Marjan van den Belt

Well-being is a multi-dimensional and complex concept integrating economic, social, environmental and cultural components. Indicators are used extensively to track change in the constituent components of well-being. Yet, little effort has been directed at understanding the relationships between the different well-being measures. This chapter descri...

Systems archetypes are effective in communicating complex behaviour with relatively simple structures, across a wide range of topics. The “power dynamics” between different power holders are critically important in decision making when it comes to formulating and implementing policies. This topic was explored at a four‐day Australasian systems work...

Economics, demographics, land use change, and transport interact in complex and dynamic ways. To inform urban policy decision-making it is important to develop tools that incorporate the interactions of these systems in meaningful ways. Historically, models of these systems have been developed in isolation, and many agencies have already invested l...

Nature is perceived and valued in starkly different and often conflicting ways. This paper presents the rationale for the inclusive valuation of nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in decision making, as well as broad methodological steps for doing so. While developed within the context of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosy...

This article focuses on public policy networks, but more particularly on those that are global in scope and intent. It examines how such networks are being deployed to advance the goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda, and how the New Zealand government and non-government actors might be involved. Networks have become an important tool in pol...

“Ecosystem services” (ES) has been described both as a trans-disciplinary bridging concept and as a boundary object for sustainability, indicating ES sutures discourses in ways that are bound to be in tension. Given the international attention that has been accorded to ES, it is subject to considerable pressure from growth-oriented economic thinkin...

Systems archetypes are effective in communicating complex behaviour with relatively simple structures across a wide range of topics. The " power dynamics " between divergent points of view is critically important in decision-making when it comes to formulation and implementation of policies. This topic was explored at a four-day Australasian system...

Excerpted from Annex II: Stepwise approach to “assessing diverse conceptualizations of multiple values of nature and its benefits, including biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and services”: a summary and directions to the guidance document (Preliminary Guide, Annex III). This summary provides an introduction to the guidance document and illustrate...

Sustainable Pathways 2 (SP2) is a six year research project that run from September 2009 to October 2015. SP2 focuses on developing processes and tools to support integrated, spatially explicit, strategic decision-making. There are three linked objectives of the SP2 research: • Mediated Modelling allows a wide range of stakeholders from the public,...

The dependence of people and economies on natural capital is still undervalued. One reason is that values related to our global life support system are largely outside the market place, beyond the notion of price and often invisible. An ecosystem service approach aims to make visible the ensuing benefits people derive from natural capital at multip...

The ecological health of rivers worldwide continues to decline despite increasing effort and investment in river science and management. Bayesian belief networks ( BBN s) are increasingly being used as a mechanism for decision‐making in river management because they provide a simple visual framework to explore different management scenarios for the...

We observe a paradigm shift toward collaborative, multi-level (from local to global) water management and suggestions for scale-related design principles in the literature. Decision-support tools are needed that can help achieve scale design principles. Mediated modeling (MM) refers to model building with people, rather than for people. This tool b...

document available at: http://www.ipbes.net/images/documents/plenary/third/information/INF_7/IPBES_3_INF_7.pdf

In New Zealand (NZ), literatures on ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems has expanded in recent years as the impact of agriculture on the provision of services to meet public and private demand for ecosystem services are increasingly recognised. We review the NZ literature and analyze the scope of an ecosystem services approach in agro-ecosystems...

Genuine Progress Indicators (GPIs) have been developed because Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the proxy most used to measure well-being, does not include many non-market activities that make a significant contribution to well-being. Moreover, GDP includes, and therefore counts as positive, many activities that are detrimental to societal well-being....

The concept of ecosystem goods and services (ES) has become increasingly important in conservation management. This report provides an overview of how ES theory, classification, valuation methods and spatial modelling tools can be used to manage and protect New Zealand's existing marine parks, management areas, sanctuaries and the protected area ne...

We present a simulation model developed to communicate a potential investment trap associated with using man-made river engineering to protect built infrastructure. A small system dynamics model in STELLA™ was constructed following a collaborative model-building process to increase understanding among stakeholders of the role natural capital plays...

Mediated Modeling (MM) refers to “model building with stakeholders,” enabling collaborative learning and decision support. This article presents results from the Integrated Freshwater Solutions (IFS — www.ifs.org.nz) action research project in the Manawatū River watershed, New Zealand. Water quality in the watershed often rates poorly, with the key...

In this chapter, we explore integrated modeling (IM) methods and tools supporting adaptive management of estuarine and coastal ecosystems, particularly focusing on participatory system dynamics-based approaches. We describe Mediated Modeling experiences developed in the Guadiana estuary and the Ria Formosa coastal wetland in Portugal and present tw...

Valuation is about tradeoffs between alternative options, regardless of whether these tradeoffs are consciously made or not. Natural capital contributes substantially to societal and individual well-being by sustaining economies, generating life support functions and innumerable amenities, and assimilating waste. Societies that rely on the market s...

This chapter introduces Ecological Economics as a trans-discipline or field of inquiry. It explores some of its history, normative goals and an introduction to applied tools used in decision making and management. Against this background, an integrative analysis and synthesis of economic, ecological and social systems regarding Estuaries and Coasts...

In the past decades several attempts have been made to integrate socio-economic models with land use change (LUC) models. In most cases, however, there is a uni-directional relation from the socio-economic model(s) to the LUC model by providing land use demands based on demographic and economic developments. In this paper we present a model that al...

Volume 12 Ecological Economics of Estuaries and Coasts 12.01 Ecological Economics of Estuaries and Coasts 1 M van den Belt 12.02 What Are Ecosystem Services? 15 R de Groot 12.03 Valuation of Coastal Ecosystem Services 35 M van den Belt, V Forgie, and J Farley 12.04 Environmental Benefit Transfers of Ecosystem Service Valuation 55 S Liu, R Porte...

This report looks at some of the integrated computer-based modelling tools available for use by regional level government in New Zealand. These types of modelling tools have the scope to assist end-users by providing the adaptive capacity essential to accelerate the transition toward sustainability. An assessment of eight different modelling tools...

In today's climate of government outsourcing and multiple stakeholder involvement in public sector management and service delivery, it is more important than ever to rethink and redesign the structure of how policy decisions are made, implemented, monitored, and adapted to new realities. The traditional command-and-control approach is now less effe...

Several computer-based simulation modelling tools are available to New Zealand's Regional Authorities for strategic policy research and management. Selecting effective modelling tools is often a daunting task for Councils and other end-users. New Zealand Centre for Ecological Economics (NZCEE), Landcare Research (LCR) and Market Economics Ltd (MEL)...

Background/Question/Methods Many ecological and social indicators reveal that humanity is currently on an unsustainable pathway. New Zealand is a country with a low population density (16 people/sq km) among OECD countries. It has a high Human Development Index of 94% (UNDP). New Zealand (NZ) is an island nation and relatively remotely located...

This article describes the use of group model building to facilitate interaction with stakeholders, synthesize research results and assist in the development of hypotheses about climate change at the global level in relation to UV-B radiation and ecosystem service valuation. The objective was to provide a platform for integration of the various res...

Mediated modeling is an innovative new approach that enhances the use of computer models as invaluable tools to guide policy and management decisions. Rather than having outside experts dispensing answers to local stakeholders, mediated modeling brings together diverse interests to raise the shared level of understanding and foster a broad and deep...

The articles included in this special section focus on the ecological and economic interactions of woodland use in Western Zimbabwe. One of the aims was to investigate the use of modelling to achieve integration among disciplines. The integrated model draws on the models in the different papers comprising the special section. The model has five eco...

This paper is an introduction and synthesis of the papers that appear in this special issue devoted to the sustainable governance of the oceans. The special issue contains papers on various aspects of the problem, including: the ecological and economic importance of the oceans, the problems facing the oceans from an ecological economics perspective...

Pressures being exerted on the ocean ecosystems through overfishing, pollution, and environmental and climate change are increasing. Six core principles are proposed to guide governance and use of ocean resources and to promote sustainability. Examples of governance structures that embody these principles are given.

We applied computer modeling as a consensus building tool as part of the development of the Patagonia Coastal Zone Management Plan (PCZMP). The objective was to build a ‘scoping model’ to assess some of the important ecological and economic interlinkages of the coastal zone of Patagonia. The main purposes were to build consensus, integrate across s...

The objective of this study was to determine what value was placed on the endemic fynbos vegetation by students from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Students at four schools were given: (a) a questionnaire to assess their existing knowledge of fynbos; (b) a slide show; and (c) a second questionnaire to determine how effectively this informat...

The services of ecological systems and the natural capital stocksthat produce them are critical to the functioning of the Earth’s life-support system. They contribute to human welfare, both directly and indirectly, and therefore represent part of the total economic value of the planet.We have estimated the current economic value of 17 ecosystem ser...

The services of ecological systems and the natural capital stocks that produce them are critical to the functioning of the Earth's life-support system. They contribute to human welfare, both directly and indirectly, and therefore represent part of the total economic value of the planet. We have estimated the current economic value of 17 ecosystem s...

The services of ecological systems and the natural capital stocks that produce them are critical to the functioning of the Earth's life-support system. They contribute to human welfare, both directly and indirectly, and therefore represent part of the total economic value of the planet. We have estimated the current economic value of 17 ecosystem s...

If governments are to take their responsibilities seriously as part of the solution for helping to ensure sustainable societies for present and future generations, then changes in governmental, corporate and citizens' activities must take place. This paper reviews the changes in a few governments' environmental policies and procedures that are fost...