Future Oceans Around: Ecosystem Services in Val Miñor

On February we have visited the creative minds of IES Val Miñor again, as part of our on going Future Oceans Around Programme. We shared another fantastic session with last year students, struggling our minds on the strategies and management of Ecosystem Services and its implications for citizens.

At this time, the Ecosystem Services session involved elements of role-play based on topics drawn from current, real-life issues. So, students created their environmental consultancy to evaluate ecosystem status in the region, as well as ecosystem services for society and why they vary in space. They identified potential impacts to ecosystem services in the region, that depend on different management strategies that citizens can be involved in, now and in the future.

Discussions were very rich with differing opinions but left a few open questions for further debate. For instance, is it possible to have an agreement on the best management for ecosystem services in Val Miñor, by increasing communication among social groups with different interests?

Facing big questions like how to manage ecosystem services reminded us the day to day complications of environmental decision making, and how important scientific tools and methods are to have informed decision-making.

Thanks again to all of the professional environmental managers, it was a really nice learning in common. See you on next month with other arguing challenge.