Free webinars will inform businesses, landowners, NGOs, policymakers and researchers about valuing natural assets.
The presentations follow the publication of five reports last year by the Valuing Nature Programme, a multidisciplinary partnership co-ordinated by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, which aims to increase understanding of the value of nature both in non-economic and economic terms plus improve the use of these valuations in decision-making by government and business.
The five sessions, which run from 24 January to 19 February, will each focus on one of the reports:
- Soils Natural Capital valuation needs for agri-food businesses
- Floodplains
- Afforestation of peatlands
- Temporary rivers
- Making monetary National Capital assessment in the private sector
Among those invited to register for the events are representatives of businesses, charities and other organisations making decisions about valuations of natural assets; local and national government officials involved in policymaking; and researchers.
The webinars, which will involve a presentation by the academics who wrote the reports plus a question and answer session, are on the following dates:
- 24 January 2019, 1-2pm: The Natural Capital of temporary rivers by Rachel Stubbington of Nottingham Trent University
- 5 February 2019, 12.30-1.30pm: The Natural Capital of floodplains by Clare Lawson and Emma Rothero of The Open University
- 6 February 2019, 1-2pm: Natural Capital trade-offs in afforested peatlands by Richard Payne of the University of York
- 13 February 2019, 1-2pm: Soil Natural Capital valuation in agri-food business by Jessica Davis and Victoria Jane-Bassett of Lancaster University
- 19 February 2019, 1-2pm: Monetary National Capital assessment in the private sector by Rose Pritchard of the University of Edinburgh
To register for the free events, visit http://valuing-nature.net/NatCapWebinars
Further information
The five reports commissioned by the Valuing Nature Programme identified evidence gaps, the need for more research and datasets, plus made recommendations for further collaborative action by government, business and academia. The Valuing Nature Programme is a five-year £7m initiative funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It funds researchers and also helps them to establish links with policymakers and businesses through the Valuing Nature Network.
http://valuing-nature.net/ Twitter @ValuingN