Empowering Decision-Aiding: Evaluation Approaches to Complexity
Date: 21 – 25 July 2025
Structured decision-aiding is essential for tackling complex problems that involve conflicting factors, interconnected systems, and externalities. This course explores multidisciplinary evaluation approaches and tools for decision-aiding in areas like urban resilience, sustainability, and climate change, fostering skills to manage complexity effectively.
Keywords: Decision-Aiding, Stakeholder Analysis, Multidisciplinary evaluation, Co design, Urban resilience
Location
Piacenza, Italy
Participants
Master Students from the IDEA League Universities:
– Chalmers University of Technology
– ETH Zürich
– Politecnico di Milano
– RWTH Aachen
– TU Delft
Expenses
There are no registration and accommodation fees. Students from IDEA League member universities selected to participate in a summer
school only have to pay for their own travel costs where applicable.
Requirements
-Curriculum vitae & publication list
-Letter of motivation
-Supervisor recommendation (optional)
A structured decision-aiding process is crucial for achieving organizational goals and driving societal progress. Complex decision problems arise from conflicting factors, interrelated subsystems, and externalities, demanding solutions that integrate knowledge from various disciplines. In the context of Decision Aiding, single-criterion approaches are often insufficient, as they neglect important aspects of multifaceted problems. Multicriteria approaches, by contrast, enable comprehensive solutions by considering various perspectives. These tools are particularly effective in areas such as:
– urban regeneration economics
– sustainable communities and social inclusion
– urban resilience and environmental management
– climate change mitigation
– energy efficiency, supply chain management, and more.
These methodologies provide decision-makers with a bridge between understanding complex problems and implementing effective strategies.
Learning Objectives
The course aims to equip students with the tools and frameworks needed to address complexity in decision-aiding through multi-actor and multicriteria approaches. By exploring real-world challenges across diverse domains, students will gain both theoretical and practical insights. The course will provide:
– Fundamental knowledge of decision-aiding theories and tools, focusing on multidisciplinary approaches.
– Practical exercises and case studies to enhance students’ capacity to apply these tools effectively in complex contexts.
Experts with a background in decision science will mentor students throughout the course, ensuring a hands-on learning experience.
IDEA League Network
Researchers from the Idea League Network will join the Summer School to propose case studies/decision problems to students to be analyzed and solved by applying the tools and methodologies learned during the theoretical lectures. Main partners will be Prof. Daniela Maiullari from TU Delft and Prof. Martina Schretzenmayr from ETH Zurich.
Teaching Organization
The course will be organized in Theoretical lectures and Team working sessions. During the lectures main concepts, methodologies and approaches will be explained in order to be applied in the working sessions on a specific case study provided to the students. Students will work in multidisciplinary teams