Environmental Engineering Reference
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an strong role as decision maker (Nassauer and Opdam
2008
; Southern et al.
2011
;
Van Berkelet al.
2011
). For example, Fürst et al. (
2010
) reported on an interactive
online tool in which stakeholders can experiment with proposing changes in land
cover types, find out effects on several land use functions, and communicate about
the implications of land use change. Steingrover et al. (
2010
) developed a design
approach by which a group of stakeholders could scan the existing green infra-
structure network in a farm landscape from the perspective of the landscape ser-
vices natural pest suppression in crops. Stakeholders identified places which
required broader field margins, improved connectivity or an adapted vegetation
management.
Sustainable change of landscapes implies a multifunctional approach. If land-
scapes are to be planned for several services at the same time, interdependencies
between services become an issue. Services influence each other, for example
regulating services influence production services (Bennett et al.
2009
). Such in-
terdependencies may inspire a hierarchical stepwise design procedure focussed on
creating synergies. Stakeholder groups could go through a process of identifying
bundles of landscape service provisioning. If top-sites for several services coin-
cide, one change produces several benefits to a variety of beneficiaries simulta-
neously. Such a synergy of services enhances the formation of coalitions in the
local community. Alternatively, trade-offs between services cause conflicts
between stakeholders. The best locations to adapt the landscape might also be
found there where there is the strongest demand for benefits, not only because the
return on investment is advantageous, but also because of the strong support of
local stakeholders.
According to sustainability principle 4 (calling for a multi-scale-level
approach), designing landscape for landscape services needs to take into account
the spatial hierarchy of the environmental system (Opdam
2013
). Landscape
elements producing landscape services often do so as part of a larger network of
landscape elements, which extends across the whole planning area, and beyond its
boundaries. The usual land cover-based approaches do not take into account that
service provision may become better or more reliable in clusters of identical land
cover cells. Similarly, the implications of local landscape change on surrounding
areas has not been addressed. Seppelt et al. (
2011
) reported that none of the 153
studies considered the consequences of local decisions on distant ecosystems.
5.5.4 Monitoring Responses of Social-Ecological Systems
Social learning and adaptive management requires feed-back information on how
the physical landscape responds to change. Data are needed for all parts of the
pattern-process-value chain (Fig.
5.1
): how the landscape was changed, how its
performance responded to change, and how this resulted in added value, and to
whom? In addition, it is interesting to know the institutional change in the SES, for
example the formation of new cooperative bonds in the governance network.
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