Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

The people in the network have learned from each other and systematically built further on one another’s knowledge to work further with ecosystem services [ ] 213 Understanding the value of ecosystem services The communications project had three main goals: knowledge (the intermediary group would have suf- ficient knowledge, engagement and will to work with communicating the message), attitude (establishment of a common view among the interme- diaries about the value for society of functioning ecosystems) and action (increased integration of the knowledge of ecosystem services in decision-making processes). The project used various tools to reach out to the general public and or- ganizations in society. Active use was made of social media and YouTube to communicate the value of ecosystem services to new target groups. More conventional communication chan- nels such as the authorities’ home pages, the daily and specialist press, radio and television were valuable tools to reach the interested public, stakeholders and civil servants. The ecosystem services network has been very successful. The people in the network have learned from each other and systematically built further on one another’s knowledge to work further with ecosystem services. A total of 75 per cent of 200 important stakeholders in government and stakeholder organizations assess that knowledge about ecosystem services has increased since 2014. They also expect that consideration of ecosys- tem services will be included in more decisions in the coming five years concerning municipalities, the con- struction and infrastructure sectors and the land-based sectors. The project has contributed to existing work towards achieving the Environmental Quality Objectives on biological diversity and Aichi Targets 1 and 2. A clear lesson emerging from the project after its completion is that communicating the value of ecosystem services is a comprehensive area that affects a number of societal questions. These include the labour and housing markets, social economy and business administration, climate adaptation, land-use planning and public health. The collaborative work of the gov- ernment agencies and the network on ecosystem services will continue through a measure in the Environ- mental Objectives Council to increase the pace of efforts to achieve Sweden’s Environmental Quality Objectives. Pollination by a honeybee on apple blossom Sweden I ncreasing the understanding of the value of ecosystem services and biological diversity — and their importance to society — was the focus of a communication project carried out by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency together with its partners among the central and regional government agencies and other stakeholder organizations from 2014 to 2017. Contributing to achievement of the Swedish Environmental Quality Objectives was another important goal. The hub of the project was an ecosystem services network, consisting of approximately 50 people active within government at all levels and in stakeholder organizations. Their task was to convey knowledge of the benefits of ecosystem services to their organizations and integrate this knowledge into their work activities. Ministry of the Environment and Energy