Integrated Spatial Assessment (ISA): A Multi-Methodological Approach for Planning Choices

In decision-making processes for urban planning and design, evaluation can be considered a relevant tool to build choices, to recognize values, interests and needs, and to explore the different aspects that can influence decisions. Evaluation can be considered a process to integrate approaches, methods and models, able to support the different needs of the decision-making process itself. According to Trochim and Donnelly (2006), it is possible to define a planning-evaluation cycle with various phases requested by both planners and evaluators. The first phase of such a cycle, the so-called planning phase, is designed in order to elaborate a set of potential actions, programs, or technologies, and select the best ones for implementation. The main stages are related to (1) the formulation of the problem, issue, or concern; (2) the broad conceptualization of the main alternatives to be considered; (3) the detailing of these alternatives and their potential implications; (4) the evaluation of the alternatives and the selection of the preferable one; and (5) the implementation of the selected alternative. These stages are considered inherent to planning, but they need a relevant evaluation work, useful in conceptualization and detailing, and in assessing alternatives and making a choice of the preferable one. The evaluation phase also involves a sequence of stages that includes: (1) the formulation of the major goals and objectives; (2) the conceptualization and operationalization of the major components of the evaluation (program, participants, setting, criteria, measures, etc.); (3) the design of the evaluation, detailing how these components will be coordinated; the analysis of the information, both qualitative and quantitative; and (4) the utilization of the evaluation results. Indeed, evaluation is intrinsic to all types of decision-making and can take different meanings and roles within decision-making processes, especially if it is related to spatial planning (Alexander, 2006). ”Evaluation in planning” or ”evaluation within planning” seems to better interpret the concept of planning-evaluation proposed by Lichfield (1996) where the binomial name makes explicit the close interaction and reciprocal framing of evaluation and planning: evaluation is conceived as deeply embedded in planning, affecting planning, and evolving with it (Cerreta, 2010). Indeed, the evolution of evaluation methods reflects their evolving relationship with the planning process and the way in which they interact with the diversity and multiplicity of domains and values. To identify an analytic and evaluative structure able to integrate different purposes and multidimensional values within the decision-making processes means to develop evaluation frameworks not focusing only on the environmental, social and economic effects of different options, but also considering the nature of the stakes, selecting priorities and values in a multidimensional perspective. It is crucial to structure complex decision-making processes oriented to an integrated planning, that can support the selection, the monitoring and the management of different resources, and the interaction among decision-makers, decision-takers, stakeholders and local community

Strategic Environmental Assessment of Port Plans in Italy: Experiences, Approaches, Tools

Evaluation is increasingly important in decision-making processes for the sustainable planning and design of port plans. It acts as a support for plan preparation, for making values, interests and needs explicit, and for exploring the components of the decision-making process itself. Evaluation can be likened to an "implicit tool" that can integrate approaches, methodologies and models, adapting to the many needs revealed during the decision-making process. New sustainability challenges call for new approaches to creating frameworks for the analysis and evaluation of plans and projects that allow the integration of multidimensional goals and values. Utilizing some selected case studies of port plans in six Italian cities, this paper explores how environmental assessment can become a tool for dialog and interaction among different fields of expertise to support dynamic learning processes, knowledge management and the creation of shared choices, using suitable approaches and tools. In this view, Integrated Spatial Assessment (ISA) can be useful in supporting decision-making processes on different scales and institutional levels to stimulate dialog between technical and political evaluations, referring to complex values that are part of conflicting and changing realities in which it has become imperative to operate according to sustainability principles

ntegrated Spatial Assessment: a Multidimensional Approach for Sustainable Planning

EnThe paper presents the different steps of a multidimensional methodological approach for supporting the construction of planning choices, starting from the concept of “integrated assessment”. The integration among Problem Structuring Methods, Public Participation, GIS, Multicriteria and Multigroups Decision Support Systems and Geographic Information Systems identifies a decision-making process explored for the transformation strategies definition in the spatial planning field according to sustainable and complex values

Process innovations for the digitalization of public procurement: synergies between BIM and multi-criteria analysis

The aim of this paper is to identify the potential for integration, within BIM approach, the multi-criteria evaluation methods to improve the effectiveness of the award process of tendering, by defining an alternative method to more traditional procedures. To reach this aim four public procurement have been analyzed for the construction of educational facilities in the Metropolitan City of Naples. It was later represented the procedure of one of the four contracts previously analyzed, through the synergy of building information modeling and PROMETHEE method. The study has identified interesting results in relation to the objectives of speeding up the phase of evaluation and preparation of the final ranking, as well as of the transparency of this phase

Evaluation of Urban Processes on Health in Historic Urban Landscape Approach: Experimentation in the Metropolitan Area of Naples (Italy)

Purpose: Experimentally apply the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) to the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach according to the socio-ecological model of the World Health Organisation (WHO), where health is defined as "a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not simply the absence of disease and illness" (1986).Methodology/Approach: The methodology considers the application of HIA, a multi-criteria evaluation approach capable of organising knowledge concerning the effects that projects, plans and programmes impose upon the wellbeing/health of an urban community. The case study is the metropolitan area of Naples and it considers a system of evaluation to support the drafting of the new instrument for the territorial governance: the Territorial Metropolitan Plan.Findings: The research has developed through the identification of the "social determinants of health" and in the construction of a set of indicators implemented in a Geographic Information System (GIS), able to identify and to cartographically represent homogeneous landscape units of health.Research Limitation/implication: The virtuous connection between health and conservation, proposed in the method applied to the case study, is completely experimental because there are no other similar experiences in literature.Originality/Value of paper: The paper opens a prospect of research for the better understanding of spatial phenomena, creating new tools based on new technologies

towards a local comprehensive productive development strategy a methodological proposal for the metropolitan city of naples

Purpose: Identify homogeneous areas for metropolitan cities in order to activate a new governance based on territorial synergistic and symbiotic conditions, thus increasing multidimensional territorial productive processes through spatial planning.Methodology/Approach: The adopted methodology aimed at structuring a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) through three main phases: 1) Selection of criteria and indicators; 2) Statistical implementation procedures; 3) Multi-criteria evaluation.Findings: Experimentation of a useful procedure for supporting the elaboration of strategic metropolitan plans oriented to development strategies for achieving a comprehensive territorial productivity. The obtained results can support the selection of territorial opportunities able to integrate complementary local resources and to activate synergies and symbiosis among them, combining tangible and intangible components.Research Limitation/implication: The research is the first step of a more general study that will be improved with the availability of more data, especially with reference to the industrial and economic processes.Originality/Value of paper: Proposal of an approach based on a complete integration between Geographic Information System, Multivariate Analysis and Multi-Criteria Evaluation in order to improve the governance of metropolitan cities

Mass and charge identification of fragments detected with the Chimera Silicon-CsI(Tl) telescopes

Mass and charge identification of charged products detected with Silicon-CsI(Tl) telescopes of the Chimera apparatus is presented. An identification function, based on the Bethe-Bloch formula, is used to fit empirical correlation between Delta E and E ADC readings, in order to determine, event by event, the atomic and mass numbers of the detected charged reaction products prior to energy calibration.Comment: 24 pages, 7 .jpg figures, submitted to Nucl.Instr.

Reshaping ophthalmology training after COVID-19 pandemic

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on practical activities and didactic teaching of residents and fellows. This survey aimed to propose long-term changes for ophthalmology training based on the changes experienced by trainees and their perception of new training opportunities. Methods An online survey was distributed to ophthalmology trainees in multiple countries. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Results A total of 504 analyzable responses were collected from 32 different countries. The current impact of COVID-19 pandemic was described as "severe" by most trainees (55.2%); however, the future perspective was more optimistic as demonstrated by the greater number of responses reporting a presumed "moderate" (37.3%), "mild" (14.1%) or "slight" (4.2%) long-term impact. The vast majority of trainees reported a decrease >= 50% of clinical activity (76.4%) and >75% of surgical activity (74.6%). Although an initial gap in didactic teaching has been experienced by many (55.4%), regular web-based teaching was reportedly attended by 67.7% of the respondents. A strong agreement was found regarding the worthwhile role of web-based case-presentations in clinical training (91.7%), web-based discussion of edited surgical videos (85.7%) and simulation-based practice (86.9%) in surgical training. Conclusions This survey, focusing on trainees' perspective, strongly reinforces the need to promptly include new technology-based training tools, such as web-based teaching, virtual surgical simulators, and telementoring, in long-term reorganisation of ophthalmology training to ensure its continuity and effectiveness, which would remain available even in the face of another unpredictable crisis within the health system

Reshaping ophthalmology training after COVID-19 pandemic

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on practical activities and didactic teaching of residents and fellows. This survey aimed to propose long-term changes for ophthalmology training based on the changes experienced by trainees and their perception of new training opportunities. Methods: An online survey was distributed to ophthalmology trainees in multiple countries. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Results: A total of 504 analyzable responses were collected from 32 different countries. The current impact of COVID-19 pandemic was described as “severe” by most trainees (55.2%); however, the future perspective was more optimistic as demonstrated by the greater number of responses reporting a presumed “moderate” (37.3%), “mild” (14.1%) or “slight” (4.2%) long-term impact. The vast majority of trainees reported a decrease ≥50% of clinical activity (76.4%) and >75% of surgical activity (74.6%). Although an initial gap in didactic teaching has been experienced by many (55.4%), regular web-based teaching was reportedly attended by 67.7% of the respondents. A strong agreement was found regarding the worthwhile role of web-based case-presentations in clinical training (91.7%), web-based discussion of edited surgical videos (85.7%) and simulation-based practice (86.9%) in surgical training. Conclusions: This survey, focusing on trainees’ perspective, strongly reinforces the need to promptly include new technology-based training tools, such as web-based teaching, virtual surgical simulators, and telementoring, in long-term reorganisation of ophthalmology training to ensure its continuity and effectiveness, which would remain available even in the face of another unpredictable crisis within the health systempublishersversionPeer reviewe