Eco Lenses (Asynchronous Session)
Six-step Guide for Making Nature-based Infrastructure Decisions Comparing the Benefits of Multiple Ecosystem Services: Houston Wilderness Ecosystem Services Primer View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Deborah January-Bevers
Identifying and understanding the benefits of services provided by local ecosystems can lead to cost-effective solutions to infrastructural and environmental problems while also creating enhanced biodiversity in urban/suburban areas. For the storm-prone Greater Houston region, the critical need to better connect the ecosystem services (ES) provided by the diverse assemblages of forests, prairies, wetlands, riparian waterways, and estuaries to long-term resilience and disaster protection is taking shape following four years of increased rain events, severe hurricane destruction and sea level rise. Adding to these challenges are the region's unique, clay-rich soil composition, which greatly influence watershed infiltration and runoff. This Houston Wilderness’ Ecosystem Services Primer, 2nd Edition discusses ways for determining ecosystem services (ES) benefits and values using different established study/valuation methods depending on targeted infrastructure/project goals. In Six Steps designed to aid decision-makers in infrastructure options, this Primer follows a framework for comparison and valuation of the natural environment and how to improve ES and the critical benefits they provide. The Six Steps include: determining the nature-based infrastructure goals, understanding the role of various ES in decision making, establishing an ES baseline for the targeted area(s), evaluating benefit relevant indicators, considering regional/local challenges, and using optimal ES valuation methods. The HW ES Primer brings together land, water, air, soil, and biodiversity solutions to the climate change crisis affecting the Gulf-Houston Region. Local and regional nature-based infrastructure and riparian-based case examples are considered, where science-based ES benefits and valuation options are analyzed and practical nature-based solutions were implemented.
News Coverage on Pollution in China
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Dechun Zhang
The media can play a vital role in spreading and communicating environmental issues to the public. Previous research found that China has become increasingly open toward environmental news; however, social systems have the greatest power to influence news content in the hierarchical model. Hence, this paper assessed to what extent news content on pollution in China is produced under the influences of social systems. This study concludes that the Chinese media tend to favor topics which do not harm the government’s image, thus using more Chinese sources that tend to put a positive spin on new content by framing pollution as a natural and global problem. However, some local and commercial Chinese media and CCTV have more space to investigate pollution news and criticize the government as long as it is not extremely politically sensitive. Hence, this paper discussed the communist ideological forces in the social systems that have a huge impact on news content in China. Another finding is that since the opening of the market in China, some commercial media are somewhat influenced by a liberal ideology and serve as a watchdog. This does not mean the “Chinese government’s media control is dysfunctional”.
Value-in-Impact - Exploring the Disciplinary Gap between Natural and Economic Ecosystems: Towards Sustainability in Fisheries Management View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Attila Pohlmann
The degradation of ocean ecosystems will have profound consequences for the value creation potential of all of humanity. Despite best efforts, the successful implementation of sustainability principles in fisheries management remains elusive considering the continuing depletion of global fish stocks. Separated by a disciplinary chasm, the ecosystem approach for the management of natural resources and the ecosystem approach in the management and marketing literature have remained separate. Bridging this gap is important to overcome the challenges imposed by transaction-centric, goods‑dominant economic theories that are based on value‑in‑exchange and value‑in‑use. Ongoing developments of the Service‑Dominant Logic of marketing provide the concept of value‑in‑impact as the link between natural and economic ecosystems. The potential of the concept to foster sustainable management of natural ecosystems is examined in the context of policy action and consumer behavior. When societal and economic ecosystems are conceptually embedded within natural ecosystems, the global success benchmark of net potential value necessitates the balancing of present interests with considerations regarding future generations. While this is intuitive, managerial and policy implementations may have failed due to a disciplinary divide.
