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BEES Newsletter - Spring edition 2017
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1 | Belgian experts review UNSD natural capital accounting method
Over Easter holidays, the BEES international working group called for review of the technical guide for natural capital accounting from the UN statistics division. Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) will become very important to inform decisions on nature use and conservation. The way these accounts are compiled will determine their impact, so critical review is crucial. The BEES international WG compiled and submitted the comments of several Belgian experts to the UN. The comments were generally encouraging, as well as critical regarding some expected implementation challenges. BEES closely follows these evolutions on NCA. |
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2 | Working on ecosystem services ? We need your opinion!
Within a study carried out by Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, we seek to understand how people perceive landscape changes induced by agricultural practices. Through this questionnaire, you will be asked to judge six landscape scenarios based on your appreciation and your perception of the ecosystem service delivery. You don’t need to be working on agriculture, working on ecosystem services is the only condition.
We thank you very much for your valuable input!
You'll find the questionnaire here.
More info ? contact : f.boeraeve@ulg.ac.be
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3 |Belgian publication on Mapping Ecosystem Services
Mapping ecosystem services delivers essential insights into the spatial characteristics of various goods’ and services’ flows from nature to human society. It has become a central topic of science, policy, business and society – all belonging on functioning ecosystems.
This textbook summarises the current state-of-the-art of ecosystem services mapping, related theory and methods, different ecosystem service quantification and modelling approaches as well as practical applications. The book is produced by various international experts in the field, in a professional but understandable format to be used by stakeholders, students, teachers, practitioners and scientists involved or interested in ecosystem services mapping.
Belgian scientists contributed in 6 chapters of this book.
Find the full content here.
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4 | ESP9 world conference : Shenzhen, China, 11-15 December 2017
Welcome to the 9th Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) world conference! With the theme Ecosystem Services for Eco-civilization: Restoring connections between people and landscapes through nature-based solutions.
The ESP9 world conference will be organised in Shenzhen, China from 11-15 December 2017. China has a rapidly expanding community of scientists publishing innovative ES work in international journals, and a growing number of policy-makers and practitioners. This conference aims to bring both the national and international ecosystem services community together to achieve a more sustainable and eco-friendly society.
The program will contain a broad range of topics on the latest state-of-the-art on the science, policy and practice of Ecosystem Services. Conference keynotes will highlight diverse aspect of the overarching theme. Sessions will largely be determined by the participants and provide ample space for the many ESP Working Groups, National Networks and service teams to get together and bring the science, policy and practice further. We welcome you to participate!
This conference is jointly organised by SUSTech and ESP. The selected venue for this conference in Kylin Villa Shenzhen, China. To remain up-to-date regarding the latest conference developments, we recommend you to subscribe to our ESP Update.
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5 | Save the Date : BEES Xmas Market on 12 December 2017
Next BEES Xmas Market will take place in Namur on 12th December 2017. Registrations will open after summer.
BEES (BElgian Ecosystem Services) organises an annual event : the BEES Xmas Market.
The BEES Xmas market brings together people from academia, public administration and civil society, from Belgium and abroad, with one common interest: ecosystem services. The BEES market is the perfect spot to exchange ideas, learn from other experiences and discover how ecosystem services are transformed into real products or daily life applications.
The concept? A cozy afternoon in a friendly Xmas market-like atmosphere: the perfect event to wrap up the year in a useful and fun way! You can choose to have a stand, give a training session or just to enjoy the market.
Have a look at the video of :
And pictures of last year's 2016 edition.
 
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6| Three questions to Inge Liekens, VITO  Inge Liekens joined VITO (Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek) in 2003 where she has contributed to several projects on the assessment of environmental costs and benefits with a particular emphasis on the economic valuation of ecosystem services and water benefits. She is strongly involved in the development of tools to help planners and policy makers to quantify, map and value ecosystem services e.g. European project Esmeralda; the Dutch Atlas Natuurlijk kapitaal, ECOPLAN en de Natuurwaardeverkenner. She is also a lead author in IPBES European and central Asian Assessment. How are you involved in BEES? Since the cost benefit analysis of the Sigmaplan were we included for the first time multiple benefits of the natural safety measures, I am only more convinced that telling about the benefits of nature and nature based solutions is a much stronger story than hammering on the loss of it. Since then, I work on tools to help others realise those success stories. I was involved in BEES from the beginning. First as one of the partners in the initial BEES network project, as organizer of a BEES workshop on valuation of ecosystem services, author of several chapters within the BEES book. I am still in several working groups of BEES and an enthusiastic participant of the BEES market. What do you think is important in BEES? Although there is still a lot to do, I am convinced that we can improve human wellbeing by safeguard and even enhance our natural capital. The ecosystem services approach can help with this because it is a holistic approach and a language that can help people with different views to understand each other. To work on a better planet, you need researchers of different disciplines, policy makers (government and business) and society round the table to discuss and develop plans for the future. I believe BEES has an important facilitating role in bringing all different kinds of people together around ecosystem services. Where would you like BEES to be in a few years? I hope BEES will only grow and bring different societal groups together to enhance knowledge exchange and raise awareness. Moreover I want to see BEES facilitating a creative environment to initiate the successfull stories that will convince people nature offers a multitude of opportunities for a sustainable society and human well-being.
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