Literature review on the integration of ecosystem services in agricultural economic models

Most analytic tools used in assessing gains from investments in agricultural research either fail to take into consideration environmental impacts or, if they do, it is at a very limited level. The CGIAR Research Programs adopt a systems approach and require a fully integrated consideration of biodiversity and ecosystems services (ESS). This document therefore reviews existing methodologies and available data to identify how biodiversity and ESS can be integrated into analyses at multiple scales; households, farms, landscapes, agriculture sector and economy-wide. The literature review is also designed to identify possible synergies between models at different scales to enable a better understanding of trade-offs between agricultural systems, their environment and human well-being

The Virtual Environments and Platforms in the Teaching of English

Abstract The research aims to highlight the significance of virtual learning environments and platforms in promoting cognitive competencies through interactive learning. The objective is to create effective learning environments by utilizing Virtual Learning Environments and implementing platforms to enhance communicative competencies. The methodology employed for this study includes quantitative and qualitative, descriptive, and predictive approaches, using technological innovation through the implementation of the Schoology platform based on the TPACK model. The results of the study indicate that students exhibit high levels of motivation and discernment toward virtual environments, particularly in English classes. Therefore, selecting appropriate didactic resources and incorporating pedagogical mediation is crucial for optimizing learning outcomes. It is essential to educate students on the significance of learning a foreign language and how it can impact the neural structure of the bilingual brain. Virtual environments facilitate interaction between team members, leading to the creation of new networks and learning environments for the development of language and communicative competencies in another language. Keywords: virtual environments, English teaching, technological innovation, TPACK model. Resumen La investigación se enfoca en la importancia de los entornos y plataformas virtuales de aprendizaje porque permiten la interacción para desarrollar competencias cognitivas, para ello el objetivo consiste en generar ambientes de aprendizaje basados en los Entornos Virtuales de Aprendizaje, mediante la implementación de plataformas y fortalecer las competencias comunicativas, con este fin la metodología tiene un enfoque cuantitativo – cualitativo, de naturaleza descriptiva y predictiva desde la innovación tecnológica con la implementación de plataforma Schoology basados en el modelo TPACK. De acuerdo a los resultados, se evidencia que existe un alto discernimiento y motivación de los estudiantes a la implementación de los entornos virtuales, en particular a las clases de inglés. Para lo cual la necesidad de una mediación pedagógica en la selección de los recursos didácticos podría potencializar aún más el aprendizaje, para ello es fundamental hacer comprender a los estudiantes la relevancia de aprender un idioma extranjero y como este cambia en la estructura neuronal y su trascendencia en un cerebro bilingüe. Por tanto, los entornos virtuales promueven la interacción entre equipos de trabajo con la finalidad de generar nuevas redes y ambientes de aprendizaje, para el desarrollo de competencias lingüísticas y comunicativas en otro idioma. Palabras Clave: entornos virtuales, enseñanza inglesa, innovación tecnológica, modelo TPACK

Integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services into the economic analysis of agricultural systems

Based on existing literature, this paper outlines the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem services and food security. It additionally reviews tools which can be used to integrate biodiversity and ecosystem services into analytic frameworks to allow a better understanding of the trade-offs between different agricultural systems and their ecosystem service provisioning, as well as the resulting impact on productivity and human well-being

Domestication of payments for ecosystem services: new evidence from the Andes.

The current project has sought to assess i) the potential of agricultural biodiversity-focused PES to serve as a cost-effective and socially equitable domesticated diversity conservation incentive scheme, as well as ii) how economic incentive mechanisms such as PES can be designed to build on and complement local institutions of collective action. Results are presented from pilot Payment for Agrobiodiversity Conservation (PACS) schemes and framed field experiments implemented in the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes aimed at sustaining diversity within quinoa, a traditional Andean grain. Findings indicate that opportunity costs of conservation vary widely not only between the two study sites, but also between community-based groups within each site. This creates opportunities to minimize intervention costs by selecting least-cost conserving farmers. However, as shown with respect to the role of wealth and cooperation in determining opportunity costs, this also has implications for the type of farmer to be included in the conservation programme. Promisingly, depending on the fairness principle deemed most important in the local context, there does not necessarily have to be a significant trade-off between the schemes’ potential cost-effectiveness and equity outcomes. The observed behavior in the farmer experimental games further supports such findings and suggests that understanding farmer perceptions of fairness can have important implications for the design of conservation incentive mechanisms, particularly given the important influence of such perceptions on the pro-social behavior that underlies much de facto conservation. Incentive mechanisms, such as PACS, that can support socially valued ends not only by harnessing selfish preferences to public ends but also by evoking public-spirited motives are also more likely to be sustainable over the long-term. The use of PACS incentives for the maintenance of traditional crop varieties and the improvement of smallholder farmer livelihoods thus appears promising for further development and up-scaling