Abstract Summary
The transition to a water-smart economy and society requires robust decision-support frameworks that integrate sustainability impact assessment with actionable strategies for practitioners. As European policies drive the decarbonization of industrial clusters to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, identifying viable transition pathways becomes imperative. Industries are under increasing pressure to set ambitious sustainability agendas, but the complexity of choosing the right interventions often results in delays in decision-making. Industrial stakeholders must navigate a complex landscape of circularity, water, and energy investments while ensuring that decisions align with long-term sustainability goals and avoid costly missteps. A key challenge lies in equipping decision-makers with the right tools to balance cost, risk, and sustainability impact while ensuring a just and efficient energy transition. Addressing this challenge, WEI is developing a Decision Support Tool (DST) tailored for the industrial cluster in the port of Rotterdam. This DST will aid in the systematic evaluation of decarbonization strategies, particularly focusing on waste heat recovery, electrification of industrial processes, and circularity in water and energy use. A participatory approach is central to the tool’s development, ensuring that local stakeholders, including industries, policymakers, and researchers, are actively engaged. The Community of Practice established under the WATER-MINING project is playing a crucial role in data collection and stakeholder collaboration, fostering knowledge exchange and co-creation of sustainability solutions. This engagement will enhance the DST’s applicability, ensuring that it aligns with the operational realities and strategic priorities of industrial actors. To further support decision-making, WEI is currently implementing the Best-Worst Method (BWM), a mainstream Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Method (MCDM). The utilization of BWM enables the evaluation of alternatives based on criteria weights that reflect the interests and strategies of the involved stakeholders. This highly participatory approach ensures that the preferences and priorities of stakeholders are accurately captured and integrated into the decision framework. To accommodate the real-world dynamism, the developed framework's modular design allows for incorporating additional alternatives and criteria, making it adaptable to evolving decision contexts. The insights gained from this initiative will contribute to the broader discussions in this session by offering a tangible example of how sustainability impact assessment can inform smart decision-making.
