13 research outputs found
Valuation of ecosystem services to inform management of multiple-use landscapes
Public agencies worldwide are increasingly adopting an ecosystem service framework to manage lands serving multiple uses. Yet, reliable, practical, and well-tailored methods remain a major limitation in moving from conceptual to actionable approaches. Together with one of the largest federal land managing agencies, we co-develop and co-demonstrate an ecosystem services approach tailored to specific decisions, through a process with potentially widespread relevance. With the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), we focus on balancing military training with biodiversity and resource conservation under both budgetary and land-use pressures at a representative installation. In an iterative process of co-design and application, we define, map, and quantify multiple ecosystem services under realistic management options. Resource management budget emerges as a major determinant of the degree to which managers can sustain both necessary training environments – a DoD-specific ecosystem service – and a prairie ecosystem with species of conservation concern. We also found clear tradeoffs between training intensity and forest-related services. Our co-developed approach brings otherwise hidden values and tradeoffs to the fore in a balanced way that can help public agencies safeguard priority services under potentially conflicting uses and budget limitations
Scenario Planning and Nanotechnological Futures
Scenario planning may assist us in harnessing the benefits of nanotechnology
and managing the associated risks for the good of the society. Scenario
planning is a way to describe the present state of the world and develop
several hypotheses about the future of the world, thereby enabling discussions
about how the world ought to be. Scenario planning thus is not only a tool for
learning and foresight, but also for leadership. Informed decision-making by
experts and political leaders becomes possible, while simultaneously allaying
public's perception of the risks of new and emerging technologies such as
nanotechnology. Two scenarios of the societal impact of nanotechnology are the
mixed-signals scenario and the confluence scenario. Technoscientists have major
roles to play in both scenarios