Visions and objectives

Vision

The over all vision of the project is interact with decision makers at local, regional and national levels to produce “decision support tools” that will explicitly show the value of ecosystem services in developing more sustainable agriculture and achieving Sweden’s environmental

Objectives

The specific research objectives are to;

At national level

evaluate the costs and benefits to society of different agricultural land management practices when including the value of ecosystem services and their contribution to achieving Sweden’s environmental objectives, to valuate the need for policy instruments to provide farmers with incentives to optimize ecosystem services under different scenarios about the future, particularly climate change.

At regional level

use an agent-based model (AgriPoliS) to evaluate the aggregate effects of different land management practices and policy instruments on levels of ecosystem services and cost-effective attainment of Sweden’s environmental objectives.

At local level

develop a web-based decision support tool (C-bank) to be used by farmers and advisors alike for valuing ecosystem services as natural capital at the farm level; and thereby inform management decisions. The tool will quantify the long-term consequences of different management options from both a farmer welfare and ecosystem service perspective.

Integrative activity

Develop a participatory design process, which is able to stimulate the development of decision support tools that are able to communicate the value of ES and biodiversity in agricultural land management decisions; and support the formulation of agricultural and environmental policies at the regional and national levels.