Using participatory multi-criteria assessments for assessing disaster risk reduction measures

This paper introduces a participatory Multi-Criteria Assessment (MCA) methodology developed through the Resilience Increasing Strategies for Coasts – Toolkit (RISC-KIT) project and implemented in nine case studies in Europe. The purpose of the MCA was to bridge the disciplinary divide between engineering sciences and social sciences, facilitate the communication and dissemination of local coastal risk assessments and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) measures' evaluation to a broad range of actors. The process addressed the importance of integrating scientific knowledge with stakeholders’ knowledge to understand and assess the possible social, political and economic implications of different DRR measures, which could foster or hinder successful implementation. The paper discusses the methodological aspects and implementation of the approach which included visualizing risk reduction of DRR measures using paper-based cards to support interaction and negotiation among participants to select preferred strategic alternatives (SA), and a participatory MCA where stakeholders evaluated the SA against three (self-weighted) criteria: feasibility, acceptability and sustainability.