proplanet.uni-oldenburg.de (link offline)

Prof Dr Jorge Marx Gómez

Dipl.-Inform. Nils Giesen, Dipl.-Inform. Daniel Süpke

In recent years, a clear trend can be recognised that has brought the term "sustainability" ever further into the focus of political and economic activity. Entrepreneurial activity is characterised by capital and human resources and the resources of the ecological environment.

This development results from the entrepreneurial activities of companies, which, in addition to a large number of capital and human resources, also require large quantities of natural resources. However, it is precisely these (finite) resources that are naturally limited by the environment, which makes careful handling necessary. Otherwise, this would result in the deprivation of the basis for economic activity. The concept of sustainability addresses precisely this challenge. However, the following commonality can be recognised in the definitional diversity of the concept of sustainability: The common feature of all sustainability definitions is the preservation of a system or certain characteristics of a system, be it the production capacity of the social system or the life-sustaining ecological system. In other words, something should always be preserved for the benefit of future generations."

The concept of sustainability is divided into three dimensions and considers economic, ecological and social aspects in a spatial and temporal context. Society is forcing the private and public sector to evaluate projects and planning plans with a social impact in a sustainable manner, taking into account the above-mentioned dimensions and strictly adhering to various criteria. For this purpose, an internet-based software based on Web 2.0 techniques is being developed for use in planning projects and projects throughout Germany and Europe. In addition to project planning with the involvement of the public, a decision support system (EUS) will also be implemented.

The project system should provide a rich functionality that automatically makes different planning variations and alternatives available to the public and the decision-maker(s) in the form of standardised reports and visual representations. The aim is to involve the public and all stakeholders in the decision-making process via Web 2.0 functionalities. All interested parties can thus participate in the course and outcome of the decision development process and thus help to shape planning through eParticipation.

The EUS is being expanded to include a geographic information system (GIS), which creates a link between regions and statistical data. The content and data are prepared for numerical and graphical visualisation with the help of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA).

ProPlaNET is intended to provide project planning and decision support based on sustainable aspects, which considers projects with their project alternatives taking into account social, economic and ecological impacts and presents them in a comprehensible manner in conjunction with the public.