1. Defining the problem
From COST Action FP0804: FORSYS
The tasks involved in this phase are
1. Identification of stakeholders
- It means finding out who are affected by the decisions, and who should therefore be involved.
2. Knowledge gathering and sharing
- It means e.g. that some participative GIS/KM tools are used for gathering local or expert knowledge and sharing it with other stakeholders. It could be the effect of a given use of forests on the criteria (see Mustajoki et al. 2011), the location of certain important places (Kangas et al. 2008, Nordström et al. 2010).
3. Formulating criteria
- It means e.g. cognitive mapping tools that can be used to clarify the goals the stakeholders have (E.g. Tikkanen et al. 2007)
4. Definition of criteria
- It means, for instance, that measurable indicators for the criteria are defined (e.g. Mendoza & Prabhu)
5. Eliciting preferences
- It can mean using MCA tools for evaluating the criteria and indicators (Kangas et al. 2008).