Assessing the societal benefits of river restoration using the ecosystem services approach

This paper is a contribution from the EU seventh framework funded research project REFORM (Grant Agreement 282656).The success of river restoration was estimated using the ecosystem services approach. In eight pairs of restored–unrestored reaches and floodplains across Europe, we quantified provisioning (agricultural products, wood, reed for thatching, infiltrated drinking water), regulating (flooding and drainage, nutrient retention, carbon sequestration) and cultural (recreational hunting and fishing, kayaking, biodiversity conservation, appreciation of scenic landscapes) services for separate habitats within each reach, and summed these to annual economic value normalized per reach area. We used locally available data and literature, did surveys among inhabitants and visitors, and used a range of economic methods (market value, shadow price, replacement cost, avoided damage, willingness-to-pay survey, choice experiment) to provide final monetary service estimates. Total ecosystem service value was significantly increased in the restored reaches (difference 1400 ± 600 € ha−1 year−1; 2500 − 1100, p = 0.03, paired t test). Removal of one extreme case did not affect this outcome. We analysed the relation between services delivered and with floodplain and catchment characteristics after reducing these 23 variables to four principal components explaining 80% of the variance. Cultural and regulating services correlated positively with human population density, cattle density and agricultural N surplus in the catchment, but not with the fraction of arable land or forest, floodplain slope, mean river discharge or GDP. Our interpretation is that landscape appreciation and flood risk alleviation are a function of human population density, but not wealth, in areas where dairy farming is the prime form of agriculture.PostprintPeer reviewe

Ökosystemleistungen in Flusslandschaften

Flusslandschaften dienen seit mehreren tausend Jahren als Siedlungs-, Infrastruktur-und Produktionsräume. Sie liefern Trink-, Kühl-und Bewässerungswasser, Fisch als Nahrungsmittel oder für die Sportfischerei, Flächen für den Hochwasserschutz und können einen kulturellen und ästhetischen Wert haben. Die zunehmende Intensivierung der Landnutzung und die damit verbundene Kanalisierung, Stauhaltung und andere radikale Veränderungen, z.B. durch den Betrieb von Wasserkraftwerken,führten zu einer Verlagerung der Funktionen und der damit verbundenen Dienstleistungen in Flusslandschaften. Um diesem Trend entgegenzuwirken, ist ein erster Schritt die Sensibilisierung der Öffentlichkeit für deren Bedeutung.51722

\u27Google_Suche\u27: Suche als soziale Praxis in Unterricht und Schule

Im Folgenden verorten die Autorinnen zunächst die Ausrichtung ihres Forschungsansatzes im Unterschied zu bestehenden Thematisierungsweisen von ‚Suche‘ (1), um dann methodologische Weichenstellungen des ethnographischen Forschungsprojekts Lernkultur im digitalen Wandel (LernDiWa) zu skizzieren (2). Im dritten Schritt entwickeln wir an ausgewählten Szenen detaillierte Beobachtungen dazu, wie und als was sich ‚Suche‘ im Schul- und Unterrichtsalltag ereignet (3). Die Verfasserinnen interessiert, wie sich ‚Suche‘ im Detail zeigt und als was beobachtbar wird, mit welchen Praktiken sich ‚Suche‘ verbindet und als welche Art von Wissenspraktik ihr Auftauchen zu verstehen ist. Im vierten Schritt (4) ziehen sie die Fäden zusammen, um zu reflektieren, wie sich Unterricht und Schule wandeln, wenn ‚Suche‘ in der Form, in der sie in den ausgewählten Szenen vorwiegend erscheint, (als ‚googeln‘) in unterschiedlichen Settings der Schule zur Selbstverständlichkeit wird. Zentral dabei sind die Vervielfältigung von relevant gemachtem Wissen und die Verschiebung von Hoheiten über das Wissen. (DIPF/Orig.

Perception of riverscapes: sensual experience and knowledge

International audienc

Perception of riverscapes: sensual experience and knowledge

International audienc

A model integrating social-cultural concepts of nature into frameworks of interaction between social and natural systems

Existing frameworks for analysing interactions between social and natural systems (e.g. Social-Ecological Systems framework, Ecosystem Services concept) do not sufficiently consider and operationalize the dynamic interactions between people\u27s values, attitudes and understandings of the human-nature relationship at both individual and collective levels. We highlight the relevance of individual and collective understandings of the human-nature relationship as influencing factors for environmental behaviour, which may be reflected in natural resource management conflicts, and review the diversity of existing social-cultural concepts, frameworks and associated research methods. Particular emphasis is given to the context-sensitivity of social-cultural concepts in decision-making. These aspects are translated into a conceptual model aiming not to replace but to expand and enhance existing frameworks. Integrating this model into existing frameworks provides a tool for the exploration of how social-cultural concepts of nature interact with existing contexts to influence governance of social-ecological systems

A model integrating social-cultural concepts of nature into frameworks of interaction between social and natural systems

Existing frameworks for analysing interactions between social and natural systems (e.g. Social-Ecological Systems framework, Ecosystem Services concept) do not sufficiently consider and operationalize the dynamic interactions between people's values, attitudes and understandings of the human-nature relationship at both individual and collective levels. We highlight the relevance of individual and collective understandings of the human-nature relationship as influencing factors for environmental behaviour, which may be reflected in natural resource management conflicts, and review the diversity of existing social-cultural concepts, frameworks and associated research methods. Particular emphasis is given to the context-sensitivity of social-cultural concepts in decision-making. These aspects are translated into a conceptual model aiming not to replace but to expand and enhance existing frameworks. Integrating this model into existing frameworks provides a tool for the exploration of how social-cultural concepts of nature interact with existing contexts to influence governance of social-ecological systems.</p