An optimisation-based environmental decision support system for sustainable development in a rural area in China

Sustainable development has been widely recognised as an effective means for harmonising human society and natural systems. However, achieving the goal of sustainability is difficult since many conflicting factors have to be balanced due to the complexities of real-world problems. Previously, many efforts have been made to clarify the concept of sustainable development and to develop related theoretical and practical tools. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of effective methods that can integrate optimisation of resources allocation and visualisation of spatial and temporal dimensions of socio-economic and environmental interactions within a general framework. In this study, an optimisation-based environmental decision support system (EDSS) was developed for supporting sustainable rural development. The system included a dynamic database system, a graphical user interface, and a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model. Yongxin County, located in Jiangxi Province, China, was chosen as the study case for applying the proposed EDSS. The county has encountered problems of serious conflicts among rapid economic development, ecological destruction and environmental deterioration. The study results demonstrated that EDSS could help analyse the complex relationships among multiple socio-economic and environmental factors, and provide recommendations of scientific management strategies for achieving local sustainability.