An Integrated Use of Decision Aid Tools to Organise and Communicate Knowledge in a Complex Socio-Economic Context

DIKEDOC (DIspersed KnowledgE: Describe, Organise, Communicate) is the acronym of a knowledge-based methodology that is applied to a confused set of knowledge pieces, from different sources, that risk vanishing, in order to pass from this state of dispersed knowledge to a dynamic synthesis, which is then translated into analytical models. The stimulus of this methodological proposal was generated from a question posed by one of the stakeholders involved in the long and complex decision process that resulted in the inclusion of the “Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century” site in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018. The enhancement of the site is a complex process because buildings, urban areas and infrastructures in the site need important interventions, as well as the site inclusion in the WHL represents a great opportunity to reactivate the fragile socio-economic context of Ivrea and its surrounding municipalities. This process is latent and its activation requires a new decision aid perspective to guide an incremental development of knowledge, to identify and control uncertainties and to foster relationships that can produce decisions. A synthetic description of DIKEDOC is proposed in the paper. The dispersed knowledge to be used in the site enhancement process is presented, together with the conducted pilot study, which proposed a logical and analytical “description” of the space of action and its uncertainties, in relation to different policies and enhancement projects. Some comments on the pilot study and its results are synthesised in the conclusions.