Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review... more Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the address printed on this page. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made.
* Each Key Finding has been assigned a level of scientific certainty, based on a 4-box model and ... more * Each Key Finding has been assigned a level of scientific certainty, based on a 4-box model and complemented, where possible, with a likelihood scale. Superscript numbers indicate the uncertainty term assigned to each finding. Full details of each term and how they were assigned are presented in Appendix 10.1. The ecosystem goods and services that could potentially be derived from Urban greenspace are substantial. In the past, the importance of these areas for the health and general well-being of society was not appreciated and their potential not realised 2. It is not just the limited extent and variable quality of greenspaces, but also their spatial distribution, connectivity, functionality and accessibility that currently create barriers to their optimisation. 2 established but incomplete evidence Access to Urban greenspace is essential for good mental and physical health, childhood development, social cohesion and other important cultural services 1. More than 6.8% of the UK's land area is now classified as 'urban', with more than 10% of England, 1.9% of Scotland, 3.6% of Northern Ireland and 4.1% of Wales contributing to this habitat. About 80% of the population resides in these areas, where the amount of mean accessible greenspace is 2 hectares (ha) per 1,000 people in England and 16 ha per 1,000 people in Scotland 2. Deprived areas systematically fare worse in terms of quantity and quality of greenspace 2. 1 well established 2 established but incomplete evidence During the last three decades of the 20th Century, there was a decline in the condition and accessibility of Urban greenspace in the UK 2. It is likely that the reduction in funding for public parks, the absence of any statutory parks services, and the sale of playing fields (approximately 10,000 between 1979 and 1997) and allotments (estimated at below 10% of peak levels) have all contributed to this decline. Evidence suggests that there has been some improvement since the work of the Urban Task Force. Local authorities, public bodies and over 4,000 community groups, many with National Lottery funding, have contributed to the refurbishment and renewal of many of these areas. 2 established but incomplete 1 However, Greenspace Scotland are currently mapping and categorising Scotland's Urban greenspace using aerial photography and have identified different types of greenspace in around two thirds of Scottish authorities. (Greenspace Scotland 2009; Figure 10.4). Plus, in Wales, in 2010, 18 of the 22 local authorities were working on complete assessments of the extent and location of accessible natural greenspace in their Urban areas (Chapter 20).
An analysis of conceptualisations of spiritual value in the ecosystem services literature and of ... more An analysis of conceptualisations of spiritual value in the ecosystem services literature and of nature in Christian, biblical thought. Plus suggestions on how Christian approaches to decision-making could contribute to this field.
An analysis of conceptualisations of spiritual value in the ecosystem services literature and of ... more An analysis of conceptualisations of spiritual value in the ecosystem services literature and of nature in Christian, biblical thought. Plus suggestions on how Christian approaches to decision-making could contribute to this field.
Key findings: Finding 1: Shared values resulting from deliberative, group-based valuation are dif... more Key findings: Finding 1: Shared values resulting from deliberative, group-based valuation are different from individual values. Case study evidence suggests that they are more informed, considered, confident and reflective of participants’ deeper-held, transcendental values. Deliberated, group-based monetary values may be a better reflection of real welfare impacts than non-deliberated individual values, if derived through a carefully designed and managed process. Although more research is needed to expand the currently small evidence base on deliberative monetary methods, group deliberation has the potential to significantly enhance elicitation of values. Finding 2: The ethical, moral and justice dimensions of many environmental issues necessitate approaches that allow for the elicitation of shared and plural values. Key ethical concerns include: 1) providing a space and opportunity for people to identify values that they may find difficult to articulate (e.g. spiritual, identity);...
Ecosystem services conceptualise the diverse values that ecosystems provide to humanity. This was... more Ecosystem services conceptualise the diverse values that ecosystems provide to humanity. This was recognised in the United Kingdom's National Ecosystem Assessment, which noted that appreciation of the full value of ecosystem services requires recognition of values that are shared. By operationalising the shared values concept, it is argued that the contribution of ecosystem services to human well-being can be represented more holistically. This paper considers current understanding of shared values and develops a new metanarrative of shared values beyond the aggregated utilities of individuals. This metanarrative seeks to conceptualise how values can be held both individually and communally, and what this means for identifying their scale and means of enumeration. The paper poses a new reading of the idea of shared values that reconciles the elicitation of preformed individual values with the formation and expression of shared social values. The implication is that shared values need to be conceived as normative constructs that are derived through social processes of value formation and expression. Shared values thus do not necessarily exist a priori; they can be deliberated through formal and informal processes through which individuals can separate their own preferences from a broader metanarrative about what values ought to be shared.
a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Social valuation of ecosystem services and public policy al... more a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Social valuation of ecosystem services and public policy alternatives is one of the greatest challenges facing ecological economists today. Frameworks for valuing nature increasingly include shared/social values as a distinct category of values. However, the nature of shared/social values, as well as their relationship to other values, has not yet been clearly established and empirical evidence about the importance of shared/social values for valuation of ecosystem services is lacking. To help address these theoretical and empirical limitations, this paper outlines a framework of shared/social values across five dimensions: value concept, provider, intention, scale, and elicitation process. Along these dimensions we identify seven main, non-mutually exclusive types of shared values: transcendental, cultural/societal, communal, group, deliberated and other-regarding values, and value to society. Using a case study of a recent controversial policy...
Nature provides humans with various 'services', some of which could be called spiritual, ... more Nature provides humans with various 'services', some of which could be called spiritual, e.g. connection to nature, call of the wild, the rich diversity of life, and the awareness that humans are dependent on nature. This leads to a duty of humans towards nature. But what does our spiritual capital need to be like to appreciate this duty? At the individual human level this will include the cultivation of virtue,spiritual practices, and the exercise of care. As a society we need to nurture individual spirituality and recognise that generosity is needed alongside self-interest if the hidden hand is to work. We can educate the virtues, discover a spirit of sacrifice and widen the boundaries of concern.
Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, 2019
There is increasing interest in the use of economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services for... more There is increasing interest in the use of economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services for a wide variety of purposes. These include relatively familiar uses in project appraisal and more novel applications in advocacy, performance tracking and accounting in public and private settings. Decision makers who use valuation information need to understand the background, strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. The methods have a strong foundation in economic theory and offer a rapidly growing evidence base, improving ability to evaluate a broad range of ecosystem goods and services. Nevertheless, there are theoretical and practical limitations that need to be understood and kept in mind when interpreting results. In this paper, we briefly review the economic valuation methods and situate them in their historical and theoretical contexts. We assess the main critiques, attempts at resolving them, and implications for the usefulness of the methods in different contexts. We examine the main barriers and opportunities for wider uses of valuation evidence, and draw conclusions on the appropriate role of valuation in future, as a tool for aiding reflection and deliberation processes.
This paper explores spiritual and aesthetic cultural values associated with ecosystems. We argue ... more This paper explores spiritual and aesthetic cultural values associated with ecosystems. We argue that these values are not best captured by instrumental or consequentialist thinking, and they are grounded in conceptions of nature that differ from the ecosystem services conceptual framework. To support our case, we engage with theories of the aesthetic and the spiritual, sample the discourse of 'wilderness', and provide empirical evidence from the recent UK National Ecosystem Assessment Follow-on Phase. We observe that accounts of spiritual and aesthetic value in Western culture are diverse and expressed through different media. We recognise that humans do benefit from their aesthetic and spiritual experiences of nature. However, aesthetic and spiritual understandings of the value of nature lead people to develop moral responsibilities towards nature and these are more significant than aesthetic and spiritual benefits from nature. We conclude that aesthetic and spiritual values challenge economic conceptions of ecosystems and of value (including existence value), and that an analysis of cultural productions and a plural-values approach are needed to evidence them appropriately for decision-making.
Valuation that focuses only on individual values evades the substantial collective and intersubje... more Valuation that focuses only on individual values evades the substantial collective and intersubjective meanings, significance and value from ecosystems. Shared, plural and cultural values of ecosystems constitute a diffuse and interdisciplinary field of research, covering an area that links questions around value ontology, elicitation and aggregation with questions of participation, ethics, and social justice. Synthesising understanding from various contributions to this Special Issue of Ecosystem Services and other relevant literature, and with a particular focus on deliberation and deliberative valuation, we discuss key findings and present 35 future research questions in eight topic areas: 1) the ontology of shared values; 2) the role of catalyst and conflict points; 3) shared values and cultural ecosystem services; 4) transcendental values; 5) the process and outcomes of deliberation; 6) deliberative monetary valuation; 7) value aggregation, 'meta-values' and 'rules of the game'; and 8) integrating valuation methods. The results of this Special Issue and these key questions can help develop a more extensive evidence base to mature the area and develop environmental valuation into a more pluralistic, comprehensive, robust, legitimate and effective way of safeguarding ecosystems and their services for the future.
Since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) highlighted the importance of ecosystem services ... more Since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) highlighted the importance of ecosystem services for human well-being, the payments for such services have increasingly been drawing the attention of governments, the private sector and academia. Nonetheless, there is not yet a specific legal framework which is able to capture the complexity of managing natural resources and, at the same time, deal with the numerous drawbacks that have been identified by critics, who are opposed to using financialisation of the environment as a tool. This paper, after briefly summarizing some of the main features and criticisms of the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), will critically assess the understanding of property rights over natural resources as stewardship, rather than as entitlement, because this interpretation is more coherent with the inherent characteristics of natural resources and, consequently, of ecosystem services. The novel usage of a stewardship dimension to property rights underlines the necessity for a legal framework for PES, constituted by "property-liability rules".
Social valuation of ecosystem services and public policy alternatives is one of the greatest chal... more Social valuation of ecosystem services and public policy alternatives is one of the greatest challenges facing ecological economists today. Frameworks for valuing nature increasingly include shared/social values as a distinct category of values. However, the nature of shared/social values, as well as their relationship to other values, has not yet been clearly established and empirical evidence about the importance of shared/social values for valuation of ecosystem services is lacking. To help address these theoretical and empirical limitations, this paper outlines a framework of shared/social values across five dimensions: value concept, provider, intention, scale, and elicitation process. Along these dimensions we identify seven main, non-mutually exclusive types of shared values: transcendental, cultural/societal, communal, group, deliberated and other-regarding values, and value to society. Using a case study of a recent controversial policy on forest ownership in England, we conceptualise the dynamic interplay between shared/social and individual values. The way in which social value is assessed in neoclassical economics is discussed and critiqued, followed by consideration of the relation between shared/social values and Total Economic Value, and a review of deliberative and non-monetary methods for assessing shared/social values. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of shared/social values for decisionmaking.
ABSTRACT. Landscapes that we think of as ’natural ’ are also cultural artifacts, a combination of... more ABSTRACT. Landscapes that we think of as ’natural ’ are also cultural artifacts, a combination of ideology and the concrete. Awareness of this can illuminate debates on how to manage natural areas. Different social groups with different values espouse different images of ’nature’. Four concepts of nature current in Britain are outlined: biodiversity, historic countryside, wilderness and com-panionship. All four of these need to be instantiated to complement each other, though each will be more appropriate for particular circumstances. Political alliances between supporters of these views should be built to promote atten-tiveness and care for the more-than-human around us.
One context for the papers arising from INTECOL VII in this special issue is the debate over the ... more One context for the papers arising from INTECOL VII in this special issue is the debate over the social construction of science. Some fear that advocates for the social or cultural construction of ecology will undermine attempts to defend nature. But resources are made available in a mediating position of social ‘construal’, particularly alerting ecologists to the social and ethical
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review... more Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the address printed on this page. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made.
* Each Key Finding has been assigned a level of scientific certainty, based on a 4-box model and ... more * Each Key Finding has been assigned a level of scientific certainty, based on a 4-box model and complemented, where possible, with a likelihood scale. Superscript numbers indicate the uncertainty term assigned to each finding. Full details of each term and how they were assigned are presented in Appendix 10.1. The ecosystem goods and services that could potentially be derived from Urban greenspace are substantial. In the past, the importance of these areas for the health and general well-being of society was not appreciated and their potential not realised 2. It is not just the limited extent and variable quality of greenspaces, but also their spatial distribution, connectivity, functionality and accessibility that currently create barriers to their optimisation. 2 established but incomplete evidence Access to Urban greenspace is essential for good mental and physical health, childhood development, social cohesion and other important cultural services 1. More than 6.8% of the UK's land area is now classified as 'urban', with more than 10% of England, 1.9% of Scotland, 3.6% of Northern Ireland and 4.1% of Wales contributing to this habitat. About 80% of the population resides in these areas, where the amount of mean accessible greenspace is 2 hectares (ha) per 1,000 people in England and 16 ha per 1,000 people in Scotland 2. Deprived areas systematically fare worse in terms of quantity and quality of greenspace 2. 1 well established 2 established but incomplete evidence During the last three decades of the 20th Century, there was a decline in the condition and accessibility of Urban greenspace in the UK 2. It is likely that the reduction in funding for public parks, the absence of any statutory parks services, and the sale of playing fields (approximately 10,000 between 1979 and 1997) and allotments (estimated at below 10% of peak levels) have all contributed to this decline. Evidence suggests that there has been some improvement since the work of the Urban Task Force. Local authorities, public bodies and over 4,000 community groups, many with National Lottery funding, have contributed to the refurbishment and renewal of many of these areas. 2 established but incomplete 1 However, Greenspace Scotland are currently mapping and categorising Scotland's Urban greenspace using aerial photography and have identified different types of greenspace in around two thirds of Scottish authorities. (Greenspace Scotland 2009; Figure 10.4). Plus, in Wales, in 2010, 18 of the 22 local authorities were working on complete assessments of the extent and location of accessible natural greenspace in their Urban areas (Chapter 20).
An analysis of conceptualisations of spiritual value in the ecosystem services literature and of ... more An analysis of conceptualisations of spiritual value in the ecosystem services literature and of nature in Christian, biblical thought. Plus suggestions on how Christian approaches to decision-making could contribute to this field.
An analysis of conceptualisations of spiritual value in the ecosystem services literature and of ... more An analysis of conceptualisations of spiritual value in the ecosystem services literature and of nature in Christian, biblical thought. Plus suggestions on how Christian approaches to decision-making could contribute to this field.
Key findings: Finding 1: Shared values resulting from deliberative, group-based valuation are dif... more Key findings: Finding 1: Shared values resulting from deliberative, group-based valuation are different from individual values. Case study evidence suggests that they are more informed, considered, confident and reflective of participants’ deeper-held, transcendental values. Deliberated, group-based monetary values may be a better reflection of real welfare impacts than non-deliberated individual values, if derived through a carefully designed and managed process. Although more research is needed to expand the currently small evidence base on deliberative monetary methods, group deliberation has the potential to significantly enhance elicitation of values. Finding 2: The ethical, moral and justice dimensions of many environmental issues necessitate approaches that allow for the elicitation of shared and plural values. Key ethical concerns include: 1) providing a space and opportunity for people to identify values that they may find difficult to articulate (e.g. spiritual, identity);...
Ecosystem services conceptualise the diverse values that ecosystems provide to humanity. This was... more Ecosystem services conceptualise the diverse values that ecosystems provide to humanity. This was recognised in the United Kingdom's National Ecosystem Assessment, which noted that appreciation of the full value of ecosystem services requires recognition of values that are shared. By operationalising the shared values concept, it is argued that the contribution of ecosystem services to human well-being can be represented more holistically. This paper considers current understanding of shared values and develops a new metanarrative of shared values beyond the aggregated utilities of individuals. This metanarrative seeks to conceptualise how values can be held both individually and communally, and what this means for identifying their scale and means of enumeration. The paper poses a new reading of the idea of shared values that reconciles the elicitation of preformed individual values with the formation and expression of shared social values. The implication is that shared values need to be conceived as normative constructs that are derived through social processes of value formation and expression. Shared values thus do not necessarily exist a priori; they can be deliberated through formal and informal processes through which individuals can separate their own preferences from a broader metanarrative about what values ought to be shared.
a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Social valuation of ecosystem services and public policy al... more a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Social valuation of ecosystem services and public policy alternatives is one of the greatest challenges facing ecological economists today. Frameworks for valuing nature increasingly include shared/social values as a distinct category of values. However, the nature of shared/social values, as well as their relationship to other values, has not yet been clearly established and empirical evidence about the importance of shared/social values for valuation of ecosystem services is lacking. To help address these theoretical and empirical limitations, this paper outlines a framework of shared/social values across five dimensions: value concept, provider, intention, scale, and elicitation process. Along these dimensions we identify seven main, non-mutually exclusive types of shared values: transcendental, cultural/societal, communal, group, deliberated and other-regarding values, and value to society. Using a case study of a recent controversial policy...
Nature provides humans with various 'services', some of which could be called spiritual, ... more Nature provides humans with various 'services', some of which could be called spiritual, e.g. connection to nature, call of the wild, the rich diversity of life, and the awareness that humans are dependent on nature. This leads to a duty of humans towards nature. But what does our spiritual capital need to be like to appreciate this duty? At the individual human level this will include the cultivation of virtue,spiritual practices, and the exercise of care. As a society we need to nurture individual spirituality and recognise that generosity is needed alongside self-interest if the hidden hand is to work. We can educate the virtues, discover a spirit of sacrifice and widen the boundaries of concern.
Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, 2019
There is increasing interest in the use of economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services for... more There is increasing interest in the use of economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services for a wide variety of purposes. These include relatively familiar uses in project appraisal and more novel applications in advocacy, performance tracking and accounting in public and private settings. Decision makers who use valuation information need to understand the background, strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. The methods have a strong foundation in economic theory and offer a rapidly growing evidence base, improving ability to evaluate a broad range of ecosystem goods and services. Nevertheless, there are theoretical and practical limitations that need to be understood and kept in mind when interpreting results. In this paper, we briefly review the economic valuation methods and situate them in their historical and theoretical contexts. We assess the main critiques, attempts at resolving them, and implications for the usefulness of the methods in different contexts. We examine the main barriers and opportunities for wider uses of valuation evidence, and draw conclusions on the appropriate role of valuation in future, as a tool for aiding reflection and deliberation processes.
This paper explores spiritual and aesthetic cultural values associated with ecosystems. We argue ... more This paper explores spiritual and aesthetic cultural values associated with ecosystems. We argue that these values are not best captured by instrumental or consequentialist thinking, and they are grounded in conceptions of nature that differ from the ecosystem services conceptual framework. To support our case, we engage with theories of the aesthetic and the spiritual, sample the discourse of 'wilderness', and provide empirical evidence from the recent UK National Ecosystem Assessment Follow-on Phase. We observe that accounts of spiritual and aesthetic value in Western culture are diverse and expressed through different media. We recognise that humans do benefit from their aesthetic and spiritual experiences of nature. However, aesthetic and spiritual understandings of the value of nature lead people to develop moral responsibilities towards nature and these are more significant than aesthetic and spiritual benefits from nature. We conclude that aesthetic and spiritual values challenge economic conceptions of ecosystems and of value (including existence value), and that an analysis of cultural productions and a plural-values approach are needed to evidence them appropriately for decision-making.
Valuation that focuses only on individual values evades the substantial collective and intersubje... more Valuation that focuses only on individual values evades the substantial collective and intersubjective meanings, significance and value from ecosystems. Shared, plural and cultural values of ecosystems constitute a diffuse and interdisciplinary field of research, covering an area that links questions around value ontology, elicitation and aggregation with questions of participation, ethics, and social justice. Synthesising understanding from various contributions to this Special Issue of Ecosystem Services and other relevant literature, and with a particular focus on deliberation and deliberative valuation, we discuss key findings and present 35 future research questions in eight topic areas: 1) the ontology of shared values; 2) the role of catalyst and conflict points; 3) shared values and cultural ecosystem services; 4) transcendental values; 5) the process and outcomes of deliberation; 6) deliberative monetary valuation; 7) value aggregation, 'meta-values' and 'rules of the game'; and 8) integrating valuation methods. The results of this Special Issue and these key questions can help develop a more extensive evidence base to mature the area and develop environmental valuation into a more pluralistic, comprehensive, robust, legitimate and effective way of safeguarding ecosystems and their services for the future.
Since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) highlighted the importance of ecosystem services ... more Since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) highlighted the importance of ecosystem services for human well-being, the payments for such services have increasingly been drawing the attention of governments, the private sector and academia. Nonetheless, there is not yet a specific legal framework which is able to capture the complexity of managing natural resources and, at the same time, deal with the numerous drawbacks that have been identified by critics, who are opposed to using financialisation of the environment as a tool. This paper, after briefly summarizing some of the main features and criticisms of the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), will critically assess the understanding of property rights over natural resources as stewardship, rather than as entitlement, because this interpretation is more coherent with the inherent characteristics of natural resources and, consequently, of ecosystem services. The novel usage of a stewardship dimension to property rights underlines the necessity for a legal framework for PES, constituted by "property-liability rules".
Social valuation of ecosystem services and public policy alternatives is one of the greatest chal... more Social valuation of ecosystem services and public policy alternatives is one of the greatest challenges facing ecological economists today. Frameworks for valuing nature increasingly include shared/social values as a distinct category of values. However, the nature of shared/social values, as well as their relationship to other values, has not yet been clearly established and empirical evidence about the importance of shared/social values for valuation of ecosystem services is lacking. To help address these theoretical and empirical limitations, this paper outlines a framework of shared/social values across five dimensions: value concept, provider, intention, scale, and elicitation process. Along these dimensions we identify seven main, non-mutually exclusive types of shared values: transcendental, cultural/societal, communal, group, deliberated and other-regarding values, and value to society. Using a case study of a recent controversial policy on forest ownership in England, we conceptualise the dynamic interplay between shared/social and individual values. The way in which social value is assessed in neoclassical economics is discussed and critiqued, followed by consideration of the relation between shared/social values and Total Economic Value, and a review of deliberative and non-monetary methods for assessing shared/social values. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of shared/social values for decisionmaking.
ABSTRACT. Landscapes that we think of as ’natural ’ are also cultural artifacts, a combination of... more ABSTRACT. Landscapes that we think of as ’natural ’ are also cultural artifacts, a combination of ideology and the concrete. Awareness of this can illuminate debates on how to manage natural areas. Different social groups with different values espouse different images of ’nature’. Four concepts of nature current in Britain are outlined: biodiversity, historic countryside, wilderness and com-panionship. All four of these need to be instantiated to complement each other, though each will be more appropriate for particular circumstances. Political alliances between supporters of these views should be built to promote atten-tiveness and care for the more-than-human around us.
One context for the papers arising from INTECOL VII in this special issue is the debate over the ... more One context for the papers arising from INTECOL VII in this special issue is the debate over the social construction of science. Some fear that advocates for the social or cultural construction of ecology will undermine attempts to defend nature. But resources are made available in a mediating position of social ‘construal’, particularly alerting ecologists to the social and ethical
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Papers by Nigel Cooper