Informing marine and coastal policy using ecosystem service assessments: evidence from real world applications

The contribution of marine and coastal ecosystems to human well-being is well documented and acknowledged in policy documents: for the first time oceans are explicitly mentioned in the COP21 climate agreement, while Blue Growth is crucial to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy. Such broad policy
instruments and more concrete management strategies (e.g. the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, or the OSPAR Convention) are adopted locally, nationally, regionally or globally to sustainably manage our seas and oceans. Within the vast heterogeneity of ways to safeguard our oceans, coasts and their associated livelihoods, ecosystem service research and practice provide relevant information to policy instruments and management
bodies. Still there are knowledge and data gaps in marine and coastal ecosystem service research in terms of access to information, best practices, methodological approaches, but also in terms of linking environmental, social and economic data and assessments. During this 3-hour session, members of the marine and coastal research and peactice community will address the following topics:
• The application of research outputs to inform policy and management. Are there successful examples?
• Which are the main tools that research and practice use to communicate ecosystem service information to decision-makers? Do any of those apply to the general public?
• What are still the main knowledge and methodological gaps to the ES operationalization process? Are they related to the scale of assessment, data collection, modelling, integration of results…?