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Plasticpollutionassessment

methodologiessuitabilitytoolkit

V1.0

UserManual

i

?2023InternationalBankforReconstructionandDevelopment/TheWorldBank

1818HStreetNW

WashingtonDC20433

Telephone:202-473-1000

Internet:

ThisworkisaproductofthestaffofTheWorldBankwithexternalcontributions.Thefindings,interpretations,andconclusionsexpressedinthisworkdonotnecessarilyreflecttheviewsofTheWorldBank,itsBoardofExecutiveDirectors,orthegovernmentstheyrepresent.

TheWorldBankdoesnotguaranteetheaccuracy,completeness,orcurrencyofthedataincludedinthisworkanddoesnotassumeresponsibilityforanyerrors,omissions,ordiscrepanciesintheinformation,orliabilitywithrespecttotheuseoforfailuretousetheinformation,methods,processes,orconclusionssetforth.Theboundaries,colors,denominations,andotherinformationshownonanymapinthisworkdonotimplyanyjudgmentonthepartofTheWorldBankconcerningthelegalstatusofanyterritoryortheendorsementoracceptanceofsuchboundaries.

Nothinghereinshallconstituteorbeconstruedorconsideredtobealimitationuponorwaiveroftheprivileges

andimmunitiesofTheWorldBank,allofwhicharespecificallyreserved.Citation:

WorldBank.2023.PlasticPollutionAssessmentMethodologiesSuitabilityToolkit(PLAST)–usermanual.WashingtonDC.

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ii

Acknowledgements

ThePLASTtoolkitwasdevelopedbyaconsortiumcoordinatedbytheUniversityofLeedswithinputfromDeltares,IUCNandDavidNewbyAssociates(DNA).LedbyDrCostasVelis(UniversityofLeeds),withmainresearchanddevelopmentprovidedbyDrJoshuaW.

Cottom(UniversityofLeeds).

DevelopmentoftheuserinterfacewasprovidedbyDNAwithgraphicalsupportfromtheDigitalEducationService(UniversityofLeeds).Thewiderdevelopmentteamincluded:UniversityofLeeds:EdCook;Deltares:JoanaVeiga,RobynGwee,BastienVanVeen;IUCN:DrJanakadeSilva,MaeveNightingale,HienBuiThiThu,LynnSorrentino,JoaoSousa.

TheworkwasmanagedbyaWorldBankteamcomprisedofKatePhilp,AnjaliAcharya,TaoWang,andIkbalAlexanderundertheleadershipandguidanceofMonaSur.Grzegorz

PeszkoandSuikoYoshijimaprovidedpeerreview.

Thestudyteamwouldliketothanktherepresentativesfromnationalgovernmentdepartments,NGOs,academiaanddevelopmentpartnerswhoparticipatedinthe

stakeholderconsultationworkshop,heldvirtuallyinFebruary2021,fortheirvaluableinsightsandinputtothePLASTToolkit.TheteamisalsogratefulfortheopportunitytopresenttheupdatedPLASTtoolkittotheASEANWorkingGroupforCoastalandMarineEnvironment

(AWGCME)inMay2023andforthesubsequentinsightsprovidedbytheFocalPointofAWGCME,Thailand.

FundingforthePLASTToolkitwasprovidedbyPROBLUE,anumbrellamulti-donortrustfund,administeredbytheWorldBank,thatsupportsthesustainableandintegrated

developmentofmarineandcoastalresourcesinhealthyoceans.

PleasedirecttechnicalsupportquestionstoDrCostasVelis(UniversityofLeeds).

Fundedby:

Developedby:

Deltares

iii

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II

1.OVERVIEW 1

Aim 1

Objectives 1

WhoshouldusePLAST? 1

2.HOWTOOPENANDRUNPLAST 1

MicrosoftWindows 1

OtherMicrosoftExcelsecurityfeatures 6

MacOS 7

3.TERMINOLOGY 8

Whatismeantbyamethodologicalapproach? 8

Whatismeantbyaplasticpollutionassessmentmethodology? 9

Otherterminology 10

4.STRUCTUREOFPLAST 11

5.HOWTOUSEPLAST 15

Inputtinguserneedsandavailableresources 15

Interpretingresults 19

Comparingmethodologies 22

6.HOWDOESPLASTWORK? 23

Scoringandrankingofmethodologicalapproaches 23

Scoringandrankingofplasticpollutionassessmentmethodologies 24

7.FREQUENTLYASKEDQUESTIONS 25

8.TROUBLESHOOTING 26

9.APPENDICES 27

Appendix1 27

Appendix2 29

Appendix3 30

1

1.Overview

Aim

Inresponsetotheplasticpollutioncrisis,manymethodologiesforquantificationofplastic

pollutionhavebeendeveloped.However,thebreadthofthese

plasticpollutionassessment

methodologies

makesitdifficultforpractitionerstoassesswhichmethodsarebestsuitedfortheirneeds.The‘PlasticPollutionAssessmentMethodologiesSuitabilityToolkit’(PLAST)

hasbeendesignedtocharacterizeandcompare

plasticpollutionassessmentmethodologies

andgeneralised

methodologicalapproaches

tosuggestthemostsuitableoptionsbasedonauser’srequirements.PLASTfocusesonquantificationassessmentswherebytheamountsofplasticpollutionaredeterminedandinsightintosources,pathwaysandfatesareprovided.

PLASTdoesnotaimtoprovideharmonisationbetweenthemethodologies,however,itallowstheoutputs,technicalfeaturesanddatarequirementstobecomparedtherebyprovidingthefirstnecessarystageinthisharmonisation.

Objectives

PLASThasfourobjectives:

Tocollatemethodologiesavailablefortheassessmentofplasticpollution.

Tocharacteriseassessmentmethodologiesaccordingtoanexplanatoryframework.

Tosuggestwhatbroadmethodologicalapproachesmaybebestsuitedbasedonauser’soverallobjectivesandgeneralisedresources.

Tosuggestsuitableplasticpollutionassessmentmethodologiesbasedonauser’sspecifictechnicalobjectivesanddataavailability.

1

2

3

4

WhoshouldusePLAST?

PLASTisdesignedtoaidallusersinterestedinapplyingplasticpollutionassessment

methodologies,forexamplethoseshownin

Figure1.

Theseuserscanbesplitintothose

wantingtoapplyamethodologytoassessplasticspollution(governments,NGOs,local

authoritiesandbusinesses)andthoselookingtogainfurtherinformationonhownewly

developedassessmentmethodologiesmaycomparewiththosethatalreadyexist(academiaanddevelopers).

2

Figure1:UsersthatmaywanttousePLAST.

ToapplyPLAST,werecommendinputfrombothhigh-levelusersfocusedonoverall

objectives,policiesandresources;aswellastechnicalusersfamiliarwithplasticpollutionassessmentmethodologiesterminology,dataavailabilityandrequiredoutputs.Themannerinwhichtheseusers’knowledgeandrequirementsisincorporatedintoPLASTisexplainedinthefollowingsections.

1

2.HowtoopenandrunPLAST

ThePLASTspreadsheetapplicationcontainsafullMSOfficeVBAapplicationandasuiteofMacros.Tousethetool,MicrosoftExcelmustbeconfiguredtoenableMacrosandaccesstheVBAapplication,thestepsofwhichareoutlinedbelow.Pleasefollowallthesesteps

beforetryingtorunPLASTtoensureitoperatescorrectly.RefertotheQuickStartGuideforafurtherbreakdownofeachstep.

PleasefollowallthesestepsbeforetryingtorunPLASTtoensureitoperatescorrectly

MicrosoftWindows

Step1.SavethePLASTtoolkitin‘MyDocuments’

ErrorsmaybeencounteredifyoutryandrunPLASTfromanetworkdrivesuchas

OneDrive.ToensurePLASTworkscorrectly,werecommendsavingthedownloadedfileto‘MyDocuments’torun.PLASTcanstillbesavedafteritsoperationtoOneDrivefoldersforsharing,however,itshouldalwaysbemovedtoastablelocationpriortoopening(e.g.,‘MyDocuments’).Note:YoumusthavepermissiontosavefilesinthefolderinwhichthePLASThasbeensavedandopenedfrom.

Step2.Configuresettingsinthe‘TrustCenter’

The‘TrustCenter’settingscontrolwhatcontentyouareabletoopenwithinMicrosoftExcel,forexampleMacros.Werecommenduserschangetheirmacrosettingsto‘DisableVBA

macrosexceptdigitallysignedmacros’andcheck‘TrustaccesstotheVBAprojectobjectmodel’.Thesesettingsensureusersareopeningaversionofthetoolkitthatisunmodifiedfromtheofficialrelease.Tochangethesesettings,followthestepsbelow:

2

2.1:OpenExcelandclickon

Fileinthemenu,thenOptionsandclickTrustCentre.Youwillseeascreensimilartothe

following:

2.2:ClickonTrustCenterSettings..inthemain

windowyouwillthenseethefollowingscreen:

ChoosetheMacroSetting

“DisableVBAmacrosexceptdigitallysignedmacros”(onsomeversionsofMicrosoft

Excelthismayinsteadread,“Disableallmacrosexcept

digitallysignedmacros”).Tickthebox“Trustaccesstothe

VBAprojectobjectmodel”.

Click

OK

buttontosave

settingsandexitbacktotheExcelprogram.CloseExcel

andre-opentheworkbook…..

Step3.OpenPLASTandInstallthe‘Digitalcertificate’.

AdigitalcertificateisasecurityfeatureaddedtoVBAprojectstoverifythattheyaresafe.ItisrecommendedthatusersinstallthedigitalcertificatepriortotryingtorunPLASTtoshowthattheytrustit.AlthoughStep2canbecompletedbyopeninganewExcelworkbook,thefollowingstepsshouldbedonewhenopeningthePLASTworkbook.Pleasefollowthestepsbelowtoinstallthecertificate.

3.1:OpenthedigitallysignedPLASTworkbookandyou

shouldthenseethe

SECURITYWARNING:

3

Clickonthe

Options..

button.

3.2:Thedialogboxthat

opensshowsthecertificatedetailsthatthespreadsheetmodelisdigitallysignedwith.

Clickon“ShowSignatureDetails”

3.3:Afurther“Digital

SignatureDetails”dialogopens:

ClickontheView

Certificate…button:

4

3.4:NowclickonInstallCertificate…andthenextdialogueboxopens:

click

button:

3.5:Choosestorelocation“LocalMachine”and

Next

Ifstoringtothe“Local

Machine”isdisabled,the

certificatecanbestoredonthe“CurrentUser”instead,

however,othersusersofthePCwillalsohavetoinstall

thecertificateiftheywishtorunPLAST.

3.6:Nowwechoosewheretosavethecertificate.Todo

button.

this,youclickonthe

Browse…

5

3.7:Choose“TrustedRoot

CertificationAuthorities”and

OK

button.

clickonthe

button

3.8:Havingchosenthecertificatestore,clickthe

Next

Finish

button

3.9:Thenclick

tocompletethecertificateinstallation.

6

3.10:Youwillgeta

OK.

confirmation.Click

3.11:Selecttheoption“Trustalldocumentsfromthis

OK.

publisher”andclick

CloseExcelandreopenthe

PLASTspreadsheet

applicationandthesystemshouldbefullyfunctional.

OtherMicrosoftExcelsecurityfeatures

MicrosoftExcelsecurityfeaturestopreventmalicioususeofmacroshavebeenfrequentlyupdated,keepingupwiththesecanbeproblematicfordevelopersofbona-fideExcel

applicationsthatrelyonMicrosoft’sVisualBasicforApplications(VBA).Itisstronglyrecommendedthatthedigitalcertificateisinstalledifpossible.

Ifitisnotpossibletoinstallthedigitalcertificate,thenoneofthefollowingactionsmayenabletheapplicationtorun,howeverthisisattheuser’sownrisk.

Trustedlocations

Excelhasimplementedanothersecurityfeature“trustedlocations”recentlywhichcan

preventevendigitallysignedmacros,withcertificateinstalled,fromrunningifthefileis

openedfromthe“Downloads”folderorasharednetworklocation(e.g.OneDrive).Ifthisisthecase,usersarelikelytoseeastandardexcelworkbookwiththePLAST‘About’sheet

displayed.Thebestwaytocorrectthisistodownloadthespreadsheet,openit,saveitto“MyDocuments”,closeitandthenre-openit.Thisusuallysatisfiesthe“trusted

location”securitycheck.

7

Alternatively,afoldercanbesetasatrustedlocationbygoingtothe‘TrustCenter’(seestep2above),clicking‘TrustedLocations’,then“Addnewlocation…”andselectingthefolderinwhichPLASTissaved.Wedonotrecommendthatsharedlocations(e.g.,OneDrive)aresetastrustedlocations.

Warning–Makingafoldera“trustedlocation”canenableanyofficeapplicationwithmacrostorun,includingfileswithmaliciouscontent.Donotcopyofficedocumentstoa“trustedlocation”unlessyouaresuretheyaresafe.

Microsoftpolicysettings

Someusersthathavecomputersprovidedandconfiguredbytheircompanies/organisationsmayhaveSecurityPoliciespre-setandfindthataccesstotheMicrosoftExcelTrustCentreisdisabled.

Usersmayattempttorunthemacrosby

right-clickingthefile,choosingProperties,andthenselecttheUnblockcheckboxontheGeneraltab.

Warning–Selecting‘Unblock’bypassesthedigitalcertificationandshouldonlybedoneifusersareconfidentofthe

sourceofthefile.

MacOS

UnfortunatelyPLASTwillnotworkcorrectlyonMacOS.PleaserunPLASTonaMicrosoftWindowsPC.

8

3.Terminology

Whatismeantbyamethodologicalapproach?

Whilstmany

plasticpollutionassessmentmethodologies

exist,eachwiththeirownuniquemethodandresults,eachmethodologycanbegroupedintooneoffourmainapproaches

(Table1)

,knownhereafteras‘methodologicalapproaches’.

Table1:Fourmethodologicalapproachesusedinthequantificationofplastic

pollution.Itshouldbenotedthatthereisconsiderableoverlapintheseapproaches,andassuchmanyassessmentmethodologiesincorporatemorethanoneapproach.

Icon

Description

Transfercoefficient

Thetransfercoefficientapproachisatopdownmethodwhereflowsare

distributedaccordingtocoefficients.Forexample,theamountofmismanagedwastewhichmayenteroceans.Whenappliedastheprimarymethod,the

transfercoefficientapproachistypicallyadeptatrequiringlowresourcesand

givinggrossestimationstoguidepolicy.Transfercoefficientapproachestendtoprovideasimplisticoverviewoftheplasticflowsinthesolidwastemanagementsystem.

Materialflowanalysis

Materialflowanalysisaimstomodeltheflowsandstocksofplasticwastewithinasolidwastemanagementsystemtoamuchgreaterdetailthanthatusedin

transfercoefficientbasedapproaches.Althoughinitssimplestformtransfer

coefficientsareusedtocalculatethedistributionofwasteflows,morecomplexformscanbeusedsuchasprobabilisticmaterialflowanalysiswhich

incorporatesuncertaintyofflows,ordatavalidationandreconciliationwhichaimstoharmonisedifferentmeasurementswithinthesystem.Materialflow

analysisapproachestendtobeusedwhenadetailedassessmentofthesolidwastemanagementsystemisrequired.

Statistical/trendanalysis

Statisticalortrendanalysisapproachesareabottomupapproachtypicallyused

tounderstandtheamountofplasticpollutionindifferentenvironmental

compartmentsviameasurements.Resultsgiveasnapshotoftheplastic

pollutioninanareaatamomentintime,butcanbeconductedoverlonger

periodstoassesshowtheamountsofplasticpollutionchangeswithtime.Theyareoftenutilisedtodevelopbaselinesormonitortheimpactofinterventions.

Hydrologicalmodelling

Hydrologicalandtransportmodellingapproachaimstoharnessthe

considerableexperiencethathasbeenamassedinhydrologicalmodelsandtransferthistotheproblemofplasticpollution.Typicallyusinggeographic

informationsystem(GIS)analysis,thisapproachisprimarilyfocusedon

understandinghowplasticintheenvironmentmaymoveandtransfertotheoceanbycombiningestimatesofterrestrial/riverineplasticwithinformationonrainfallandrivercharacteristics

9

TherelativesuitabilityofeachmethodologicalapproachisscoredinPLASTbasedonauser’shighlevelobjectives(PartAquestions).Theseresultsareusefulinprovidinganindicationofthetypeofmethodologicalapproachwhichmaybebestsuitedforauser,withoutsuggestingspecificmethodologies.

Whatismeantbyaplasticpollutionassessmentmethodology?

Thegrowingawarenessofplasticpollutionhasseenitriseuptheinternationalagendato

becomealeadingpriorityfornationsandtheglobalcommunityalike.Withthis,awealthofdata,methodologies,andmetricshavebeendevelopedtoaidintheunderstandingofplasticpollution.Oneparticularareareceivingimportantattentionisthequantificationofplastic

pollutionsources,alongwithitssubsequenttransportandaccumulationintheenvironment.

TheplasticpollutionassessmentmethodologiesincludedinPLASTarefocusedsolelyon

thesequantificationassessments.Assuch,assessmentmethodologieswhichfocusontheecologicalimpactsofplasticpollution,forexample,areomitted.Similarly,assessment

methodologiesthatarerelatedsolelytopolicywithoutaquantificationoftheamountof

plasticpollutionaredeemedoutofscope.Giventhequantificationofplasticpollutionis

meanttoprovideknowledgeandunderstandingonhowtoeffectivelyact,anymethodologiesthataredesignedsimplyforthecollectionofdataandwhichlackanyinterpretiveanalysis

arealsooutofscope.Afulllistofthesystemboundariesusedtodefineifplasticpollutionassessmentmethodologiesarein-scopeisshownin

Table2.

Table2:SystemboundariesusedfordefininginclusionofplasticpollutionassessmentmethodologiesinPLAST.

Systemboundary

Inscope

Outofscope

Typesof

assessment

methodologies

Assessmentsquantifyingplasticpollutionsources,

transportationpathwaysoraccumulationinthe

environment

Assessmentswithout

quantificationofplasticpollutionsources,

transportationpathwaysoraccumulationinthe

environment(e.g.ecologicalimpacts)

Assessments/modelswithexplanatoryoutputs

Data/monitoringprotocolswithnoexplanatoryoutputs

Indicatorsiffundamentalto

assessmentandstandardised,e.g.plasticpollutionrelated

SDGindicators

Non-fundamentalornon-standardisedindicators

Geographicalboundary

Global

NA

Scale

Localtoregional(multi-country)levelassessments

Solelyglobalassessments

10

LifeCycle

Lifecycleassessmentsifcoveringplasticwaste

emissionsintotheenvironment

Lifecycleassessmentsfocusedsolelyonplasticproductionanduse

Macro/

Microplastics

Macroplasticassessments

Solelymicroplasticassessments

Implementable

Assessmentsaretransferrabletootherlocations

Assessmentsarenot

transferrabletootherlocations

Accountingfortheinclusioncriteriashownin

Table2,

plasticpollutionassessmentmethodologiesaredefinedhereas:

“Animplementablemethodologythatquantifies

macroplasticpollution,providingknowledgeand

understandinginordertoeffectivelyact.”

Otherterminology

AdditionalterminologyusedtodescribethestructuralcomponentsofPLASTcanbeseenin

Figure2.

Figure2:TerminologyusedinPLASTtodescribethestructuralcomponentsonthemainpage.

11

4.StructureofPLAST

PLASThasbeendevelopedusingMicrosoftExcelandharnessesVisualBasicforApplication(VBA)toprovideanintuitiveandinteractivegraphicaluserinterfaceforusers.TousePLAST,MicrosoftExcelmustbeconfiguredtoenableMacrosandaccesstheVBA

application,thestepsofwhichareoutlinedinsection

2:

HowtoopenandrunPLAST.

PLASTiscomprisedofseveraldistinctsections,adescriptionofwhichisprovidedin

Table3.

Table3:DescriptionandfunctionsofthesectionsofPLAST.

Section

Visualisation

Description

Splashscreen

OnloadingofPLAST,asplashscreen(‘landing

screen’)isdisplayedsignifyingtheversion,fundersanddevelopers.Toprogress,usersclickthestartbutton.

12

Disclaimerpage

Afterclicking‘Start’onthesplashscreen,userswillbeshownadisclaimerpage.Userscanprogresstothenextpagebyclickingthe‘next’button.

About&

trainingpage

Afterclicking‘Next’onthedisclaimerpage,userswillbeshowntheabout&trainingpage.Ontheleftis

informationaboutPLASTincludingasummaryofitsaim,users,development,citation,aswellasan

emailcontactfortechnicalsupport(DrCostasVelis–UniversityofLeeds).

Ontheright,usersarepresentedwithsometrainingtextaswellasalinktoatrainingvideo.ItisstronglyencouragedthatuserswatchthebrieftrainingvideopriortoprogressingtoensureallaspectsofPLASTareunderstoodandresultsaresuggestedas

intended.Userscanonlyprogresstothequestionsbyconfirmingwiththecheckboxthattheyhave

completedthetraining,atwhichpointthe‘Next’buttoncanbeclicked.

13

Mainpage

ThemainsectionofPLASTiswherethequestionscanbeansweredbyauserandasummaryoftheresultsshown.Thisisstructuredashavingthree

selectablequestionsets(PartA,B,C)atthetopleftofthepage,eachofwhichhasaseriesofquestionsdisplayedbelow.

Usersarerequiredtogothroughthequestionsundereachofthethreepartsandanswerthembasedontheirrequirements(see

HowtousePLAST

Sectionfordetailsonhowtocomplete).

Ontheright,usersareprovidedwithresultsonthe

relativesuitabilityof

methodologicalapproaches,

andacomparisonofthetopthreesuggested

assessment

methodologies

withdetailsofeach.

Results

comparisonpage

Ifusersclickthe‘compare’buttononthequestion

andresultssummarypage,theyaredirectedtoa

PDFdocumentthatdisplaysboththeresultsofthe

relativesuitabilityof

methodologicalapproaches,

andacomparisonofthetopthreesuggested

assessment

methodologies.

Dependingontheuser’sPC,this

PDFwilleitheropeninaseparateExcelpop-upwindoworinaPDFviewersuchasAbode.In

addition,a

radardiagram

isdisplayedprovidingavisualcomparisonbetweenthetop3suggestedmethodologies.

Userscansavethisresultscomparisonpagetoa

PDForprinttheresultsusingthebaratthetopofthepage.

Thepagecanbeclosedbyclickingthecrossinthetoprightcornerofthewindowtoreturntheusertothemainpage.

14

Assessment

Ifusersclickthe‘ViewAll’buttononthequestionand

methodologies

resultssummarypage,theyaredirectedtoapop-up

comparison

windowthatdisplaysinformationoneachofthe

page

plasticpollutionassessmentmethodologies

includedwithinPLAST.Thisincludesallmethodologies,notjustthosedeemedsuitable.

Thepagecanbeclosedbyclickingthecrossinthetoprightcornerofthewindowtoreturntheusertothemainpage.

15

5.HowtousePLAST

TousePLAST,MicrosoftExcelmustbeconfiguredtoenableMacrosandaccessthe

VBAapplication,thestepsofwhichareoutlinedinsection

2:

Howtoopenandrun

PLAST.

Inputtinguserneedsandavailableresources

ThebasicpremiseofPLASTisthatusersansweraseriesofquestionsontheirneedsand

resourcesavailableinapplyingaplasticpollutionassessment.PLASTthenranksthe

suitabilityofgeneric

methodologicalapproaches

andspecific

plasticpollutionassessment

methodologies

accordingto

multicriteriadecisionanalysis

anddisplaystheresult.

Thequestionsarebrokenintothreeparts,assummarisedin

Table4,

withfulldescriptionsofeachquestionprovidedin

Appendix1.

Table4:Summaryofthethreequestionssets(PartA,B,andC)inPLASTincludingwhotheyshouldbecompletedby,thefocusofthequestionsandthenumberof

questionsineachPart.

Questionset

Completedby

Focusofquestions

No.of

questions

PartA

High-levelusers

focusedonoverallobjectives,policiesandresources

Tounderstandthemotivationoftheuserinapplyingaplasticpollution

assessmentandascertainthegeneralscale,scopeandavailableresourcesoftheplannedassessment.

5

PartB

Technicalusers

familiarwithplasticpollutionassessmentmethodologies

terminology,dataavailabilityand

requiredoutputs

Tounderstandtheuser’stechnicalrequirementsofanyoutputs,for

example,thelevelofdetail

(resolution)requiredoranyspecificfunctionalities.

8

PartC

Tounderstandtheavailabilityofexistingdataorthecapabilitytocollectnewdata.

2

Eachquestionsetcanbeaccessedusingthebuttonsatthetopofmainpage(see

Figure

2)

.UsersareencouragedtostartwiththequestionsofPartA,beforeproceedingontothe

moretechnicalquestionsofPartBandC.Helptextforeachquestionsetcanbeviewedbyhoveringoverthebuttons.

Theindividualquestionsassociatedwitheachquestionsetareshowninthedarkblue

questionribbon(see

Figure2)

.PLASThasbeendesignedtoguidetheuserthroughthe

questionsoneatatimetoavoiduserspotentiallyskippingrelevantquestions.Toaidinthis,onlythenextquestionisclickable,withthisdepictedasdarkblue(forexamplequestionA2in

Figure2)

.Theremainingquestionsaredisabledasdepictedbyagreycolour(for

examplequestionA3toA6in

Figure2

),andonlybecomeclickableoncethesubsequentquestionhasbeenviewedbytheuser.Itisnotmandatorytoanswerallthequestionsand

16

availableoptions,insteadusersareonlyrequiredtocompletethosethatarerelevantfortheirneeds.

Thequestiontextfortheselectedquestionisshowndirectlybeneaththequestionribbon.Thisisaccompaniedbyaseriesofquestionoptionseachofwhichcanhaveananswerselectedforit(see

Figure2)

.

Helptextforeachquestiontextcanbeviewedbyhoveringoverthe①icon,whereas

additionalhelptextforeachofthequestionoptionscanbeviewedbyhoveringoverthetext.Thereforeifusersareunsureaboutthemeaningofanyterminology,thesehelp-textsshouldbeconsultedfordefinitions.ForquestionA5,thedefinitionsofeachanswerareshowninalargertextboxbelowtoaccommodatethemoredetaileddescriptionsgiven.Hoveroverthequestionoptionstexttoshowthesedefinitions.

Iftheuserfeelsthataquestionisrepeated,weaskthemtocarefullyreadthedefinitionsassubtledifferencesdoexist.Ingeneral,questionsinPartAenquireabouttheoverall

ambitionsoftheproject(e.g.scopeandscale),whereasthoseinPartBarereferring

specificallytotheresolutionoftheoutputs.Forexample,ausercouldanswerinPartAthattheyarewantingtoapplyamethodologyatthecountrylevel,butinPartBsignifytheywanttheoutputstoinformatthem