Speaker
Description
Agroecological transitions require public and private decision-makers to design support schemes for environmental innovations before their long-term ecological outcomes are measurable. Agroforestry is a typical example: despite recognised benefits, it remains underrepresented in France, accounting for 1% of the utilised agricultural area. Young agroforestry systems are heterogeneous and their ecological functions are still developing, making performance difficult to assess through established quantitative indicators.
This contribution proposes a participatory Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) framework for territorial planning of agroforestry development under imperfect knowledge. Conducted in southwestern France within the AC²TION project, the study involved 33 young agroforestry systems across a large rural territory. ELECTRE Tri-C assigned systems to ordered performance categories to provide advice and policy support. The evaluation model was co-constructed with stakeholders and integrates seven socio-agroecological criteria: functional biodiversity, resilience of farming practices, tree and shrub management, landscape amenities, access to knowledge and technical guidance, additional workload, and pedoclimatic suitability.
The framework explicitly addresses three manifestations of imperfect knowledge common in environmental decision-aiding: the lack of stabilised benchmarks for emerging practices, the predominance of qualitative and ordinal information, and the need to avoid full compensation between ecological, agronomic, and operational dimensions. Instead of producing a single synthetic score, ELECTRE Tri-C makes heterogeneous performance profiles visible and helps distinguish systems requiring management or advisory support from those constrained by local pedoclimatic conditions.
Applied to 33 young agroforestry systems, the framework illustrates their assignment to ordered performance categories, with many intermediate profiles reflecting their transitional nature. Beyond the case study, it contributes to MCDA applications in sustainable environmental planning by showing how MCDA methods embedded in a participatory process can provide transparent, legitimate, and context-sensitive decision support under imperfect ecological knowledge. It offers a basis for moving from uniform support policies towards targeted, evidence-informed, and territorially differentiated agroecological transition strategies.
| Keywords | Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding; ELECTRE Tri-C; Agroecological transition; Agroforestry systems; Environmental planning; Participatory decision support; Imperfect knowledge; Territorial governance |
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| Participation in the SNSF Early-Stage Researcher Support and Award Scheme | I am submitting a regular presentation and would like to participate in the SNSF Early-Stage Researcher Support and Award Scheme. |