National Ecosystems Assessment public dialogue (published June 2015)
The ‘Naturally Speaking…’ public dialogue was commissioned to explore how concepts such as ecosystem services and the ecosystem approach reflect public aspirations for environmental policy and practice. The dialogue was run in partnership with Defra, the Natural Environment Research Council and Sciencewise, the UK’s national centre for public dialogue in policy making involving science and technology issues. It addressed questions such as:
- What do the public make of the idea of ecosystem services?
- How well does this concept resonate with societal aspirations and concerns for the natural environment?
- What are the key opportunities and challenges in taking the ecosystem approach forward in policy and practice?
- How might different approaches to valuation be used to inform publically credible policy and decisions?
The following reports are available from the project:
Executive Summary
Full Final Report
Practical guides
- The Talking About Our Place toolkit, commissioned by Scottish Natural Heritage, provides guidance, resources and ideas to help you think about and discuss your landscape.
- The Ecosystem Approach Handbook, commissioned by Natural England, contains a variety of case studies of projects that have initiated public dialogue about what nature does for people.
Other resources
- The UK National Ecosystem Assessment (published in 2011, with follow-on reports published in 2014. In particular, pages 63-66 of the Synthesis Report for the Follow-on Project consider responses from the public to the findings of the UK NEA.
- In 2014, the Ecosystems Knowledge Network organised a workshop on involving local communities in valuing what nature does for people.
- Fish, R., Burgess, J., Chilvers, J. Footitt, A., Haines-Young, R. Russel, D., Winter, D.M. (2011) Participatory and Deliberative Techniques to embed an Ecosystems Approach into Decision Making: an introductory Guide. (Defra Project Code: NR0124)
- In 2010, a poll was conducted to assess the understanding of voters in the United States of the concept of ecosystem services and support for applying it as a framework for making decisions about the use and management of natural resources. A summary report is available.
- Define Research and Insight Ltd. (2007) Public understanding of the concepts and language around ecosystem services and the natural environment. (Defra Project Code: NR0115).