DPSIR Example: Water Management

Benini and colleagues used the DPSIR framework to evaluate indicators associated with shortage of water in the river and the modification of the landscape structure in the Lamone River basin of Northern Italy.

The effect of different management scenarios on the indicators was evaluated using an approach called Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. This allows decision-makers to examine situations where different stakeholders have different concepts of what is important and what outcomes they desire. A software program, called MULINO-Decision Support System, was used by the authors; it adopts DPSIR as a reference framework to integrate socio-economic and ecological modeling techniques.

Benini, L., V. Bandini, D. Marazza, and A. Contin. 2010. Assessment of land use changes through an indicator-based approach: A case study from the Lamone river basin in Northern Italy. Ecological Indicators 10:4-14