Managing sustainable development through goal programming model and satisfaction functions

Managing the sustainable development path of a nation requires the aggregation of incommensurable and conflicting objectives related to economic, environmental and social dimensions. Their aggregation requires some tradeoffs from stakeholders with different priorities and preferences. The aim of this paper is to develop a multiple objectives decision aid model where stakeholders’ preferences are explicitly integrated within a group decision-making process based on consensus and tradeoffs. This model is based on the concept of the satisfaction function, where stakeholders’ preferences are explicitly taken into consideration. The developed model is illustrated through an example related to the Canadian 2030 agenda for sustainable development.