Transactional Environmental Support System Design: Global Solutions

Designing a Transactional Environmental Support System grew from the desire to allow citizens to exchange knowledge on local land and animals for the purpose of learning how to increase their sustainability in regards to biodiversity and livelihood. Transactional Environmental Support System Design: Global Solutions details the results of this project ranging from studies done in small, local communities to those done in much larger national settings. Survey results of government practices, availability of decision support software, and community responses to data recording are all highlighted in this emerging research. Additionally, the book goes on to emphasize the increasing potential for environmental decision support while directly addressing some of the challenges that must be overcome.

Jason Papathanasiou is a full time lecturer at the department of Marketing and Operations Management, University of Macedonia, Greece. He holds a Ph.D. in Operational Research and Informatics and a degree in Physics, both from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has worked for a number of years as an adjunct lecturer at the Technical Institute of Technology in Thessaloniki and on the Universities of Macedonia and Western Macedonia teaching courses like Computer Applications Programming, Web Programming and Operational Research. He has organized and participated in a number of international scientific conferences and workshops and has published papers in international scientific peer referred journals like the Journal of Environmental Management, Regional Studies, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, the Journal of Policy Modeling and the European Journal of Operational Research. He has also participated as a researcher and as a member of the coordination team in many national and international research projects.

Basil Manos has been holding teaching and research positions in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) since 1976. He is a Professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics of School of Agriculture and Director of the Laboratory of Agricultural Informatics of this School. His research interests are in Operational Research models in Agriculture, Decision Support Systems, Regional Planning, Sustainability and Efficiency, Environmental Management. Professor Manos holds B.S. degrees in Mathematics and Economics from AUTH, a M.Sc. degree in Operational Research from the London School of Economics, and a Ph. D. in Agricultural Economics from AUTH. He has published papers in European Journal of Operational Research, Interfaces, Journal of Environmental Management, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Regional Studies, Journal of Policy Modeling, Water policy, Supply Chain Management-An International Journal, British Food Journal etc. He has conducted research in many National and EU funded projects, coordinating some of them, since 1976.

Stratos Arampatzis is an environmental management and project management consultant. He holds a Master's Degree in Environmental Management from Duke University, NC, USA, and a B.Sc. in Biology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. He is the research manager of Tero Ltd, a private research and development consultancy in Thessaloniki, Greece. His research interests include environment and development, sustainable use of biodiversity resources, policy impact assessment, political economy and collective action. His experience includes research posts in the University of Bonn, Germany and in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, as well as lecturing in environmental management in Greek organisations. He has participated in more than 40 European and national research projects, having Project Management responsibilities for 10 of them.

Robert Kenward grew up on a farm in southern England, where he gained an interest in nature leading to a zoology degree at Oxford University, then a doctorate on predation by raptors. That study and subsequent work in Sweden involved radio-tagging, leading to further work in Canada, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, with teaching in many other countries, and the founding of companies making equipment and software for animal tracking. Early papers on conservation by falconers resulted in engagement with conservation governance internationally, and to leaving a career in Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, as director for technology transfer, in order to work through IUCN on establishing better knowledge tools for managing natural resources. Becoming Science Supervisor for the TESS project was a further step along that road.