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Building and applying a framework to uncover relational values of ecosystem services
Citation:
Williams, K., Dave Bolgrien, AND J. Hoffman. Building and applying a framework to uncover relational values of ecosystem services. Community on Ecosystem Services, Washington, D.C., N/A, December 03 - 06, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this presentation is to introduce and demonstrate a framework which can be utilized as a “decoder ring” to interpret distinct ecosystem service values to facilitate communication or comparison across different perspectives.
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. One of the challenges is that each of these entities has a different relationship with and responsibilities to sites 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 relate to the same spaces. Scholars who study ecosystem services recognize this contextually-dependent value of services as relational – that the value or demand for the services of an ecosystem resource is based on relationships, in addition to supply of ecosystem resources. This required us to develop a tool, in this case a framework, to identify and characterize these relational values of ecosystem services. We used R2R2R a representative case to develop the relational value framework using Distinctions-Systems-Relationships-Perspectives (DSRP) and grounded theory as analytical approaches. R2R2R functions as a complex system where the biophysical environment, economic development and community values intersect to provide a rich data set to create a conceptual map of different spheres of activity that often overlap and sometimes conflict. The framework empowers researchers and users to identify ecosystem services and values from different perspectives. The framework that emerged from the analysis includes neighborhood or community components that individuals, agencies, organizations, and local governments may discuss in the context of a community. 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. 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.