Investigating the Cultural Ecosystem Services of Urban Water Bodies and their use in Environmental and Land Use Planning

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Bodies of freshwater, such as rivers, lakes and canals, serveas defining features of human settlement, are amongst themost biodiverse habitats on earth (Dudgeon et al, 2006) andhave significant importance to people, providing spiritual andinspirational values, recreational opportunities, favourableaesthetics and educational opportunities (MillenniumEcosystem Assessment, 2005). However, their value hasoften been overlooked with urbanisation and changes in landuse posing a significant threat to the services they provide(Everard and Moggridge). This PhD project will work with theEnvironment Agency to investigate the non-material benefitshumans obtain from urban blue spaces, such as health andwellbeing and to identify how this information could be usedin environmental and land use planning. This will support thedelivery of England's policy framework for freshwatermanagement.Natural environments within towns and cities has beenshown to have positive effects on health inequalities, mentalhealth, recreation and life satisfaction. Therefore, designingtowns and cities with this in mind could help to overcome theunhealthy lifestyles and increased chronic diseases that areassociated with increased urbanisation (Dora & Phillips,2000; Passchier-Vermeer & Passchier, 2000; WHO, 2009),whilst at the same time protecting the environment andpromoting sustainability.To date most investigations of the health benefits of naturalenvironments have typically not differentiated between blueand green space (Völker & Kistemann, 2011). Therefore,more research is needed to understand how urban bluespace contributes to health and wellbeing in order for thesustainable management of these resources.Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) are the "nonmaterialbenefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritualenrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation,and aesthetic experiences" (MA, 2005). Recent work hasproposed and applied frameworks to assess CES focusing onthe contribution that aspects of environmental spaces andcultural practices make to three aspects of wellbeing;identity, experiences and capabilities (Fish et al., 2016a; Fishet al., 2016b; Bryce et al., 2016). However, these have only3 / 13been applied in designated areas such as national parks,nature improvement areas and marine protected areas (Fishet al., 2016b; Bryce et al., 2016) which has overlooked urbanareas and everyday activities that have the potential toaffect the wellbeing of the increasing urban population. ThisPhD will investigate characteristics of urban blue space thatpeople visit and value, the cultural practices associated andthe benefits people obtain from urban water bodies in termsof identity and experiences. Working with the EnvironmentAgency it will then go on to review the CES framework,methods used to apply it and its use in environmental andland use planning.12 Project description: pleasecopy/paste/write a full description of theproposed project here, outlining its aims,proposed methodology, timescales andplans for dissemination and knowledgeexchange, both between the project andexternal partner and with wider audiences