From 9 to 12 January 2017, ESMERALDA held the second of a series of five planned project workshops aimed at testing the flexible ecosystem services (ES) mapping and assessment  methodology under development using real-world case studies. Bringing together both project partners and stakeholders, the workshop aimed to collect feedback on the suitability of the various methods to be used in different decision-making processes.

Group photo of the participants at the Amsterdam workshop during the excursion to De Biesbosch National Park. Credit: Pavel Stoev

During the workshop, the 60 participants received an update on the latest developments of the consortium and the flexible methodology developed within ESMERALDA, and had the opportunity to contribute to the methods classification, database generation and methodology development during different break-out sessions.

Using a selection of three case studies, participants were introduced to a set of selected mapping and assessment methods with the aim to enhance the understanding of the practical applicability of different methods across different spatial scales, methods’ complexities and relevant themes. The case studies used came from the Netherlands, Poland and Malta, mainly focusing on the following themes: Natural risk (NL), Agriculture and Forestry (ML) and Urban and spatial planning (PL).

The overall aim of the workshop was to explore whether the selected methods have the flexibility required to promote the integration of ES in a variety of policy themes relevant across the European Union. The stakeholders Mr Marius Brants from Droomfonds project Haringvliet, Dr. Łukasz Mikuła from the City council of Poznan and Nikolas Cassar from the MALTA Environment and Resources Authority shared their valuable experience in relevant environment management projects in their countries which were broadly discussed by the participants. The ESMERALDA workshop series will continue in April with the next meeting in Madrid, dedicated to specific European biomes and regions.