EU Policy Framework for Ecosystem Services Promoting Rural-Urban Synergies

This chapter offers a review of eight selected European Union policies and strategies which, to a greater or lesser extent, engage with ecosystem services (ESS). The review reveals three types of policy reference to ESS. Some policies include explicit objectives and mechanisms designed to underpin different types of ESS; others mention ESS explicitly but without suggesting specific policy actions. Lastly, implicit mentions of ESS functions also appear without any direct mention of the term. Our analysis seeks to examine the extent to which EU policies with an explicit or implicit focus on ESS might better secure rural urban synergies. Findings suggest that EU policies which focus on ESS are more likely to support rural-urban synergies if they have eco-social objectives, for example sustainable agriculture or rural development, as outlined for example in the Farm2Fork Strategy and the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas. Such policies foresee functioning rural-urban links including producer-consumer relations and the economic interaction of rural and urban dwellers. Policies more narrowly concerned with the biological functioning of ecosystems, such as the Soil Strategy or the Biodiversity Strategy are less synergistic, not least because their arena of operation remains predominantly rural

Conclusions

This concluding chapter highlights the core messages explored and discussed in the previous 15 chapters of this book and concludes on the relevance of ecosystem services in bridging rural-urban linkages and promoting consequent synergies. Many times the synergies are shown as being absent, other times as potential but in a few cases there is already evidence that synergies are happening. It concludes on the need to establish adequate policy frameworks, business models and governance arrangements to stimulate the recognition of ESS and collaborative arrangements; but also the need to continue promoting the notion of territorial continuity where natural and cultural values and benefits, can flow across and bridge rural and urban territories. These core messages could be explored beyond the European context

Framing the shift to supported employment: Exploring the impacts of a person-centred programme evaluation approach through peer led participatory research

Employment support programs play a crucial role in assisting the unemployed in overcoming challenges to achieve their employment goals. The experiences of participants with multiple challenges provide insights into programme effectiveness in achieving personalised goals of employability, social development, and inclusion. This study contributes to the evaluation of supported employment by presenting a peer-derived framework grounded in participants lived experiences. Interviews with twelve participants revealed themes around employment barriers, participation opportunities, one-to-one support, achievements, and recommendations. Findings highlight the value of flexible, personalised pathways that not only enhance employability but also build confidence, motivation and support social inclusion. The developed framework including personalised support, meaningful activities, and self-perceived progress offers guidance for designing inclusive employment programmes and their evaluation. A key recommendation is the need for ongoing support to sustain employment among disadvantaged individuals managing social, mental, and physical health challenges. From an evaluation perspective, the framework demonstrates how participant-informed mechanisms—such as confidence and empowerment—drive employability and social skills, consistent with the Context–Mechanism–Outcome logic of realist evaluation. By situating peer-led evaluation within realist, empowerment, and utilisation-focused traditions, this study refines programme evaluation and strengthens its practical relevance. It shows how outcome-focused fidelity models, which capture structural quality, can be complemented by peer-led approaches capturing experiential quality. Together, these perspectives provide a holistic and transferable evaluation model that speaks to both programme design and lived experience. Beyond the local context, lessons learned highlight the value of inclusive, participatory evaluation methods in generating credible, stakeholder-driven insights and advancing more effective employment support practices globally

Plant use and agriculture during the middle Yangshao period: new macrobotanical evidence from Yuancun site, southern Shanxi Province, central northern China

Understanding prehistoric plant resource utilization and agricultural diffusion is essential for exploring early social complexity and civilization development. The Yuncheng Basin in northern China, a core area of Yangshao culture, has been underexplored in terms of ancient plant use. This study examines plant resource use strategies during the middle Yangshao period (5600–5100 cal. BP) at the Yuancun site through macro-botanical analysis, and investigates the northward spread of rice cultivation and the basin’s role in this process. Results revealing deliberate plant management with concentrations in ash pits H201 and H202. H201 likely transitioned from a storage facility to a refuse deposit, while H202 may have served as a new composite storage unit. The crop assemblage was dominated by foxtail millet and broomcorn millet, indicating a dual-crop system adapted to local saline-alkaline soils near the salt lake, possibly through selection for stress tolerance and yield balance. The wild plant also played an essential role such as Lespedeza and Melilotus The limited presence of rice suggests occasional use or cultivation. Rice likely spread northward via multiple routes, highlighting Yuncheng’s role as a transitional corridor between the Central Plains and northern agro-pastoral regions. These findings illustrate a composite subsistence strategy that integrated ecological adaptation with interregional cultural exchange, contributing to the emergence of early social complexity in northern China

Beyond growth: Reshaping fisheries for a wellbeing economy

Contemporary fisheries have been shaped by a paradigm of perpetual growth, characterized by increasing global production and consumption. While this growth has driven economic benefits and technological progress, it has jeopardized the sustainability of marine ecosystems, with implications for the long-term livelihoods and wellbeing of fishers, consumers and resource dependent coastal populations worldwide. This paper advocates for a shift beyond growth towards a wellbeing economy. It considers how five fundamental principles intrinsic to a wellbeing economy - purpose, nature, fairness, participation and dignity - can help reorient the fisheries sector. The paper then provides ten actionable recommendations for reshaping the composition and structure of economic activity in fisheries to enhance societal wellbeing and equity within ecological boundaries. In a world grappling with the consequences of unchecked economic growth, this paper offers insights into fostering a regenerative fisheries system that safeguards human prosperity and environmental integrity

The Governance of Nature-Based Approaches to Flood Risk Management in the Lower Severn Catchment (England)

This chapter reports on a new arena of flood risk governance in the lower river catchment of the Severn, Britain’s long river. As a result of Living Lab (LL) activity directed towards the natural management of fluvial, pluvial and surface-water run-off in the county, a new governance group was established. The ‘Working With Natural Processes’ (WwNP) sub-group reports to the regional, multi-stakeholder body The English Severn and Wye Regional and Coastal Flood Committee (RFCC), which advises on the allocation of state funds for flood protection along two river catchments. The chapter outlines complexities of flood risk management in Gloucestershire, describing locally specific flood policy and protection challenges in the light of a changing climate, plans for urban expansion and in light of defined political and geographical limits that complicate catchment-wide ESS governance. The establishment of the WwNP sub-group formalises a strategic approach to ‘green’ flood risk interventions and supports the networking of flood authorities and land managers. The chapter describes how the LL facilitated the group’s establishment, not least by trying to align different interests, and particularly by helping to connect urban and rural spatial interests in natural processes for reducing flood risk, which are usually separated into rural and urban areas

Business Models that Valorise ESS and Advance a More Socially and Ecologically Grounded Economy

The services ecosystems provide can be seen as assets in developing individual businesses and local economies. The business models examined in this chapter represent strategies that valorise a high-quality cultural and natural environments. We argue that they make lifestyles and economic systems more environmentally and socially sustainable. The strategies link orthodox business goals with the societal goal of a more socially and ecologically grounded economy. Our analysis focuses on how ecosystem services are valorised and different kinds of value are created. We are interested in the goods and services provided, customers and revenue streams, the related strategies, and the creation of cross-sectoral synergies. The basis of our analysis is a set of business model archetypes compiled in the EU-funded ROBUST project. The business models range from organic farming and regional quality labels to ecotourism and the valorisation of food heritage and green lifestyles. They comprise individual and shared businesses and place-based approaches like renewable energy sourcing partnerships. For each model, we discuss how they support the creation of win-win situations and valorisation of ecosystem services (ESS), identify limiting factors, and explore the potential role of policy

Payments for Ecosystems Services—Their Role in Creating Rural-Urban Synergies

In this chapter, rural-urban synergies are examined in the context of land and water management interventions and how these are stimulated by payments for ecosystems services (PES). A review of PES literature highlights, by drawing on 10 European case studies, that PES are based on core principles of (i) the recognition of both ESS suppliers and users; and (ii) that payment is conditional on ESS improvements flowing from ESS interventions. Key findings from the analysis include that the most successful PES schemes are cross-sectoral and multi-scalar in their impacts and may represent a correction of prevailing market relations of subsidy dependencies. The opportunities to combine the valorisation of rural distinctiveness with the enhanced opportunity for urban ESS delivery should be an ambition of PES schemes. Such objectives demand clear compensations for lost earnings in PES schemes, a flexible (or ESS-centric) territorial approach to developing PES partnerships and a greater understanding of public-private blended finance to devise PES innovations

Introduction

This chapter introduces the rationale and motivation for the book. It highlights the European research project ROBUST (Rural-Urban Outlooks: Unlocking Synergies) within which all the investigation that supports the chapters in this book was conducted. It briefly describes the architecture, the themes and the systemic approach to rural-urban linkages and synergies within the ROBUST project. Finally, the structure of the book is described and a brief summary of each chapter is provided