The research project entitled "The use of GIS-based multi-criteria analysis to support decision-making in spatial planning in order to improve flood risk management" is being carried out under the supervision of Dr Karol Mrozik from the Poznań University of Life Sciences and is financed by a grant awarded by the National Science Centre (agreement no. 2011/ 01/B/HS4/03298). Dr Piotr Idczak from the Department of European Studies at the Poznań University of Economics is a member of the research team in the role of principal investigator. The research team also includes Prof. Czesław Przybyła, PhD, Eng., from the Poznań University of Life Sciences.

The project is being implemented between 8 December 2011 and 7 December 2013.

The aim of the project is to assess the possibility of using multi-criteria analysis through geographic information systems (GIS) for spatial planning at local and regional level in order to improve flood risk management. The authors assumed that, depending on the flood risk, specific planning, agrotechnical or technical methods can be applied in a river basin which, by limiting surface runoff and increasing the retention capacity of the basin, can contribute to reducing the flood risk in an economically effective manner, while taking into account the principles of sustainable development and spatial order.