Knowledge needs for the operationalisation of the concept of ecosystem services

Abstract

As environmental challenges and their management are increasingly recognised as complex and uncertain, the concept of ecosystem services has emerged from within scientific communities and is gaining influence within policy communities. To better understand how this concept can be turned into practice we examine knowledge needs from the perspective of the different stakeholders directly engaged with the operationalisation of ecosystem systems concept within nine socio-ecologically different case studies from different countries, levels of governance and ecosystems.We identify four different but interrelated areas of knowledge needs, namely; (i) needs related to develop a common understanding, (ii) needs related to the role of formal and informal institutions in shaping action on the ground, (iii) needs related to linking knowledge and action, and (iv) and needs related to accessible and easy to use methods and tools. These findings highlight the need to view knowledge as a process which is orientated towards action. We discuss the potential to develop 1 Corresponding author: Esther Carmen, NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, UK, +44 (0)131 4458443, esther.carmen78@yahoo.co.uk © <2017>. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ { PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT } transdisciplinary research approaches and the development of tools and methods explicit as boundary objects in the ecosystem service science community to develop more collaborative practices with other stakeholders and facilitate the operationalisation of the concept of ecosystem services across contexts.

Conciliate Agriculture with Landscape and Biodiversity Conservation: A Role-Playing Game to Explore Trade-Offs among Ecosystem Services through Social Learning

“…The ES is a concept that has been widely discussed in scientific literature, but its implementation is still a subject of discussion for both researchers and managers of ecosystems [46][47][48]. Several authors suggested that the ES concept can be implemented through a participatory process, in which the concept of an ES is a "boundary object" because the stakeholders can give different meanings according to their background, and because it can create a common language between stakeholders [25,49].…”

Social Learning for Facilitating Dialogue and Understanding of the Ecosystem Services Approach: Lessons from a Cross-Border Experience in the Alboran Marine Basin

“…To monitor these ecosystem services, the community of practice proposed eight state indicators ( Table 2). Indicators were not defined for the remainder of the ecosystem services, which had frequencies below the cut-off value (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) (Table S3). Table 1.…”

“…While a considerable amount of scientific knowledge has been generated over the last few decades to support the formulation of evidence-based policies from the ESA around the world [10], such knowledge has only slowly permeated to policy and society [11][12][13]. In order to catalyse the impact of scientific knowledge and translate it into action on the ground, an increasing number of academics have increased their efforts to strengthen the science-policy-society interface around the ESA.…”

“…These efforts have already delivered early results to guide policies around the world [15]. Despite its importance, various challenges have continued to prevent the adoption of the ESA as standard governance practice [13]. Such challenges have led to the development of new research directions to understand specifically what factors may be limiting the incorporation of the ESA into decision-making processes.…”

Ecosystem Services as a Boundary Concept: Arguments from Social Ecology

“…Further, applying the ES concept on the ground comes along with very concrete and non-trivial knowledge needs on the part of different stakeholders, including methods and tools for ES assessment and valuation and for dealing with trade-offs made explicit in the process [31,45,46]. In summary, following the approach of ES as a boundary concept, it is possible to better understand the controversies and debates surrounding this concept both within science and between science and practice.…”