Grantee Research Project Results
2020 Progress Report: Integrating Human Wellbeing and Ecosystem Services into Near Term Action Planning in the Puget Sound
EPA Grant Number: R836946Title: Integrating Human Wellbeing and Ecosystem Services into Near Term Action Planning in the Puget Sound
Investigators: Biedenweg, Kelly
Institution: Oregon State University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: August 1, 2017 through July 31, 2019 (Extended to July 31, 2021)
Project Period Covered by this Report: August 1, 2019 through July 31,2020
Project Amount: $399,831
RFA: Integrating Human Health and Well-Being with Ecosystem Services (2016) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health
Objective:
The explicit objectives of this research are to:
- Conduct Community-Engaged Cumulative Impacts Assessments (CIAs)
- Create CIAs with a minimum of five and up to nine communities that integrate diverse stressors, ecological endpoints, ecosystem services and HWB impacts. Emphasis will be placed on air and water quality, in addition to other locally-prioritized outcomes.
- Summarize generalizable tools, lessons learned, and performance metrics for common strategies that could impact ecosystem services and HWB
- Empower communities to use these assessments when making decisions
- Test whether conducting a CIA alters resource management decisions by local communities
- Test the factors under which communities are willing and able to use CIAs that include ecosystem service and HWB considerations in natural resource planning
Progress Summary:
In the adaptive collaborative development of the project, we revised the focus from CIAs to Structured Decision Making that integrated human well being considerations with ecological goals. We feel this is more nominal than substantive, and it better matched the needs of our partner communities during this time. We have found that our consistent interaction as social science (wellbeing) experts with our communities has been critical in building their confidence and creativity to integrate human wellbeing in ecosystem restoration plans. We have been able to continue our work remotely using Zoom platforms for meetings and interviews since COVID 19 restrictions. This work has been approved by OSU IRB through 2021.
Our work has found that the communities’ values and goals are often associated with human wellbeing and/or ecosystem services, yet these goals are rarely explicit in the process of ecosystem restoration planning. Providing definitions and examples for what human wellbeing is comprised of, and various ways it can be integrated to inform planning has improved the types of conversations we have been able to have. Communities are more likely to adopt this way of thinking about restoration than our state-level partners, as this helps them address the very visible pressures they experience from their constituents to meet diverse needs. One of the biggest motivations to integrating human wellbeing is concern regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Yet, these intentions are hampered by planning processes that prioritize biophysical science and biophysical scientists.
Future Activities:
In the upcoming year (Nov 2020-Sep 2021) we will complete the following activities:
- Continued participant observation with participating watershed groups
- Present data from human wellbeing survey and project analyses monthly to collaborators
- Complete “post” project data collection about perceptions of social-ecological science integration for human wellbeing and ecosystem service management
- Complete spatial analyses of the relationship between environmental governance perceptions in the Puget Sound and air quality, bird density, water quality, and habitat.
- Submit a minimum of five manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication:
- Present results at a minimum of two professional meetings (virtual)
Journal Articles on this Report : 2 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 20 publications | 3 publications in selected types | All 3 journal articles |
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Biedenweg K, Trimbach D, Fleming W. Integrating Social Science in Puget Sound Restoration. Ecological Restoration 2022;39(4):226-237. |
R836946 (2020) |
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Fleming W, Needham M, Biedenweg K. Connections among Puget Sound Residents' Psychological Restoration from Natural Environments, Place Attachment, and Beliefs about Environmental Governance. Environmental Management 2021;. |
R836946 (2020) |
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Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.