DIKEDOC: a multicriteria methodology to organise and communicate knowledge

DIKEDOC is a knowledge-based multicriteria methodology that is here proposed to organise dispersed knowledge about a complex problem when a decision process has not yet been activated, or is latent, and to generate an interaction space that produces new knowledge. An integrated use of logical and analytical tools is proposed, first for use at a technical level to organise any dispersed knowledge in a way that generates insights that can be communicated, and then in a participative context, to create an opportunity to interact, share personal points of view and experiences and to explore spaces of action, where such tools facilitate understanding, criticism and proposals. A pilot study was developed, by an interdisciplinary research team, in relation to the enhancement process of the “Ivrea, industrial city of the twentieth century” UNESCO site, which still needs to be activated after a long and complex decision process that led to the inclusion of the site in the World Heritage List. Several research activities and enhancement projects have been developed in the last few years, but a series of critical conditions have limited their implementation. A new perspective is now necessary to identify and control the uncertainties that have emerged, guide the incremental development of knowledge and foster relationships, decisions and policies. The paper presents DIKEDOC, a new knowledge organisation and problem description methodology, and the conducted pilot study, which led to the proposal of a constructive vision of decision aiding that logically and analytically “described” the space of action and its uncertainties.