Introduction
From Vision to Practice: Using mDSS to embed the 4 Returns Framework in Lake Restoration
The 4 Returns Framework: a holistic vision for landscape restoration
The 4 Returns Framework (4RF) provides a holistic approach to landscape restoration that integrates ecological, social, and economic dimensions within a shared long-term vision. Central to the 4RF is the engagement of all relevant stakeholders, from land managers and local communities to businesses and environmental organisations, in co-developing a common understanding of the landscape and a collective plan for its regeneration. By guiding this process through four interlinked outcomes – Return of Inspiration, Social Returns, Natural Returns, and Financial Returns – the framework aims to transform degraded landscapes from systems of loss into self-sustaining socio-ecological systems that benefit both people and nature over the long term (for further details, see Commonland, 4-Returns Framework).
Why mDSS is a powerful tool for 4RF implementation
While the 4RF provides a strategic and conceptual foundation for collaborative restoration, its implementation requires practical instruments to structure dialogue, elicit preferences, and build consensus among diverse actors. The mDSS (MULINO Decision Support System) tool is designed precisely for this purpose. It supports participatory and transparent decision-making by combining multi-criteria analysis with intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that allow experts and non-experts alike to explore alternative courses of action. Through the definition of objectives, criteria, weights, and performance indicators, mDSS helps stakeholders visualise trade-offs and co-create ranked packages of actions/solutions that reflect collective priorities. In this way, mDSS operationalises the 4RF by turning the framework’s emphasis on inclusiveness and co-learning into a structured, reproducible process of consensus-building, joint problem exploration and response identification.
Alignment of mDSS with the 4RF 5-element steps
The mDSS approach aligns closely with the five key iterative elements of 4RF implementation: establishing landscape partnerships, developing a shared understanding of the challenges at hand, building a vision and plan, taking collective action, and carrying out monitoring and learning. In particular, mDSS effectively supports the second and third phases (i.e., building a shared understanding and landscape plans) by facilitating the collective identification and evaluation of alternative courses of action. This participatory assessment provides a scientifically robust and socially legitimate basis for subsequent implementation and monitoring steps. By doing so, mDSS bridges the gap between abstract strategic goals and tangible, spatially explicit restoration options, enabling long-term planning beyond traditional project or funding cycles.
Application within EUROLakes: participatory pathways toward the 4 Returns
This integration between the 4RF framework and the mDSS tool is exemplified in the EUROLakes project, which applies science-based and participatory approaches to lake protection and restoration across Europe. Within its demonstration sites – Lake Vico (Italy) and Lake Bistreț (Romania) – mDSS has been tailored to support consensus-driven identification of nature-based solutions (NBS) addressing eutrophication, water quality degradation, erosion, and habitat protection. By facilitating stakeholder dialogue and co-evaluation of alternative restoration strategies, the tool has helped translate the 4RF principles into actionable plans that aim to deliver the four types of returns over time: ecological resilience, social cohesion, local inspiration, and long-term economic value.
Using the 4 Returns Indicator Menu within mDSS
The 4 Returns Indicator Menu provides a structured, practice-oriented set of indicators to monitor landscape restoration.
It groups indicators into themes and sub-themes across the Four Returns (Inspiration, Social, Natural, Financial) and suggests measurement methods, units, and monitoring frequency. To make this resource operational in mDSS, we adapted the menu into a DPSIR (Driving Force – Pressure – State – Impact – Response) framework. This step is essential within mDSS to setup the Concept phase.
This transformation allows users to model cause–effect relationships and to evaluate how management actions may affect ecological and socio-economic outcomes.
How the integration works
- Driving Forces (DF) – broad human or natural activities that trigger change
e.g., annual tourist visits, shoreline development, agricultural expansion - Pressures (P) – specific mechanisms exerted by drivers
e.g., land-use change, nutrient loading, technical innovation - State (S) – current condition of the socio-ecological system
e.g., biodiversity, soil carbon, water clarity, habitat extent - Impacts (I) – consequences for society and ecosystems, often with a value judgment
e.g., erosion damage, bathing restrictions, loss or gain of economic revenue - Responses (R) – measures, investments, or policies aimed at altering drivers, pressures, or impacts
e.g., adoption of conservation practices, cost of alternative measures, regulatory interventions
Each indicator from the 4 Returns menu was reviewed and positioned in one of these DPSI blocks according to its causal role, the R (or responses) have to be uploaded separately in mDSS, therefore, to successfully upload the 4RF Indicator’s Menu, two excel files are required. The mapping contained in the two excel files below, preserve the 4 Returns vision while enabling mDSS to support decision analysis. The original 4RF Excel file was adapted to match the column structure required by mDSS for importing external catalogues. A video tutorial demonstrating how to upload the DPSI indcators and the R indicators as a catalogue in mDSS is available here.
Download the 4RF indicators corresponding to the DPSI categories in mDSS format.
Download the 4RF indicators corresponding to the R (response measures) in mDSS format.
Using EUROlakes indicators within mDSS
The EUROLakes Indicators were developed using the 4 Returns Framework, unlike the 4 Returns Indicators Menu, this list of indicators has been specifically developed for monitoring lake restoration, in particular three natural lakes in Europe — Lake Vico (Italy), Lake Bistret (Romania), and Lake Dümmer (Germany) — serving as demonstration sites within the Horizon-funded EUROLakes project on lake protection and restoration.
The EUROLakes Indicators uses the 4 Returns, to obtain a holistic vision of lake restoration. With such an approach the selected indicators reflect the multi-faceted nature of these three lake systems aka ‘demo sites’ and the communities that depend on them.
The design of the EUROLakes indicator framework follows a set of methodological principles ensuring that each indicator is scientifically sound, policy-relevant, and operationally feasible. EUROLakes Indicators follow five methodological principles:
The EUROLakes indicators follow a dual indicator typology and each indicator is classified as:
- Field (Monitoring) Indicator: measured directly through monitoring programs (e.g., water quality, biodiversity, visitor numbers).
- Model (Design) Indicator: quantified through simulation models developed by IIASA and with the input from EUROLakes consortium partners, used for scenario analysis of future conditions.
This structure ensures complementarity between empirical monitoring and model-based foresight, enabling adaptive management and long-term evaluation of interventions.
- Indicators follow the SMART design approach:
- Specific: clearly linked to defined restoration or protection objectives.
- Measurable: expressed in standard SI units or quantitative indices.
- Achievable: based on realistic data collection and modeling capacities.
- Relevant: aligned with site-level goals and EU policy outcomes.
- Time-bound: associated with reporting intervals and project milestones.
- Indicators are tailored to the conditions and goals of the three demosites:
- Lake Vico (Italy): nutrient and sediment load reduction from agricultural sources.
- Lake Bistret (Romania): balancing tourism and biodiversity protection.
- Lake Dümmer (Germany): reedbed restoration and water quality improvement.
- Despite site-specific adaptation, the root criteria and sub-criteria (e.g., Water Quality, Erosion, Biodiversity, Socio-economic Benefits) maintain comparability across sites and allow for replication in new landscapes.
- Indicators have been developed through co-creation with local stakeholders, scientific experts, and project partners.