Summary of the impact

The School of Environmental Sciences, through its Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) has exerted a seminal influence upon decision-making regarding natural capital and the ecosystem services they supply. Major impacts have been upon UK Government Policy (including the Natural Environment White Paper); Government guidelines (regarding the valuation of ecosystem services and their incorporation within decisions); underpinning UK Official Reports (including the UK National Ecosystem Assessment); Government Committees (including the Defra Science Advisory Council and H.M. Treasury Natural Capital Committee); and the business sector (such as the privatised water companies). In addition, substantial TV, radio and newspaper exposure has generated impact through raising awareness of ecosystem service related issues.

Summary of the impact

This case study is built upon the successful fusion of Spatial Planning with the Ecosystem Approach, translating complex theory into operational outputs for public and stakeholder engagement, which improve policy processes and outcomes across built and natural environments and fringe interfaces. `RUFopoly' and `EATME tree' are co-produced outputs, maximising engagement in learning spaces within game and web-portal formats respectively. For example, the Welsh Government has used both tools to design emerging policy frameworks (testimonial1). The novel research model employed builds research teams that integrate academic, policy and practice participants within a collective journey of (re)-discovery maximising reflective practice and social learning.

Summary of the impact

Effective, equitable natural resource management poses increasingly complex challenges for policymakers and local communities in the context of climate change, population growth and potentially conflicting agendas on biodiversity conservation, livelihoods and economic growth. Leicester research on socio-ecological, culturally appropriate approaches to environmental governance and sustainability has been integral to:

• The development of evidence-based policy and practice on land use, tenure, conservation and pastoralists' livelihoods in Mongolia, by i) empowering herders to communicate with newly-elected government officials; ii) input to policymakers and donors and iii) enhancing herders' understanding and implementation of collaborative management.
• Improved water access amongst marginalised communities at Lake Naivasha, Kenya, with tangible impacts on water poverty and well-being, through i) rehabilitation of infrastructure, ii) environmental education and capacity building and iii) new strategies for sustainable development across the Naivasha basin.

Summary of the impact

Bournemouth University's (BU) pioneering analytical method of mapping ecosystem services and their associated values has led to significant impacts on environmental policy, planning and implementation at a global scale. Research informed the Convention of Biodiversity's (CBD) strategic plan for 2011-20 and its target to restore 15% of degraded ecosystems. Planned delivery of this target employs the use of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR); an approach developed, tested and refined though BU research. Delivery using this method is already underway, with 50 million hectares committed by individual countries. Such restoration efforts have wide-reaching benefits to people and the environment, including carbon storage and increased biodiversity.

Summary of the impact

Many governments have pledged to better manage and protect vital natural resources in order to ensure that existing economic wealth and opportunities remain available to future generations. They have been hampered in doing so by the significant challenges involved in accounting for this 'natural capital'. LSE research has helped to address these challenges and in so doing has contributed to better stewardship of natural resources for a sustainable future. This has occurred at two levels — national and international. In the UK this research has had a direct impact on the shaping of the Government's environmental policy. At the international level it has contributed to World Bank guidance to its 188 member countries and informed the development and implementation of a City Biodiversity Index, which is being applied in over 400 cities worldwide.

Summary of the impact

Appropriate land policy is vital to ensure sustainable food supplies, economic development and environmental protection. Research by the Centre for Rural Policy Research (CRPR) has developed the policy and management implications of the ecosystems services approach to valuing and protecting the environment, which stresses integrated and equitable management of land, water and living resources. The research has contributed to major shifts in policy and practice by national government bodies and changes in the attitudes and behaviour of farming communities. The main impacts have been:

• Contributing to the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs' (Defra) development of national guidelines embedding the ecosystems services approach in policy and helping make the case for the first ever UK National Ecosystems Assessment;
• Informing the Commission for Rural Communities' major review of rural uplands policy and changing policy through the review to improve environmental stewardship in upland farming;
• Improving Defra and Natural England's agri-environmental policies to better communicate the scientific rationale of policies to farmers through training and advice to bring about more pro-environmental attitudes and farming practices.

Summary of the impact

The integrated conceptual framework developed (1993-) by Martin Fransman has influenced the way policy makers, regulators and analysts understand the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector — the most important driver of productivity and global economic growth since 1945. It has improved their appreciation of how innovation happens, while explaining why different countries and companies have been winners/losers as the sector has evolved under conditions of globalisation. His framework has been used to formulate integrated development policies in telecommunications and science & technology in the UK, Brazil, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, and has guided the construction of global innovation ecosystems by several Japanese companies.

Summary of the impact

AU Research has had impact through the shaping of policies, practices and behaviours affecting biodiversity and ecosystem services (ESS) across a wide range of beneficiaries. The research has involved developing methods for valuing ESS, and subsequently mainstreaming this ESS framework to:

• Local communities: AU research has empowered indigenous communities in the Solomon Islands to use their forest resource more sustainably;
• UK policy: AU research has directly influenced the shape UK biodiversity conservation policies;
• International policy: AU research has led to international policy commitments from countries to better conserve global biodiversity.

Summary of the impact

Our research on the hydro-ecology of restored wetlands has had impact through i) Changing the practices of conservation Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in wetland habitat restoration and monitoring. This has been achieved by re-framing approaches to restoration as `open-ended' rather than `prescriptive'; and by producing a clear and accessible new guideline document on how to monitor open-ended, landscape-scale wetland restoration projects; ii) Building capacity for NGOs in biodiversity monitoring through running 44 workshops for volunteers on species identification; iii) Challenging conventional conservation wisdoms on approaches to habitat restoration through debate with stakeholder groups; iv) Increasing the influence of conservation NGOs and government agencies by providing them with a new toolkit for measuring the ecosystem services of restored wetlands.

Summary of the impact

The Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) has undertaken research providing a sustained contribution to understanding beneficiary-focused EU and UK rural development (RD) policies. This used novel, context-sensitive and mixed-method evaluation techniques to capture complex, systemic impacts and diagnose causal linkages between design and delivery, and policy performance. In so doing it has generated direct impacts in improved RD policy making and evaluation. The research has influenced restructuring in EU policy frameworks for RD and changed England's upland policy. By increasing policymakers' understanding of farm-level behaviours and responses to agri-environmental policy goals, CCRI's research has stimulated better-communicated and integrated advisory approaches.