The course deals with the various aspects related to the broad issue of information and data for decision-making in the context of environmental and natural resources management. It covers aspects related to the provision of new data and information (increasing information density) inter alia by means of Geographic Information Systems, expert systems and multi-criteria evaluation, and means and tools, such as indicators and the Internet to communicate new and existing information to various types of end users, ranging from the general public via scientists to the decision-makers (increasing information accessibility).
The course will devote much time and emphasis to GIS through a number of compulsory exercises that demonstrate how this particular tool together with others related can be applied to derive new, relevant information within various planning and management contexts.