Environ Monit Assess DOI 10.1007/s10661-009-0873-1 A DSS for sustainable development and environmental protection of agricultural regions Basil D. Manos · Jason Papathanasiou · Thomas Bournaris · Kostas Voudouris Received: 11 September 2008 / Accepted: 10 March 2009 © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009 Abstract This paper presents a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable development and environmental protection of agricultural regions developed in the framework of the Interreg- Archimed project entitled WaterMap (develop- ment and utilization of vulnerability maps for the monitoring and management of groundwater re- sources in the ARCHIMED areas). Its aim is to optimize the production plan of an agricultural region taking in account the available resources, the environmental parameters, and the vulnera- bility map of the region. The DSS is based on an optimization multicriteria model. The spatial integration of vulnerability maps in the DSS en- ables regional authorities to design policies for optimal agricultural development and groundwa- ter protection from the agricultural land uses. The DSS can further be used to simulate different scenarios and policies by the local stakeholders due to changes on different social, economic, and environmental parameters. In this way, they can achieve alternative production plans and agricul- tural land uses as well as to estimate economic, social, and environmental impacts of different policies. The DSS is computerized and supported B. D. Manos (B ) · J. Papathanasiou · T. Bournaris · K. Voudouris Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece e-mail: manosb@agro.auth.gr by a set of relational databases. The correspond- ing software has been developed in a Microsoft Windows XP platform, using Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Access, and the LINDO library. For demonstration reasons, the paper includes an application of the DSS in a region of Northern Greece. Keywords Decision support systems · Multicriteria mathematical programming · Sustainable development · Environmental management · Vulnerability maps Introduction Decision support systems Decision support systems (DSS) are defined as computerized systems, which include models and databases and are used in the decision-making process. They are “tools” that help decision mak- ers in the procedure of decision-making and in choosing the best (economic, social, or environ- mental) alternative solution. Several scientific sectors support their develop- ment and constitute the necessary background for the effective planning of decision support systems. The Science of Informatics has contributed in the planning and applications of decision support systems with the supply of tools, material, and