Summary
Over the last decade, Forest Research (FR) has been involved in numerous projects to develop Decision Support Systems (DSS) for the forestry and land use sectors in Great Britain and Europe.
Many of these have been adopted by the Forestry Commission (FC) and other parts of the forestry sector, and are now integral to the systems of forest management planning and decision making applied throughout Great Britain. However, for some DSS, the level of adoption by potential end users has been lower than expected. This has led to requests to explore ways in which this situation might be improved.
In February 2008 a meeting was hosted by FR, to discuss the production and implementation of a range of DSS that had been developed by FR or were then under development. The meeting involved representatives from relevant sections of the Forestry Commission operating at GB level:
- Forest Research
- Corporate and Forestry Support
- Operational Support Unit
- GB Planners Group
- Forest Management Officers Group
- Learning and Development.
Building on these discussions, in mid-2009 the FR Social and Economic Research Group (SERG) initiated a project which seeks to address the question of how to enhance uptake and usefulness of DSS developed by FR.
Objectives
The aim of the research is to support and enhance the development, uptake and usefulness of existing and new DSS for GB forestry by carrying out social research with end-users and other stakeholders, and identifying areas of potential improvement, with particular focus on DSS developed by FR and commissioned by the Forestry Commission.
Specific objectives are to:
- Improve understanding of the factors affecting DSS uptake, especially those relating to the institutional context in which DSS are developed and applied.
- Use this understanding to learn from experience and inform the future development and implementation of DSS tools.
- Advise on the strategies and processes whereby DSS are conceived, commissioned, developed, implemented and maintained by FC and other forestry sector stakeholders.
Project outputs to date
A scoping study was undertaken between mid-2009 and mid-2010 as a basis for more focused and in-depth social research.
Research for the scoping study involved semi-structured interviews and email correspondence with nine key stakeholders within the Forestry Commission, supplemented by a brief literature review.
Findings indicated that a range of factors influence the uptake of DSS; the quality of stakeholder engagement during DSS development is particularly key and there is a need to focus on the process rather than the product, identify and understand end user needs, and work with end users collaboratively to build trust and credibility.
The report also identified the next steps in taking this research project forward.
Uptake of Decision Support Systems in the Forestry Sector in Great Britain (PDF-655K)
Scoping Report.
Further research and future outputs
Further research will be undertaken in 2011 which will involve semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders across the forestry sector (both public and private).
Respondents will include those who have been involved in different aspects of the conception, commissioning, development, implementation, consolidation, maintenance and use of selected case study DSS, as well as individuals who could potentially use them and other stakeholders who could be influential in terms of their uptake.
A list of potential case study DSS is included in the scoping report and, during the course of the interviews, this list will be refined according to the value of the information being received.
A full report will be produced by late 2011, after which a workshop will be organised which will act as a follow-up to the meeting held in 2008 and will report on and discuss research findings as well as identify next steps.
Funders and partners
This research is part of the current social research programme of Forest Research funded by the Forestry Commission Social Research for Forestry in Sustainable Society programme.
Status
This is a three year project running from 2009 to 2012.
Contact
Amy Stewart
Forest Research
Northern Research Station
Roslin
Midlothian
EH25 9SY
Tel: 0131 445 6951
Email: amy.stewart@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
