Ecosystem services constitute a precondition for human welfare and survival. This concept has also become increasingly popular among both scientists and policymakers. Several initiatives have been taken to identify and value ecosystem services. Several services are threatened, and it has been concluded that in order to better manage ecosystem services they need to be further investigated and valued. By measuring them using a common metric—monetary value—they can be more easily compared and included in decision-making tools. This thesis contributes to this goal by presenting values for several ecosystem services and also including them in decision-making tools. Starting with a discussion of the concept of ecosystem services, this thesis aims to present values for certain ecosystem services and to illustrate the use of these values in systems-analysis tools such as cost-benefit analyses (CBA) and a weighting set. Links between ecology, economics and policy are discussed within a broader framework of ecosystem services. Five papers are included, in which two contingent valuation studies (CV) have been used to find values for different ecosystem services. One valuation study is focused on the effects from tributyltin (TBT) in Swedish marine waters. In addition, a quantitative assessment framework has been developed in order to simplify analysis of environmental status, progress in environmental surveillance and the relevance of different measures. It is suggested that the framework should also be used when assessing the impacts of other substances affecting the environment. The second valuation study investigates the risk of an oil spill in northern Norway. The results have been included in two CBAs and a weighting set. The first CBA compares costs for remediation of polluted sediments, caused by TBT, with the benefits of reducing TBT levels. The second CBA compares costs and benefits for reducing the probability of an oil spill. The weighting set includes monetary values on a number of impact categories where marine toxicity is based on the valuation study on TBT.  One study also examines the inclusion of environmental costs in life cycle costing (LCC) in different sectors in Sweden. Results show that respondents consider ecosystem values to be important. The values of Swedish marine waters and coastal areas outside Lofoten-Vesterålen in Norway have been identified and quantified in terms of biodiversity, habitat, recreation and scenery. In the Norwegian case, an ongoing debate on the issue of oil and gas exploration has had an impact on the number of protest bids found in the study. Based on the cost and benefits of limiting impacts on ecosystem services derived from the valuation studies, CBAs show that the suggested measures are most likely beneficial for society, and the results contribute to policy recommendations. A weighting set has been updated with new values through value transfer. The weighting set is compatible with LCA. The final study shows that companies and public organisations use environmental costs (internal and external) in a limited manner. In this thesis the ecosystem service concept is used both as an introduction and a guiding thread for the reader, as a way to frame the studies undertaken. The concept of ecosystem services can be useful, as it emphasises the importance of the services to humans. By finding and presenting values of ecosystem services, such services are more easily incorporated into decision-making. / <p>QC 20141121</p>

This thesis investigates the impact of integrating wind power into deregulated power systems. It includes a discussion of the history of deregulation and the development of Independent System Operators and Regional Transmission Operators and their role in managing deregulated power systems. A linear algebra optimization model is used to explore the impact of wind power on the operation of the BC and Alberta power systems. The model is used to evaluate the costs and benefits of reducing carbon emissions by adjusting transmission size concurrently with wind integration as well as the value of BC Hydro’s storage dams. Both drought and normal water year scenarios are considered.

As a result of the restructuring of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in 1996 and various other factors, Police Social Work Services decided to broaden the scope of its services by developing and introducing proactive personnel capacity-building programmes. By 1999, 15 such programmes had been developed. The need subsequently arose for a comprehensive impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis of these programmes and the Evaluation of Personnel Capacity-Building Programmes (EPCaP) study was launched in 2001. The evaluation of the Anger Management, Assertiveness and Conflict Management Programmes, as well as a cost-benefit analysis of the Life Skills programmes as a whole, formed part of this research. Objectives: This study had two primary aims. The first was to determine the effect of the Assertiveness, Conflict Management and Anger Management programmes on the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of SAPS personnel. The second was to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the Life Skills programmes as a whole. Method: In the case of the effect measurement, a comparison group pre-test and post-test design and triangulation were used. Eighteen measurement scales and a presenter's evaluation questionnaire were developed and completed by 627 experimental group respondents, 150 comparison group members and 32 presenters. In the cost-benefit analysis, a comprehensive, computerised ROI analysis programme that was developed by Meyer et al. (2003) was primarily used. It measured the interventions' return on investment (ROI), net present value (NPV), payback period, internal rate of return (IRR) and learning cost per attendee. Results: By means of the triangulation of measurements it was ascertained that the three personnel capacity-building programmes had a practical significant effect on the respondents' knowledge, attitude and behaviour. They could, therefore, be considered as effective tools in the hands of Police Social Work Services which not only empowered SAPS personnel to lead more productive professional lives, but also enhanced their personal well-being. The cost-benefit analysis indicated that the Life Skills Programmes represented a worthwhile investment of the organisation's time, money and effort. In its first year of implementation alone, it produced a return on investment (ROI) coefficient of more than 1700%. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Varje år arrangeras ett flertal evenemang runt om i världen och städer slåss om att få stora arrangemang och festivaler till just sin stad. En av alla dessa festivaler är Putte i Parken som är en årlig musikfestival som från början arrangerades i Karlskoga. Allt eftersom festivalen växte blev dock staden för liten, vilket resulterade i att man år 2012 flyttade Putte i Parken till Karlstad. Denna uppsats koncentrerar sig på att försöka finna de samhällsekonomiska konsekvenserna som uppstått på grund av denna flytt och hur de olika kommunerna påverkats av festivalen. Med hjälp av en kostnadsnyttoanalys har de olika effekter som uppkommit på grund av flytten hittats och dessa har sedan till stor del omvandlats till en monetär enhet (SEK). Uppsatsen är uppbyggd av både primärdata från intervjuer samt sekundärdata från tidigare undersökningar om andra festivaler. Effekter som hyresintäkter och bidrag till festivalen har varit relativt enkla att finna och har kunnat omsättas i SEK medan flera av de övriga effekterna till stor del inte kan omvandlas en monetär enhet. Dessa effekter har ändå en stor betydelse för de konsekvenser som flytten inneburit, varav en viktig sådan effekt är att en stad känner stolthet för att festivalen arrangeras just där. De effekter som har kunnats omsättas till SEK har vägts mot varandra och visar i slutet av uppsatsen en riktning på vilka ekonomiska konsekvenser flytten inneburit. Sett till endast de monetära enheterna innebar flytten en vinst för Karlstad men en förlust för Karlskoga. Detta är dock inte hela sanningen då ingen av de icke-monetära effekterna är medräknade i analysen, om dessa räknas med blir det nästintill omöjligt att finna det exakta svaret på alla konsekvenser. / Every year a number of events around the world are arranged and cities are fighting to organize large events and festivals in their city. One of all these festivals is Putte i Parken, an annual music festival originally arranged in Karlskoga. The festival was however relocated to Karlstad in 2012, since Karlskoga was considered too small as the festival grew. This paper focuses on finding the economic consequences caused by the relocation of the festival and how the two municipalities were affected by it. Using a cost-benefit analysis, the different effects caused by the relocation was found, and then converted into a monetary unit (SEK). The essay consists of both primary data from interviews and secondary data based on previous studies performed on other festivals. Effects such as rental income and contribution to the festival were relatively easy to find and has been translated into SEK, while several other effects cannot be given a monetary unit. They are still of great importance though, since the impact of the relocation can not only be measured in monetary units. An important effect is the feeling of pride when the festival is held in your city. Effects possible to convert into SEK were weighed against each other in different scenarios and results showed a direction on the economic impact the relocation had. When consider only the monetary units, the translocation of the festival resulted in a profit for Karlstad but a loss for Karlskoga. However, this is not the whole truth as none of the non-monetary effects are included, when these are, it becomes almost impossible to find the exact answer to all consequences.

Coral reef habitats are being threatened by global warming, natural disasters and the increased pressure of the global population. These habitats are in urgent need of efficient monitoring and management programs to sustain their biological, economic and cultural values for the global community. Habitats maps, describing the extent, composition and the condition of the benthos in time and space, form a valuable information source for scientists and managers to answer their management questions. Adequate and accurate habitat maps are needed and can be provided by a range of mapping approaches, which are based on integration of field and remotely sensed image data sets. Scientists, technicians and managers lack knowledge on the cost effectiveness and procedures for calibrating and validating mapping approaches that integratef field data and remote sensing imagery, for use in various coral reef and seagrass environments. This knowledge is required to adequately design, apply and assess operational mapping approaches and their maps. Hence, the aim of this study is to improve habitat mapping capabilities by integrating low cost remote sensing approaches and field-calibration and -validation methods for a range of coral reef and seagrass environments. To achieve this aim, commonly used habitat mapping approaches that integrated field-calibration and -validation methods with remote sensing image based processing techniques were studied, in different coral reef and seagrass environments in Fiji and Australia. These environments varied in: water clarity, water depth, benthic composition, spatial complexity of benthic features, and remoteness. The study had three objectives: (1) to evaluate the accuracy, cost and perceived relevance of eight commonly used benthic cover mapping approaches for three different coral reef environments. (2) Conduct a cost-benefit comparison of two field survey methods for calibrating and validating maps of coral reef benthos derived from high-spatial resolution satellite images in three different coral reef environments. (3) Identify considerations for comparing the thematic accuracy of multi-use image based habitat maps in various coral reef and seagrass environments. A scientific assessment and an evaluation of the relevance for managers, was conducted on eight commonly used habitat mapping approaches for three different coral reef environments. This analysis revealed a preference for a mapping approach based on supervised classification of Quickbird imagery integrated with basic field data. This approach produced an accurate map within a short time with low cost in that suited the user’s purpose. Additionally, the results indicated that user preference in selecting a suitable map was affected by: variations in environmental complexity; map purpose, and resource management requirements. To assess the variation in performance of methods for calibration and validation for coral reef benthic community maps, derived from high-spatial resolution satellite images, a comparison was conducted between spot check and georeferenced photo-transect based mapping approaches. The assessment found that the transect based method was a robust procedure which could be used in a range of coral reef environments to map the benthic communities accurately. In contrast, the spot check method is a fast and low cost approach suitable to map benthic communities which have lower spatial complexity. However, the spot check approach provides robust results, if it is applied in a standardised manner, providing a description of selected homogenous areas with georeferenced benthic cover photos. Considerations for comparing the thematic accuracy of multi-use image based habitat maps in various coral reef and seagrass environments were assessed. This included a review of 80 scientific publications on coral reef and seagrass habitat mapping, which revealed a lack of knowledge and reporting in regards to the assessment of the thematic map accuracy. These publications commonly used thematic accuracy measures and factors controlling their variation were then determined for various habitat mapping approaches for different coral reefs and seagrass environments. Assessment of these measures found that variations in accuracy levels were not only a result of actual differences in map accuracy, but were also due to: spatial complexity of benthic features present in the study area; distribution of the calibration and validation samples relative to each other, and the level of detail provided by these samples. Two main outcomes resulted from this dissertation. The first was the development of a robust mapping approach based on georeferenced photo-transect method integrated with high spatial resolution imagery, which is able to accurately map a variety of coral reef and seagrass habitats. The second outcome is an increase in capacity for coral reef and seagrass habitat mapping by scientists and managers. This increase is accomplished by providing knowledge on various habitat mapping approaches in regards to their: cost/time, accuracy and user relevance; performance of calibration and validation field methods; and performance of accuracy measures, when applied in a range of coral reef and seagrass environments. The findings and outcomes from this dissertation will significantly contribute to management of coral reef and seagrass environments by enabling scientists and managers to choose appropriate combinations of: field and image data sources; processing approaches, and validation methods for habitat mapping in these environments.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2007. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Örebro : Örebro universitet, 2006. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2006. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of South Florida, 2008. / Title from PDF of title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 45 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 2004. / "May 2004." Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-30). Also available on the Internet.