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Integrating local, expert, and practical knowledge in community remediation and revitalization
Citation:
Williams, K., Dave Bolgrien, T. Angradi, J. Hoffman, AND J. Carlson. Integrating local, expert, and practical knowledge in community remediation and revitalization. International Symposium on Society and Natural Resources, Houghton, MI, June 22 - 26, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
not applicable
Description:
Researchers and natural resource managers often develop tools and methods to facilitate the inclusion of science in local environmental decision-making. The eternal hope is to find that model or concept that provides the “right” information to support these decisions. Researchers have hypothesized that ecosystem services could be the concept that bridges the science-policy divide. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Mid-Continent Ecology Lab is currently investigating that hypothesis through a systematic investigation of the local values of ecosystem services, as well as how decisions are made, in order to understand how the knowledge of ecosystem services and benefits are embedded in the process. We find that local decisions are multi-dimensional and composed of overlapping and sometimes oppositional processes and actors. Governmental bodies, non-profit organizations, and citizens all have expertise and knowledge to contribute, but that knowledge might come from different sources, be expressed in different languages, and reflect different relationships with a resource. In this presentation, we will demonstrate how ecosystem services can provide a common language to bridge diverging interests and knowledges. We present preliminary findings from research on the community remediation and revitalization efforts in the St. Louis River Corridor of Duluth, Minnesota and the ecosystem services values that underlie their activities.