People depend on functioning ecosystems, which provide benefits that support human existence and wellbeing. The relationship between people and nature has been experienced and conceptualized in multiple ways. Recently, ecosystem services (ES) concepts have permeated science, government policies, multinational environmental agreements, and science-policy interfaces. In 2017, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) introduced a new and closely related concept-Nature's Contributions to People (NCP). The introduction of NCP has sparked some lively discussion and confusion about the distinguishing characteristics between ES and NCP. In order to clarify their conceptual relation, we identify eleven specific claims about novel elements from the latest NCP literature and analyze how far ES research has already contributed to these corresponding conceptual claims in the existing ES literature. We find a mixed-picture, where on six specific conceptual claims (culture, social sciences and humanities, indigenous and local knowledge, negative contributions of nature, generalizing perspective, non-instrumental values and valuation) NCP does not differ greatly from past ES research, but we also find five conceptual claims (diverse worldviews, context-specific perspective, relational values, fuzzy and fluid reporting categories and groups, inclusive language and framing) where NCP provides novel conceptualizations of people and nature relations.
Sharing of resources, goods, services, experiences and knowledge is one of the fundamental practices that has been widely embedded in human nature. With the advance of information and communication technology, the realm of sharing has expanded drastically, which has led to the evolution of the 'sharing paradigm'. In spite of the increasing attention on the new sharing phenomenon and its potential contribution to a sustainable and resilient society, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of varied sharing practices in the context of sustainability and resilience. This study maps out the academic landscape of sharing studies and examines what and how we share by a systematic literature review. Based on the review of 297 peer-reviewed papers, we explore the features of varied sharing practices identified in academia. We also discuss research gaps in sharing paradigm studies and the potential contribution of sharing to building sustainable and resilient societies. Our results show regional and sectoral imbalances in the sharing studies. The findings also illustrate that sharing of manufactured goods and accommodations, and access-based sharing with monetary compensation via intermediaries such as online platforms are predominant. Our evaluation provides a bird's-eye view of existing sharing studies and practices, enabling the discovery of new opportunities for sustainable and resilient societies.
The science-policy interface (SPI) is a complex space, in theory and practice, that sees the interaction of various actors and perspectives coming together to enable scientific knowledge to support decision-making. Early Career Researchers (ECRs) are increasingly interested in engaging with SPI, with the number of opportunities to do so increasing at national and international levels. However, there are still many challenges limiting ECRs participation, not least how such a complex space can be entered and navigated. While recommendations for engaging with SPI already exist, these do not always connect deeply enough with the context in which ECRs find themselves working. With the purpose of facilitating the engagement of ECRs working in biodiversity and ecosystem services in SPI, the authors have co-created a ‘mind-map’ - a navigational aid to help understand the landscape of and leverage access to SPI. This mind-map was developed through reviewing published literature, collating personal experiences of the ECR authors, and collecting perspectives in an ECR workshop during the 7th Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). This co-created mind map sees ECR engagement in SPI as an interaction of three main factors: the environment of the ECR, which mediates their acts of engagement with SPI leading to outcomes that will ultimately have a reciprocal impact on the ECR’s environment.
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