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Building and using framework to uncover different types of values of ecosystem services in AOCs
Citation:
Williams, K. Building and using framework to uncover different types of values of ecosystem services in AOCs. Course Lecture, Ann Arbor, MI, February 28, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
The impact of this research is to explain to a university course how Remediation to Restoration to Revitalization (R2R2R) has deepened our understanding of the complex relationships between environmental cleanup and community. I will discuss how a concept model was created and became one of tools we use.
Description:
Many of the Midwestern US “Rust Belt” cities contain Areas of Concern (AOC) where extensive efforts to remediate aquatic sediments, restore riparian habitat and ecosystem services, and realize community revitalization are unfolding. USEPA has coined the term “Remediation to Restoration to Revitalization,” or R2R2R, a place-based practice that requires ongoing communication among agencies, local governments, and citizens about the ecosystem services and benefits they value. One of the challenges is that each of these entities has a different relationship with and responsibility to places where R2R2R plays out. The array of activities involved in R2R2R, such as changes to the biophysical environment, community planning, and personal connections diverge in scale, focus, and interaction depending on the agency or individual. The divergence can manifest itself as conflict, but in reality, reflects how different individuals and organizations recognize and value ecosystem services. Scholars who study relational values of ecosystem services recognize that different types of value of an ecosystem resource is based on relationships in both the social and biophysical environments, in addition to the supply of resource. This required us to develop a tool, in this case a framework we call the Neighborhood Model, to identify and characterize these relational values of ecosystem services. We used R2R2R in Duluth, MN as a representative case to develop the Neighborhood to distinguish ecosystem services in context. The Neighborhood Model includes neighborhood or community components that individuals, agencies, organizations, and local governments may discuss in the context of a place. The characteristics in the framework are a mix of built environment types, structural dimensions, personal experiences, and human-environment relationships and include: parks/open spaces, trails or connections, housing, schools, infrastructure, local businesses, macro-economy, natural features, governmental rules or regulations, demographics/crime statistics/health care facilities, safety, self-determination or participation, identity, social cohesion, sustainability, and aesthetics. The Neighborhood Model empowers researchers identify the ecosystem in context, because they might be valued because of proximity to the built environment (e.g., a scenic view) or access to a resource (e.g., a fishing pier). We intend this framework to be utilized as a “decoder ring” to interpret distinct values and facilitate communication or comparison. This presentation will include both an overview of the framework development, as well an example of application.