The role of performance indicators in OPTAIN

In OPTAIN we aim at creating a list of tailored and case -specific performance indicators that will help to evaluate the effectiveness of NSWRM monitored (existing measures) and modelled (potential future measures) in the CSs. They will also help to further explore the effect of potential combinations of measures realized through the modelling exercises in WP 4 and 5. In particular, PIs are used to support OPTAINs harmonized approach by establishing a common language across project members and activities and to favour the understanding and the comparison of modelling results across case study sites.  Performance indicators in fact constitute the key elements upon which all the modelling exercises are based and are fundamental for the development of OPTAINs multi-objective optimization process (WP5) (Figure 3). In this example the PIs are low flow, agricultural gross margins, implementation costs, and nitrate load. PIs represent the multiple case-specific environmental and economic objectives that will feed the multi-objective optimisation platform CoMOLA (Strauch et al., 2019; Verhagen et al., 2018), used to search for optimal NSWRMs allocation and combination schemes.