In 2011 the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (UK NEA) delivered a wealth of information on the state, value (economic and social) and possible future of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems across the UK. A Follow-on phase of the UK NEA (UK NEAFO) is underway to address some of the key uncertainties identified by the first phase. It will further develop and promote the arguments that the UK NEA put forward and make them applicable to decision and policy making at a range of spatial scales across the UK, to a wide range of stakeholders.

The Secretariat is currently looking for individuals to peer review the final reports from the various work packages. Interested individuals should have expertise in one or more of the four thematic areas that the UK NEAFO has focused on: Economic analysis, Cultural ecosystem services, Analysis of future ecosystem changes, and Tools and other supporting materials. These themes are being examined through nine different work packages:

Work Package 1 - Natural Capital Asset Check
Work Package 2 - Macroeconomics
Work Package 3a - Economic values of ecosystem services
Work Package 3b - Marine economics
Work Package 4 - Cultural ecosystem services
Work Package 5 - Shared, Cultural and Plural Values
Work Package 6 - Development of the UK NEA scenarios
Work Package 7 - Response options and their viability concerning NEA scenarios
Work Package 8 - Institutional, cultural and behavioural barriers
Work Package 9 - Tools: Applications, benefits and linkages for ecosystems (TABLES)

The UK NEAFO review period will run from 01 – 31st of July, 2013 and reviewers will be required to review their nominated work package(s) report within this period. A template will be provided to capture comments.

If you are interested in being a reviewer please contact nea@unep-wcmc.org by 7th June 2013, providing details of your expertise and stating your preferred work package for review.
 

The BESS (Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Sustainability) programme is a 6-year, £13 million research programme addressing NERC strategic challenges and societal needs and the UK Government’s strategic priorities with respect to biodiversity, ecosystems and their services. The science plan for BESS can be found on the BESS website: http://www.nerc-bess.net

This funding call is for workshops which contribute to the goals of the BESS programme, with an indicative cost of up to £8000 per workshop or series of workshops.  Workshops should provide a platform to bring together researchers and their relevant stakeholder community to explore particular issues or ideas. Bringing together people with different skills, experiences and viewpoints can generate new ideas and approaches to scientific challenges, helping to advance scientific progress on topics that that might otherwise represent significant stumbling blocks.

More information | Application proforma

The School of Geography at the University of Nottingham is advertising for a Senior Research Fellow to work on the scenarios analysis and characterisation of cultural ecosystem services, which forms part of the research for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment Follow-on phase.

Deadline for application: 24 September 2012

For more details click here

LWEC has published an article on how the UK NEA is continuing to generate international interest and is proving influential in the way other nations approach their own assessments.

Register an Expression of Interest for involvement in the research component of the follow-on phase - open until 4th April.