Budgeting ecosystem service analysis as a tool in communication processes in participatory planning?

Abstract

In planning processes, issues of high complexity and conflicts are negotiated. Perceptions and requirements of different actors need to be reconciled in planning processes. To negotiate these different perceptions and requirements, public participation is obligatory in planning processes. However, as participation still faces many challenges with regard to acceptance and understanding of determining factors, there is a need for further participation procedures. This paper aims to show to what extent ecosystem service analysis can be used in the context of participation processes and informal planning instruments for transdisciplinary communication. By budgeting, both ecosystem services supply and the demands of different stakeholder groups from for example spatial planning and civil society are taken into account. Based on a completed research project on the valuation of green and open spaces in the Rhine-Neckar region – in which ecosystem service analy sis has been applied – this paper highlights opportunities and limitations of a relational budgeting ecosystem service analysis. We reflect on the obstacles and challenges encountered during application and implementation. Based on this, we argue that relational budgeting ecosystem service analysis can provide a sound and multidimensional basis for communication that can contribute to the objectification of differences in perception and valuation in discussion and negotiation processes in planning.