Sustainable development and environmental improvement are often regarded as intrinsically valuable a priori. As a result, the policies by which these goals are to be attained is often inadequately scrutinised. In this book, ecological economics addresses the institutional and policymaking aspects of environmental problems, thus covering a broad socioeconomic research agenda, in contradistinction to mainstream economic approaches. The approach advocated here is open to differing viewpoints on the same issue, sees conflict resolution as a social process, and accepts the need for research into...

By their adoption of Agenda 21, most of the world's governments have acknowledged the need for sustainable development. This implies that new policies are needed, focusing on economic, social, cultural and ecological goals. At the same time, we also need to solve existing environmental and social problems, and prevent the occurrence of new ones. This volume presents, tests and illustrates a theoretically well-founded procedure for discovering regional opportunities for sustainable development, based on a systems approach to decision making. The procedure takes as its starting point the needs...

This book examines in detail the resource management problems and challenges posed by the intensification of the environmental change process in coastal areas around the globe. The analysis deployed is by and large buttressed by methods and techniques drawn from social science disciplines: economics, geography, and psychology. However, the overall approach adopted is multidisciplinary with additional contributions from the natural sciences and statistics. The key concept developed is that of ecosystem function value diversity and its management policy analogue, ecosystem integrity...

Founded on the core notion that we have reached a turning point in the governance, and thus the conservation, of ecosystems and the environment, this edited volume features more than 20 original chapters, each informed by the paradigm shift in the sector over the last decade. Where once the emphasis was on strategies for conservation, enacted through instruments of control such as planning and 'polluter pays' legislation, more recent developments have shown a shift towards incentive-based arrangements aimed at those responsible for providing the environmental services enabled by such...

Sustainable development and environmental improvement are often regarded as intrinsically valuable a priori. As a result, the policies by which these goals are to be attained is often inadequately scrutinised. In this book, ecological economics addresses the institutional and policymaking aspects of environmental problems, thus covering a broad socioeconomic research agenda, in contradistinction to mainstream economic approaches. The approach advocated here is open to differing viewpoints on the same issue, sees conflict resolution as a social process, and accepts the need for...

Founded on the core notion that we have reached a turning point in the governance, and thus the conservation, of ecosystems and the environment, this edited volume features more than 20 original chapters, each informed by the paradigm shift in the sector over the last decade. Where once the emphasis was on strategies for conservation, enacted through instruments of control such as planning and 'polluter pays' legislation, more recent developments have shown a shift towards incentive-based arrangements aimed at those responsible for providing the environmental services enabled by such...

This book applies the 'ecosystem services' framework to coastal environments, showing how it could facilitate an adaptive management strategy. The contributors describe a decision support system (DSS) based on the 3 Ps - pluralism, pragmatism and precaution - that leads to a more flexible, 'learn by doing' approach to the stewardship of coastal environments. The book lays out a "Balance Sheets Approach" to formatting, interrogating and presenting data and findings. The opening chapter defines coastal zones, their characteristics and natural resources, and describes their complex and dynamic...

This book applies the 'ecosystem services' framework to coastal environments, showing how it could facilitate an adaptive management strategy. The contributors describe a decision support system (DSS) based on the 3 Ps - pluralism, pragmatism and precaution - that leads to a more flexible, 'learn by doing' approach to the stewardship of coastal environments. The book lays out a "Balance Sheets Approach" to formatting, interrogating and presenting data and findings. The opening chapter defines coastal zones, their characteristics and natural resources, and describes their complex and dynamic...

Natural resources have been a recurring subject of public interest, from the environmental awakening in and the oil crises of the later 20th century, to wide swings in oil prices and increased concern about climate change in the first decades of the 21st century.