Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan organizes Polish National Symposia on Ecosystem Services in Transdisciplinary Approach – ECOSERV, which are the only nationwide cyclical forum on ecosystem services in Poland. ECOSERV take place every two years and gathers researchers active and interested in this field. Since 2012 the qualified materials are published in English in the scientific journal Economics and Environment. Free online access to the publication from the ECOSERV Symposia is available here: vol 42, vol 51, vol. 59 and vol. 60.
Fourth edition of Symposium – ECOSERV 2016 – took place in Poznań on 5-6 September 2016 and it gathered about 100 researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders from 39 institutions. Special Guest of this event was Joachim Maes from Joint Research Centre. His speech concerned on a science-policy interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services in relation to the mapping and assessment of ecosystem services process in Europe (see Maes 2016).
During ECOSERV 2016, 43 participants make an overview of methods and new findings in the ecosystem services field in Poland, showing the newest results of their work on ecosystem services.
ECOSERV 2016 made also the opportunity to:
- show the potential for wider participation of Polish researchers in international programs and networks, including the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP);
- demonstrate the importance for research and application in Poland activities of the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and Their Services Working Group (MAES), including its pilot projects on agricultural land, forests, freshwater, marine and urban ecosystems, and valuation of natural capital.
Important part of Symposium was seminar session dedicated especially to representatives of public administration and companies acting on environment protection field. The aim of this session was to show the possibilities of practical use of ecosystem services for decision-making in cities and at the regional level. As output from the session see Stępniewska et al. 2017.
More information about ECOSERV 2016 can be found at www.ecoserv2016.amu.edu.pl (Polish version only).
Regional Conference – Ecosystem services in spatial planning – was organised on 13 June 2017 in Poznań by Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan and Wielkopolskie Office of Spatial Planning in Poznan. This event was directed especially to representatives of public administration and stakeholders acting in spatial planning. It gathered about 85 participants from Wielkopolska Region.
The main aims were:
- to inform public stakeholders about the progress of mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (MAES) in Europe,
- to show the opportunities of using ecosystem services approach by practitioners of spatial planning at regional and local levels,
- to discuss the possibilities and difficulties of incorporation ES approach to the spatial planning practice.
Additionally, during the conference the questionnaire survey was carried out, which has been focused on the:
- recognition of ES by the spatial planners,
- defining the usefulness of ES approach in the planistic work,
- identification the barriers for the process of incorporating ES approach in the practice of spatial planning.
The data collected during survey are now processing. The final results will be published soon.