Y, Huchang L (2017) Improving regional climate projections by prioritized aggregation via ordered weighted averaging operators. Environ Eng Sci. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2016.0546Maia R (2017) The WFD Implementation in the European Member States. Water Resour Manag 31(10):3043–3060. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1723-5Malczewski J, Chapman T, Flegel C, Walters D, Shrubsole D, Healy MA (2003) GIS - multicriteria evaluation with ordered weighted averaging (OWA): case study of developing watershed management strategies. Environ Plan A 35:1769–1784. https://doi.org/10.1068/a35156Merigó JM, Casanovas M (2011) The uncertain generalized owa operator and its application to financial decision making. Int J Inf Technol Decis Mak 10(2):211–230Merigó JM, Yager RR (2013) Generalized moving averages, distance measures and OWA operators. Int J Uncertain, Fuzziness Knowl-Based Syst 21(4):533–559Merigó JM, Palacios-Marqués D, Ribeiro-Navarrete B (2015) Aggregation systems for sales forecasting. J Bus Res 68:2299–2304Mesiar R, Stupnanová A, Yager RR (2015) Generalizations of OWA Operators. IEEE Trans Fuzzy Syst 23(6):2154–2162O’Hagan M (1988) Aggregating Template Rule Antecedents in Real-time Expert Systems with Fuzzy Set Logic. In: Proceedings of 22nd annual IEEE Asilomar Conference on Signals. IEEE and Maple Press, Pacific Grove, Systems and Computers, pp 681–689Rahmani MA, Zarghami M (2013) A new approach to combine climate change projections by ordered weighting averaging operator; applications to northwestern provinces of Iran. Glob Planet Chang 102:41–50Ran LG, Wei GW (2015) Uncertain prioritized operators and their application to multiple attribute group decision making. Technol Econ Dev Econ 21:118–139Ruiz-Villaverde, A., García-Rubio, M.A. (2017). Public Participation in European Water Management: from Theory to Practice. Water Resour Manag 31(8), 2479–2495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1355-1Sadiq R, Tesfamariam S (2007) Probability density functions based weights for ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators: An example of water quality indices. Eur J Oper Res 182:1350–1368Sadiq R, Rodríguez MJ, Tesfamariam S (2010) Integrating indicators for performance assessment of small water utilities using ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators. Expert Syst Appl 37:4881–4891Verma R, Sharma B (2016) Prioritized information fusion method for triangular fuzzy information and its application to multiple attribute decision making. Int J Uncertain, Fuzziness Knowl-Based Syst 24:265–290Wang HM, Xu YJ, Merigó JM (2014) Prioritized aggregation for non-homogeneous group decision making in water resource management. Econ Comput Econ Cybern Stud Res 48(1):247–258Wei GW (2012) Hesitant fuzzy prioritized operators. Knowl-Based Syst 31:176–182Wei CP, Tang XJ (2012) Generalized prioritized aggregation operators. Int J Intell Syst 27:578–589Xu ZS (2005) An Overview of Methods for Determining OWA Weights. Int J Intell Syst 20:843–865Yager RR (1988) On ordered weighted averaging aggregation operators in multi-criteria decision making, IEEE Transactions on Systems. Man Cybern B 18(1988):183–190Yager RR (2008) Prioritized Aggregation Operators. Int J Approx Reason 48:263–274Yan H-B, Huynh V-N, Nakamori Y, Murai T (2011) On prioritized weighted aggregation in multi-criteria decision making. Expert Syst Appl 38(1):812–823Ye J (2014) Prioritized aggregation operators of trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy sets and their application to multicriteria decision-making. Neural Comput & Applic 25:1447–1454Yu XH, Xu ZS, Liu SS (2013) Prioritized multi-criteria decision making based on preference relations. Comput Ind Eng 66:104–115Zadeh LA (1983) A Computational Approach to Fuzzy Quantifiers in Natural Languages. Comput Math Appl 9:149–184Zarghami M, Szidarovszky F (2009) Revising the OWA operator for multi criteria decision making problems under uncertainty. Eur J Oper Res 198:259–265Zarghami M, Ardakanian R, Memariani A, Szidarovszky F (2008) Extended OWA Operator for Group Decision Making on Water Resources Projects. J Water Resour Plan Manag 134(3):266–275. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2008)134:3(266)Zarghami M, Szidarovszky F, Ardakanian R (2009) Multi-attribute decision making on inter-basin water transfer projects. Transaction E. Ind Eng 16(1):73–80Zhao XF, Li QX, Wei GW (2014) Some prioritized aggregating operators with linguistic information and their application to multiple attribute group decision making. J Intell Fuzzy Syst 26:1619–1630Zhao N, Xu ZS, Ren ZL (2016) On typical hesitant fuzzy prioritized “or” operator in multi-attribute decision making. Int J Intell Syst 31:73–100Zhou LY, Lin R, Zhao XF, Wei GW (2013) Uncertain linguistic prioritized aggregation operators and their application to multiple attribute group decision making. Int J Uncertain, Fuzziness Knowl-Based Syst 21:603–627Zhou LG, Merigó JM, Chen HY, Liu JP (2016) The optimal group continuous logarithm compatibility measure for interval multiplicative preference relations based on the COWGA operator. Inf Sci 328:250–26

Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Multicriteria Decision-Making Method Based on Generalized Prioritized Aggregation Operator

Based on linguistic term sets and hesitant fuzzy sets, the concept of hesitant fuzzy linguistic sets was introduced. The focus of this paper is the multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) problems in which the criteria are in different priority levels and the criteria values take the form of hesitant fuzzy linguistic numbers (HFLNs). A new approach to solving these problems is proposed, which is based on the generalized prioritized aggregation operator of HFLNs. Firstly, the new operations and comparison method for HFLNs are provided and some linguistic scale functions are applied. Subsequently, two prioritized aggregation operators and a generalized prioritized aggregation operator of HFLNs are developed and applied to MCDM problems. Finally, an illustrative example is given to illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method, which are then compared to the existing approach

Algorithms for possibility linguistic single-valued neutrosophic decision-making based on COPRAS and aggregation operators with new information measures

The objective of this work is to introduce the concept of the possibility linguistic single-valued neutrosophic set (PLSVNS) for better dealing with the imprecise and uncertain information during the decision-making process. The prominent characteristics of this set are that it considers two distinctive sorts of information such as the membership, indeterminacy, non-membership degrees, and their corresponding possibility degree. In it, first, we stated some operational laws, score and accuracy functions, comparison laws between the pairs of the set. Then, we define weighted averaging and geometric aggregation operators (AOs) to collaborate the PLSVNSs into a single one. Further, we present two algorithms based on a complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) method and AOs based method under PLSVNS information to solve the decision-making problems. In these methods, the information related to weights of decision makers and criteria is determined with the help of a distance and entropy measures. Finally, a practical real-life example is provided to expose the materialness and the viability of our work

Elevating decision management in sustainable energy planning through spherical fuzzy aggregation operators

This article introduces a novel paradigm for enhancing the administration of decisions regarding sustainable energy planning. This is achieved by deploying novel spherical fuzzy aggregation operators that have been meticulously tailored to address the inherent complexities of uncertainty and imprecision prevalent in energy planning datasets. These operators vastly increase the precision and efficacy of decision-making processes, thereby transforming the entire sustainable energy landscape. This study focuses predominantly on the complex domain of multi-attribute decision-making (MADM), in which the interplay of parameters is characterized by a discernible hierarchy of importance. This method generates aggregation operators based on the assignment of non-negative real values to clearly defined priority echelons, a framework known as priority degrees. This effort results in the development of two notable prioritized operators: the “spherical fuzzy prioritized averaging operator with priority degrees” and the “spherical fuzzy prioritized geometric operator with priority degrees”. The efficacy of these conceptual frameworks is vividly demonstrated through the application of extensive case studies, in which observable results clearly demonstrate their superiority over conventional methodologies. The empirical findings unequivocally demonstrate the superiority of the proposed operators, resonating with substantial performance and efficiency improvements. This study not only adds a seminal dimension to the field of sustainable energy management but also reveals a revolutionary application of spherical fuzzy aggregation operators at the forefront of effective decision-making paradigms. The seamless fusion of theoretical innovation and practical utility outlines a path forward, with transformative prospects and far-reaching implications for the sustainable energy landscape

A Single-Valued Neutrosophic Linguistic Combined Weighted Distance Measure and Its Application in Multiple-Attribute Group Decision-Making

The aim of this paper is to present a multiple-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) framework based on a new single-valued neutrosophic linguistic (SVNL) distance measure. By unifying the idea of the weighted average and ordered weighted averaging into a single-valued neutrosophic linguistic distance, we first developed a new SVNL weighted distance measure, namely a SVNL combined and weighted distance (SVNLCWD) measure

iAggregator: Multidimensional Relevance Aggregation Based on a Fuzzy Operator

International audienceRecently, an increasing number of information retrieval studies have triggered a resurgence of interest in redefining the algorithmic estimation of relevance, which implies a shift from topical to multidimensional relevance assessment. A key underlying aspect that emerged when addressing this concept is the aggregation of the relevance assessments related to each of the considered dimensions. The most commonly adopted forms of aggregation are based on classical weighted means and linear combination schemes to address this issue. Although some initiatives were recently proposed, none was concerned with considering the inherent dependencies and interactions existing among the relevance criteria, as is the case in many real-life applications. In this article, we present a new fuzzy-based operator, called iAggregator, for multidimensional relevance aggregation. Its main originality, beyond its ability to model interactions between different relevance criteria, lies in its generalization of many classical aggregation functions. To validate our proposal, we apply our operator within a tweet search task. Experiments using a standard benchmark, namely, Text REtrieval Conference Microblog,1 emphasize the relevance of our contribution when compared with traditional aggregation schemes. In addition, it outperforms state-of-the-art aggregation operators such as the Scoring and the And prioritized operators as well as some representative learning-to-rank algorithms

Uncertain prioritized operators and their application to multiple attribute group decision making

In this paper, we investigate the uncertain multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problems in which the attributes and experts are in different priority level. Motivated by the idea of prioritized aggregation operators (Yager 2008), we develop some prioritized aggregation operators for aggregating uncertain information, and then apply them to develop some models for uncertain multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problems in which the attributes and experts are in different priority level. Finally, a practical example about talent introduction is given to verify the developed approach and to demonstrate its practicality and effectiveness