Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Fuzzy Cognitive Maps for Applied Sciences and Engineering pp 355–374Cite as

Understanding Public Participation and Perceptions of Stakeholders for a Better Management in Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (Romania)

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Intelligent Systems Reference Library ((ISRL,volume 54))

Abstract

Community needs ask for local management approaches as a response to the structure and evolution of a specific environment. The importance of managerial ethics in individualizing operational entities in terms of sustainable development of increasingly tense spaces stands for an efficient design of socio-ecological systems, such as Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR). Such an approach helps people gain knowledge, values and the awareness they need to manage efficiently environmental resources and to take responsibility for maintaining environmental quality. This study examines the perceptions of local stakeholders in Sfantu Gheorghe, DDBR, Romania, with the aim of developing key concepts that will be used in future information and communication strategies regarding economic characteristics, sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in the area. For this 30 cognitive maps were developed together with stakeholders. Analysis reveals that DDBR Administration, county authorities and local authorities are substantially worried about the pollution and overfishing, while other social groups care more about touristic activities, accessibility degree, health system or financial resources. The lack of coordination and effective policies for the management of different sectors of activities were also identified as a common problem and have accentuated both environmental and socio-economic problems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Axelrod, R.: Structure of decision: the cognitive maps of political elites (Princeton University Press 1976)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bachhofer, M., Wildenberg, M.: FCMapper, http://www.fcmappers.net (2010)

  3. Burns, R.C., Arnberger, A., von Ruschkowski, E.: Social carrying capacity challenges in parks, forests and protected areas. Int. J. Sociol. 40(3), 30–50 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gâstescu, P., Driga, B., Anghel, C.: Çaracteristicile morfohidrologice ale Deltei Dunării ca rezultat al modificărilor naturale si antropice actuale. Caracteristicile morfohidrologice ale Deltei Dunării ca rezultat al modificărilor naturale si antropice actuale. Hidrobiologia. 18 29–43, (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ianos, I., Stoica, V., Tălângă, C., Văidianu, N.: Politics of tourism development in Danube Delta biosphere reserve. In: 12th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference, SGEM2012 Conference Proceedings. 4 1067–1075 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Isak, K.G.Q., Wildenberg, M., Adamescu, M., Skov, F., De Blust, G., Varjopuro, R.: A long-term biodiversity. manual for applying fuzzy cognitive mapping—experiences from ALTER-Net, ecosystem and awareness research network (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kafetzis, A., McRoberts, N., Mouratiadou, I.: Using fuzzy cognitive maps to support the analysis of stakeholders’ views of water resource use and water quality policy In: Glykas, M. (ed.). Fuzzy cognitive maps: advances in theory, methodologies, tools and applications. pp. 383–402. Springer, Heidelberg (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Khan, M.S., Bhagwat, S.A.: Protected areas: a resource or constraint for local people? a study at Chitral Gol national park, North-West Frontier Province. Pak. Mt. Res. Dev. 30(1), 14–24 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kok, K.: The potential of fuzzy cognitive maps for semi-quantitative scenario development, with an example from Brazil. Glob. Environ. Change 19(1), 122–133 (2009)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. Kontogianni, A., Papageorgiou, E., Salomatina, L., Skourtos, M., Zanou, B.: Risks for the black sea marine environment as perceived by Ukrainian stakeholders: a fuzzy cognitive mapping application. Ocean Coast. Manag. 62, 34–42 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kontogianni, A.D., Papageorgiou, E.I., Tourkolias, C. How do you perceive environmental change? fuzzy cognitive mapping informing stakeholder analysis for environmental policy making and non-market valuation. Appl. Soft. Comput. Press (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Kosko, B.: Fuzzy cognitive maps. Int. J. Man Mach. Stud. 24, 65–75 (1986)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  13. Lebel, L., Daniel, R., Badenoch, N., Garden, P., Imamura, M.: A multi-level perspective on conserving with communities: experiences from upper tributary watersheds in montane mainland Southeast Asia. Int. J. Commons 2(1), 127–154 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  14. MacLeod, M., Cooper, J.A.G.: In: Schwartz, M.L. (ed.) Carrying Capacity in Coastal Areas by Encyclopedia of Coastal Science, pp. 226. Springer, Dordrecht (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Meliadou, A., Santoro, F., Nader, M.R., Dagher, M.A., Indary, S.A., Salloum, B.A.: Prioritizing coastal zone management issues through fuzzy cognitive mapping approach. J. Environ. Manage. 97, 56–68 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Merciu, F.C., Cercleux, A.L., Peptenatu, D., Văidianu, N., Pintilii, R.D., Draghici, C.: Tourism—an opportunity for the invigoration of rural area’s economy in Romania? Annals of the University of Bucharest—Geography Series LX 75–90 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Mouratiadou, I., Moran, D.: Mapping public participation in the water framework directive: a case study of the Pinios river basin. Greece. Ecol. Econ. 62, 66–76 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Ozesmi, U., Ozesmi, S.: Ecological models based on people’s knowledge: a multi-step fuzzy cognitive mapping approach. Ecol. Model. 176, 43–64 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ozesmi, U.: Ecosystems in the mind: fuzzy cognitive maps of the Kizilirmak delta Wetlands in Turkey (PhD Dissertation titled conservation strategies for sustainable resource use in the Kizilirmak delta - Turkey), University of Minnesota, (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Papageorgiou, E., Kontogianni, A.: Using fuzzy cognitive mapping in environmental decision making and management: a methodological primer and an application. In: Young, S.S., Silvern, S.E (eds.) International Perspectives on Global Environmental Change. pp. 427–450. InTech (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Papageorgiou, E.I., Markinos, A.T., Gemtos, T.A.: Fuzzy cognitive map based approach for predicting yield in cotton crop production as a basis for decision support system in precision agriculture application. Appl. Soft Comput. 11, 3643–3657 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Papageorgiou, E.I.: A review of fuzzy cognitive maps research during the last decade. In: Glykas, M. (eds.) Business Process Management. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol. 444, pp. 281–298. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Peres, C.A., Lake, I.R.: Extent of non-timber resource extraction in tropical forests: accessibility to game vertebrates by hunters in the Amazon basin. Conserv. Biol. 17(2), 521–535 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Perusich, K.: Fuzzy cognitive maps for policy analysis. In: Technology and Society Technical Expertise and Public Decisions, International Symposium Proceedings (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Petrisor, A.I., Ianos, I., Iurea, D., Văidianu, N.: Applications of principal component analysis integrated with GIS. Procedia Environ. Sci. 14, 247–256 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Prato, T.: Fuzzy adaptive management of social and ecological carrying capacities for protected area. J. Environ. Manage. 90, 2551–2557 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Prato, T.: Increasing resilience of natural protected areas to future climate change: a fuzzy adaptive management approach. Ecol. Model. 242, 46–53 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Prigent, M., Fontenelle, G., Rochet, M.J., Trenkel, V.M.: Using cognitive maps to investigate fisher’s ecosystem objectives and knowledge. Ocean Coast. Manag. 51(6), 450–462 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Rao, K.S., Nautiyal, S., Maikhuri, R.K., Saxena, K.G.: Management conflicts in the Nanda Devi biosphere reserve. India. Mt. Res. Dev. 20(4), 320–323 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Salonen, M., Toivonen, T., Cohalan, J.M., Coomes, O.T.: Critical distances: comparing measures of spatial accessibility in the riverine landscapes of Peruvian Amazonia. Appl. Geogr. 32(2), 501–513 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Văidianu, N., Iosub, F.: Implications of accessibility degree in Danube Delta human community. In: Proceedings of CoastGIS 2011: 10th International Symposium on GIS and Computer Mapping for Coastal Zone Management, Subtitle: Marine and Coastal Spatial Planning. Romania, 1, 68–73 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Văidianu, N.: Designing the development of human settlements in a restrictive space: the Danube Delta biosphere reserve (in Romanian). Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Bucharest (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Van Vliet, M., Kok, K., Veldkamp, T.: Linking stakeholders and modelers in scenario studies. the use of Fuzzy cognitive maps as a communication and learning tool. Futures 42(1), 1–14 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Voinov, A., Bousquet, F.: Modelling with stakeholders. Environ. Model. Softw. 25, 1268–1281 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Wildenberg, M., Bachhofer, M., Adamescu, M., De Blust, G., Diaz-Delgadod, R., Isak, K.G.Q., Skov, F., Riku, V.: Linking thoughts to flows: fuzzy cognitive mapping as tool for integrated landscape modeling. In: Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on integrative landscape modeling: linking environmental, social and computer science vol. 3–5 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

NV was supported by the EU in the framework of the POSDRU doctoral project under contract 6/1.5/S/24. MCA was supported by the strategic grant POSDRU/89/1.5/S/58852, Project “Postdoctoral programme for training scientific researchers” cofinanced by the European Social Found within the Sectorial Operational Program Human Resources Development 2007–2013. The authors are grateful to Dr. Ştefan Constantinescu, Dr. Florin Tătui and Dr. Nicoleta Geamănă for their useful comments and discussions during the early stages of this analysis. We also thank all the interviewers without their kindly involvement and answers this research wouldn’t have been possible.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CICADIT, University of Bucharest, 4-12 Regina Elisabeta Blv, 030018 , Bucharest, Romania

    M. N. Văidianu

  2. Department of Systems Ecology and Sustainability, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    M. C. Adamescu

  3. Umweltforschungsinstitut, GLOBAL 2000, Neustiftgasse 36, 1070 , Vienna, Austria

    M. Wildenberg

  4. WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme Romania, Bucharest, Romania

    C. Tetelea

Authors
  1. M. N. Văidianu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. C. Adamescu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Wildenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. C. Tetelea
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. N. Văidianu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Central Greece, Lamia, Greece

    Elpiniki I. Papageorgiou

1 Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (zip 31 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Văidianu, M.N., Adamescu, M.C., Wildenberg, M., Tetelea, C. (2014). Understanding Public Participation and Perceptions of Stakeholders for a Better Management in Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (Romania). In: Papageorgiou, E. (eds) Fuzzy Cognitive Maps for Applied Sciences and Engineering. Intelligent Systems Reference Library, vol 54. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39739-4_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39739-4_19

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-39738-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-39739-4

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation