Improving Environmental Decision-making: Bridging the Gap between Conceptual Modelling and Quantitative Analyses with Quasta

With regard to environmental decision-making, the field of conceptual modelling is primarily focused on representation and visualisation. As such, the ‘soft’ problem structuring methods have limited analytical value. On the other hand, quantitative analyses with various types of ‘hard’ models lack in flexibility and versatility. The Quasta approach as presented in this paper aims to bridge the gap between soft and hard systems by allowing qualitative analysis on the basis of a purely conceptual model. The method can be used to identify the key elements to be modelled in a quantitative system, in order to address the problems as captured in the conceptual model.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ER
• Authors: Frank van Kouwen, Carel Dieperink, Paul P. Schot, Martin J. Wassen
• Keywords: Conceptual Model, Conceptual Modelling, ER 2007, Problem Structuring Methods