With growing human pressures on the oceans and seas, the resulting decline of ecosystem health and biodiversity is increasingly limiting the ability of marine ecosystems to provide essential functions and resources for human wellbeing. To prevent further marine degradation, an ecosystem based approach to marine management is needed. An integral part of this is constructive stakeholder engagement. However, in a marine context, engagement is often difficult due to traditionally sectoral management and the complexity of marine issues. This thesis presents an interdisciplinary study that evaluates the potential of the ecosystem services approach to support and improve marine stakeholder engagement. First, opportunities and challenges of using the approach in participatory marine management processes were explored through interviews with 39 stakeholders who participated in the application of ecosystem service assessment to marine management in six French and UK case studies. The interviews revealed that the ecosystem services approach can facilitate participatory engagement by improving understanding of complex ecological-socioeconomic systems and fostering constructive dialogue. Second, the potential of the approach for communicating marine management decisions to marine users was tested with a scenario based survey. Responses to three versions of the survey, two with and one without ecosystem services content, were compared, showing that the ecosystem services information did not increase agreement with the management measures proposed in the scenario. An evaluation of the results in the context of environmental behaviour research suggests that the novelty and complexity of the ecosystem services approach might limit its usefulness for top down communication. In contrast, if the approach is integrated in participatory processes, it was concluded that this could have multiple benefits for ecosystem based marine management. From these findings, a conceptual model was developed that provides a normative framework for the effective use of the ecosystem services approach to support constructive participatory engagement in marine governance.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and develop a workflow for assessing and representing the value of ecosystems to professionals involved in municipal planning. A thorough literature review was conducted and supplemented by interviews and observations. Frameworks for ecosystem service assessments were analyzed and combined with methods in urban planning in order to assess social and ecological conditions. A workflow was set up and methods were evaluated by applying them to a case study in the area Åstråket in Uppsala. Experience from the case study was compiled in order to improve the workflow. Complex assessments were identified and simplified for the method to be useful for practitioners. A list of relevant urban ecosystem services was compiled. Eleven activities were chosen and divided into three blocks: planning, situation analysis and redesign. In the planning phase strong civil dialogue would be used to identify user needs and based on them formulate goals for the planned change. In the situation analysis the extent to which ecosystem services were utilized, and how much potential there were to increase the use of them without exceeding the area's biophysical conditions, were assessed. The different ecosystem services in the area were evaluated according to how well they helped to achieve designated goals for the area. In the design stage social-ecological urbanism were used to create a design that will increase the value of ecosystem services for the users of the site. Arrow diagram were used to show how the proposed design supports species in the ecosystem that generates an increased value of the prioritized ecosystem services and contribute to achieving the objectives of the area. The study showed that the value of ecosystem could be made visible by showing how different actors contribute to goal achievement. The methods for quantifying ecosystem services are still trivial and ignore some fundamental social-ecological relations. The methods for social assessments could not be fully tested in the case study because there was ongoing consultation on a plan proposal that prevented any interviews with the users to be done. Assumptions that were important to simplify ecosystem service assessment was that 1) a broad definition of value was used, not just monetary, and that 2) the focus was on increasing the value of ecosystem services rather than replacing some services with others. To improve the method more knowledge on social-ecological interactions is required, a broader discussion about values need to be raised and a more standardized set of indicators needs to be agreed upon. Ecosystem services can also be used as a pedagogical tool for learning about systems thinking, complexity and a diversity of values. / Syftet med studien var att utveckla och testa en arbetsgång för att synliggöra värdet av naturen för yrkesutövare inom kommunal planering. En grundlig litteraturstudie genomfördes och kompletterades med intervjuer och observationer. Ramverk för ekosystemtjänstbedömningar analyserades och kombinerades med metoder inom samhällsplanering för att bedöma sociala och ekologiska förhållanden. En arbetsgång utarbetades och metoder bedömdes genom att tillämpa dem i en fallstudie på området Åstråket i Uppsala. Erfarenheter från fallstudien sammanställdes för att utveckla arbetsgången. Komplexa bedömningar identifierades och förenklades för att arbetsgången skulle bli praktiskt användbar. En lista med relevanta urbana ekosystemtjänster sammanställdes. Elva aktiviteter valdes och delades in i blocken planering, nulägesanalys och redesign. I planeringsskedet användes aktiv medborgardialog för att kartlägga användarnas behov och utifrån dem formulera mål för förändringsprocessen. I nulägesanalysen bedömdes i hur stor omfattning ekosystemtjänsterna nyttjades och hur stor potentialen var för att öka nyttjandet av dem utan att överstiga områdets biofysiska förutsättningar. De olika ekosystemtjänsterna i området värderades efter hur väl de bidrog till att uppnå utpekade mål för området. I designsteget användes social-ekologisk urbanism för att skapa en design som kommer öka värdet av ekosystemtjänsterna för användarna av området. Pildiagram användes för att visa hur den föreslagna designen stödjer arter i ekosystemet som genererar ett ökat värde av prioriterade ekosystemtjänster och bidrar till uppfyllelse av målen i området. Studien visade att värdet av ekosystem kan synliggöras genom att visa hur olika aktörer bidrar till måluppfyllelse. Metoder för kvantifiering av ekosystemtjänster bedömdes inte representera fundamentala social-ekologiska relationer. Identifierade metoder för sociala bedömningar kunde inte testas fullt ut i fallstudien på grund av att samråd precis hade genomförts för aktuellt planförslag. Antaganden som var viktiga för att förenkla ekosystemtjänstbedömningen var att 1) en bred definition av värde användes, inte bara monetär, och att 2) fokus var på att öka värdet av ekosystemtjänsterna snarare än ersätta vissa tjänster med andra. För att förbättra metoden behövs mer kunskap om social-ekologiska relationer, en bred debatt om värderingar och en överenskommelse om en standardiserad uppsättning av indikatorer. Ekosystemtjänster kan även användas som ett pedagogiskt hjälpmedel för att lära ut system-tänkande, komplexitet och en mångfald av värden.

Ecosystem services, capturing the benefits and values of functioning ecosystems for human well-being, is a concept receiving increasing attention both in science and policy. This study investigates the utility of considering ecosystem service in the ecological restoration of a river affected by small-scale hydropower. While hydropower is a renewable energy source, it has impacts on the ecological status in water sheds and generates issues addressed e.g. by the EU Water Directive. To mitigate ecological impacts, and maintain hydroelectricity production that better correspond to the Water Directive, several restoration measures are carried out in river Billstaån, County of Jämtland, Sweden.   This study presents an ecosystem service perspective of the restoration process in river Billstaån linked to recommendations in terms of further interpretation, monitoring and communication of the assessment results. By applying evaluation of ecosystem services to the case of river Billstaån, it is examined to what extent ecosystem service descriptions can give support in monitoring and communication of the results of the ecological restoration efforts.   Ecosystem services were assessed for the restoration outcomes in river Billstaån using the two frameworks Corporate Ecosystem Service Review (ESR) and Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Assessment (TESSA), respectively. The ecosystem services deemed most important partly differed between the two frameworks due to different assessment perspectives. However, both ESR and TESSA pointed out ecosystem services connected to recreation and tourism as important, indicating a potential regarding recreational use of the area. Such socio-economic impacts of the restoration project was not included in the planning of the restoration, but if identified and utilized such “added benefits” might give opportunities for local rural development beyond the restoration work itself.   Contrasting the results from the ecosystem service assessment of river Billstaån towards the Swedish Environmental Objectives identified two direct and seven indirect connections. Through these connections the restoration project can be presented in relation to national goals. Indicating such connections can help in communicating the ecosystem service perspective. For future monitoring of project outcomes in river Billstaån, a set of potential indicators were identified using an ecosystem service approach, that can complement the planned monitoring of ecosystem functions. For future monitoring of ecosystem service development it is advisable to use a combination of indicators that reflect both the ecosystem function availability and the ecosystem service use. Three types of illustrations that can support different perspectives in future communication regarding ecosystem services in river Billstaån were identified in this study and termed system, overview and single service perspective. Example illustrations include a Causal Loop Diagram, a hot-spot map and a range of photos, respectively. The illustrations are deemed to present the assessment results in a more accessible way and can be adapted to a diversity of future communication settings. / <p>Betyg 2017-06-14</p>