Research Proposal: Methodology for Assessment Frameworks in Large-scale Infrastructural Water Projects

Water management is a central and ongoing issue in the Netherlands. Large infrastructural projects are being carried out and planned in a number of water systems. These initiatives operate within a complex web of interactions, between short- and long-term, economic costs and benefits, technical feasibility, environmental impact, national and international policy and regulations, and general public interest. In this PhD-project, we aim at assisting decision-makers in large-scale infrastructural water projects through the complex web of interactions by providing a methodology required to develop and use assessment frameworks (AF’s) for decision-making. In formulating such assessment frameworks we distinguish between process and contents of a framework. The process part describes the process surrounding the development and use of assessment frameworks, where as the contents part of an assessment framework focuses on the (scientific) knowledge and other information that is used in decision-making for water management. The expected result from this PhD-project is a methodology for development and use of AF’s for decision-making in large-scale infrastructural water projects. We aim at providing a tool or a set of guidelines (in Dutch: stappenplan, richtlijnen) for the process as well as the contents of AF´s.