J. Erickson T. Noordewier A. Sheldon M. Kline C. Hermans 2007 <div id="abstracts" class="Abstracts u-font-gulliver text-s"><div id="aep-abstract-id23" class="abstract author"><div id="aep-abstract-sec-id24"><p>Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) provides a well-established family of decision tools to aid stakeholder groups in arriving at collective decisions. MCDA can also function as a framework for the social learning process, serving as an educational aid in decision problems characterized by a high level of public participation. In this paper, the framework and results of a structured decision process using the outranking MCDA methodology preference ranking organization method of enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE) are presented. PROMETHEE is used to frame multi-stakeholder discussions of river management alternatives for the Upper White River of Central Vermont, in the northeastern United States. Stakeholders met over 10 months to create a shared vision of an ideal river and its services to communities, develop a list of criteria by which to evaluate river management alternatives, and elicit preferences to rank and compare individual and group preferences. The MCDA procedure helped to frame a group process that made stakeholder preferences explicit and substantive discussions about long-term river management possible.</p></div></div></div> application/pdf 10.1016/j.jenvman.2006.07.013 en Elsevier Collaborative environmental planning in river management: An application of multicriteria decision analysis in the White River Watershed in Vermont article