Decision Support System for Demining Waterways

In the beginning of 2002, Croatian Waters, a state water management system, gave the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Split a project with the main objective of determining the optimal strategy for demining waterways by using contemporary scientific methods and tools

Project management in mine actions using Multi-Criteria-Analysis-based decision support system

In this paper, a Web-based Decision Support System (Web DSS), that supports humanitarian demining operations and restoration of mine-contaminated areas, is presented. The financial shortage usually triggers a need for priority setting in Project Management in Mine actions. As part of the FP7 Project TIRAMISU, a specialized Web DSS has been developed to achieve a fully transparent priority setting process. It allows stakeholders and donors to actively join the decision making process using a user-friendly and intuitive Web application. The main advantage of this Web DSS is its unique way of managing a mine action project using Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA), namely the PROMETHEE method, in order to select priorities for demining actions. The developed Web DSS allows decision makers to use several predefined scenarios (different criteria weights) or to develop their own, so it allows project managers to compare different demining possibilities with ease

APPLICATION OF GIS AND MATHEMATICAL MODELING IN MARITIME CRISIS SITUATIONS

This paper aims to propose a decision support system for maritime crisis situation, due to fact that Croatia has decided to implement Directive 2002/59/EC to define places of refuge for ships in need of assistance off their coasts, or to develop techniques for providing assistance to such ships. In order to fulfill this Directive it is necessary to build an effective Decision Support System (DSS) based on GIS and mathematical modeling. The basic module of the proposed system is GIS, for all levels of DSS, that comprise information subsystems about spatial and other data and serves the other modules with data and information. Starting points for analysis are shipping corridors, and 380 potential locations for places of refuge designated in the official navigational pilot book. Multicriteria analysis, with GIS-generated input data, has been used to establish "worthiness" of a place of refuge for each ship category, taking into account kinds of accident. Proposed mathematical models facilitate optimal usage of "available intervention resources"

Hierarchic Approach to Mine Action in Croatia

The Republic of Croatia is one of the 10 most mine-contaminated countries in the world. There are almost 750,000 mines on 1,630 sq km of mine-suspected areas. About 170 sq km are actual minefields, while the rest of the area is contaminated with individual explosive ordnance. Mine-affected areas that have not been used for years, pose a huge economic problem and obstruct infrastructure development, reconstruction, and return of displaced persons to their normal lives. They also pose a significant safety problem. In particular, any activities carried out in mine-contaminated areas significantly threaten human lives and material assets. It is estimated that removing all the mines in the Republic of Croatia would cost approximately $1.473 billion (U.S.) and would require 10 years of intensive work

MANAGING MARITIME DOMAIN IN CROATIA – PROBLEMS OF IMPLEMENTING THE NEW CONCESSIONS ACT

U radu se pregledno i sustavno daje prikaz novog Zakona o koncesijama, s naglaskom na koncesije na pomorskom dobru. Temeljne novine Zakona odnose se na drugačiju regulaciju postupka davanja koncesija što se bitno odražava i na učinkovitost postupka koncesioniranja. Pojedine odredbe Zakona usporavaju postupak odlučivanja te proširuju nadležnost na više ministarstava, pri čemu se Ministarstvu financija daju veće ovlasti u sustavu koncesioniranja. Autori analiziraju razloge donošenja Zakona u kontekstu činjenice, da usklađivanje nacionalnih zakona i propisa s onima u EU, ne smije biti ishitreno. Tako usvojena zakonska rješenja dovode u pitanje učinkovitost sustava koncesioniranja, vremenskim produljenjem trajanja postupka kao bitnim činiteljem vrednovanja i učinkovitog upravljanja pomorskim dobrom i umanjuju značaj decentralizacije javne uprave. Javnu upravu u Hrvatskoj karakterizira autoritativno vođenje i tradicionalni tijek kolanja informacija. Zbog značaja morskog i obalnog resursa za učinkoviti i održivi gospodarski razvoj takav oblik upravljanja, uz stalne promjene zakona, često otežava napredak. Slijedom toga u poslovanje javne uprave uz primjenu informacijskih tehnologija, postepeno treba uvoditi timski rad. Višerazinsku hijerarhiju u odlučivanju radi jednostavnosti i učinkovitosti u postupanju treba zamijeniti odlučivanjem na operativnoj razini. Autori predlažu konkretne mjere u postupku odlučivanja o davanju koncesije, uvođenjem kriterija kvalitete (razina uspješnosti), što uključuje i poslovno komuniciranje. Naglasak je na uvođenju Sustava za podršku odlučivanju (SPO), kao rješenja za povećanje funkcionalnosti u procesu gospodarenja i upravljanja pomorskim dobrom, te korištenje Geografskih informacijskih sustava (GIS).The paper aims at giving a clear and systematic presentation of the new Concessions Act, with the emphasis on the maritime domain concessions. The basic changes of the Act refer to a different regulation of the concession granting procedure, which further significantly reflects on the efficiency of the concession awarding process. Certain provisions slow down the decision-making process and extend the competent jurisdiction to a number of ministries, and giving the Ministry of Finances a higher competence in the concession award system. The authors analyse the reasons for passing the Act in view of the fact that the compliance of national acts and regulations with their EU counterparts should not be done hastily. Legal regulations adopted in such a way question the efficiency of the concession system by prolonging the procedure period as the main factor of evaluation and of the efficient managing of the maritime domain and decrease the importance of decentralising the public administration. The public administration in Croatia is characterised by an authoritative management and conventional information flow. Because of the significance that the sea and coastal resources have for an efficient and sustainable economic development, such type of management, with permanent modifications of the law, often impede the progress. It is, therefore, necessary to phase in a team work and apply information technologies into the operations of the public administration. In order to make the procedures simpler and more efficient, the multi-level hierarchy in decision-making should be replaced by a decision-making process at an operational level. The authors have proposed concrete measures to be applied in the procedure of granting concessions by introducing quality criteria (level of successfulness), which also includes business communications. The emphasis has been given to the introduction of the Decision-making Support System process, as a solution for increasing the functionality in managing the maritime domain and for using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Methodology for the Assessment of Multi-Hazard Risk in Urban Homogenous Zones

The multi-hazard risk assessment of urban areas represents a comprehensive approach that can be used to reduce, manage and overcome the risks arising from the combination of different natural hazards. This paper presents a methodology for multi-hazard risk assessment based on Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Making. The PROMETHEE method was used to assess multi-hazard risks caused by seismic, flood and extreme sea waves impact. The methodology is applied for multi-hazard risk evaluation of the urban area of Kaštel Kambelovac, located on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea. The settlement is placed in a zone of high seismic risk with a large number of old stone historical buildings which are vulnerable to the earthquakes. Being located along the low-lying coast, this area is also threatened by floods due to climate change-induced sea level rises. Furthermore, the settlement is exposed to flooding caused by extreme sea waves generated by severe wind. In the present contribution, the multi-hazard risk is assessed for different scenarios and different levels, based on exposure and vulnerability for each of the natural hazards and the influence of additional criteria to the overall risk in homogenous zones. Single-risk analysis has shown that the seismic risk is dominant for the whole pilot area. The results of multi-hazard assessment have shown that in all combinations the highest risk is present in the historical part of Kaštel Kambelovac. This is because the historical part is most exposed to sea floods and extreme waves, as well as due to the fact that a significant number of historical buildings is located in this area

Methodology for the Assessment of Multi-Hazard Risk in Urban Homogenous Zones

The multi-hazard risk assessment of urban areas represents a comprehensive approach that can be used to reduce, manage and overcome the risks arising from the combination of different natural hazards. This paper presents a methodology for multi-hazard risk assessment based on Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Making. The PROMETHEE method was used to assess multi-hazard risks caused by seismic, flood and extreme sea waves impact. The methodology is applied for multi-hazard risk evaluation of the urban area of Kaštel Kambelovac, located on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea. The settlement is placed in a zone of high seismic risk with a large number of old stone historical buildings which are vulnerable to the earthquakes. Being located along the low-lying coast, this area is also threatened by floods due to climate change-induced sea level rises. Furthermore, the settlement is exposed to flooding caused by extreme sea waves generated by severe wind. In the present contribution, the multi-hazard risk is assessed for different scenarios and different levels, based on exposure and vulnerability for each of the natural hazards and the influence of additional criteria to the overall risk in homogenous zones. Single-risk analysis has shown that the seismic risk is dominant for the whole pilot area. The results of multi-hazard assessment have shown that in all combinations the highest risk is present in the historical part of Kaštel Kambelovac. This is because the historical part is most exposed to sea floods and extreme waves, as well as due to the fact that a significant number of historical buildings is located in this area