15 November Webinar

Community OR. Its contribution to the building of a better society

David Ernesto Salinas-Navarro & Eliseo Vilalta Perdomo

Wednesday 15 November | 12:00 - 13:00 (via Zoom)

Community OR (COR) is a specialised sub-domain of Operations Research (OR), dedicated to addressing citizens' concerns and preferences through the application of scientific tools. These tools are instrumental in decision-making, structuring and resolving complex problems or overcoming significant barriers. COR approaches are specifically tailored to tackle challenges where achieving concerted action among individuals with different goals and preferences is exceptionally complicated, objectionable, or even physically impossible.

Examples of such challenging scenarios include the development of sustainable and resilient communities comprised of small-scale farmers or independent micro-businesses. In these cases, individuals typically value their autonomy and freedom of action. Additionally, COR methods are pertinent in situations where the goal is to reduce the influence of criminal groups engaged in illegal activities within fear-stricken communities. Furthermore, COR can extend its reach to encompass situations where individuals do not share a physical space. This includes communities of practice or online communities, where people collaborate to achieve their individual objectives through collective actions, or simply, there are occasions in which citizens aim at achieving collective agreement or organisation to undertake purposeful action.

This forthcoming webinar aims to revisit various interpretations of COR's scope and purpose while exploring hitherto uncharted territories that deserve exploration. It is designed for any individual interested in charting paths towards enhancing the sustainability and resilience of our communities. Simultaneously, it seeks to open up new avenues for innovative approaches to address global issues from a localized perspective.

Eliseo Vilalta Perdomo

Eliseo’s research focuses on how to improve individual and collective performance, in those cases where the alignment of aims and preferences is unattainable, undesirable, nonessential or even unnecessary. He is currently studying the development of sustainable communities of micro-producers, so that they are more resilient to global and/or local logistical challenges. Therefore, he is exploring different human and technological interfaces, within different supply arrangements, that may increase the propensity of individuals to collaborate. In short, Eliseo’s current research is at the intersection of issues such as human performance, technology and sustainable operations.

David Ernesto Salinas-Navarro

David’s interest lies on improving systems, processes and operations in organisations to positively impact on the sustainability of cities and communities. His work focuses nowadays on local shops and retailers in neighbourhoods that play a crucial role in developing product availability, accessibility and affordability through sustainable supply chain and logistic operations. Accordingly, David studies the active role of supply chains and logistic operations in producing economic, environmental and social development. This perspective brings forth a systemic perspective of multiple stakeholders and the need to organise their work through requisite structures and resources in a situation.