Modelling the Ecosphere by the Structured Aggregation Procedure

Abstract

While Chapter 3 described the model of the valuesphere, this one will discuss, explore, and finally describe how the ecosphere is to be modelled. After a specification of the problem setting, we propose to model the sphere by the three different aspects ‘damage’, ‘unknown damage’ and ‘manageability’ (Section 4.2). For each of them, a separate structure will be suggested which leads through aggregation to an index (Sections 4.3 to 4.5). As already argued in Section 2.1, the ecosphere can only be modelled by assuming an underlying valuesphere. Therefore, the relevance of the three indices depends on the cultural perspective adopted. The value choices within the single indices are suggested separately for each cultural perspective. An overview of the whole structured aggregation procedure is provided in Section 4.6. The prescriptions for the final rules of composition and aggregation have to be seen as preliminary at this stage of their development. Empirical work with decision makers may well alter the results of this last step.