Collective decision-making under uncertainty: Ecosystem Service valuation must use stakeholder knowledge

Monday, March 28, 2011

Ecosystem Service valuation must use stakeholder knowledge

"...the academic literature about ecosystem services relies on a conceptual basis that
differs dramatically from the kinds of information that stakeholders depend on when evaluating ecosystem services. Ecologists and other scientists seek knowledge that is centralised, collaborative, replicable, and based on consensus. In contrast, the information used by stakeholders to set values tends to be dispersed, temporary, local and dependent on existing practices and institutions (link)."

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My name is Shuang Liu and I work for CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences as a research scientist. Three key words that summarize my background are: problem-solving, the science-policy interface, and interdiciplinarity.

Trained as an ecological economist as a PhD student (Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont), I take solving real-world problems as the ultimate goal of my research (and yes, they did tell me publication is also important). So I have been working at the science-policy interface (so far mostly in the areas of ecosystem services and biological invasions) with my knowledge and training in biology, ecology, economics, public participation, and group facilitation.

Looking into the future, what intrigues me most is how we make collective decisions under uncertainty. Just think about our experience so far with GMOs, biological invasions, and of course climate change... This blog records the journal of my research in this direction.