EKN Tool Assessor: Facilitating the application of innovative tools in the assessment of ecosystem services, green infrastructure and natural capital

我们的健康和福祉依赖于“自然资本”，它由活的有机体以及支撑它们的空气、水、土壤和岩石组成。自然资本提供一系列“生态系统服务”，如食物、木材、气候调节、空气和水质量调节，以及具有娱乐和文化价值的绿色空间。“绿色基础设施”--为人们提供服务的绿地和水景网络--的重要性也越来越被认识到。各研究小组开发了广泛的创新工具，以评估自然资本、绿色基础设施和由此产生的生态系统服务。然而，终端用户对这些工具的接受度普遍较低。英国的生态系统知识网络(EKN)已经开始通过开发一项‘工具评估者’服务来弥补这一差距：一站式服务，将用户连接到最适合他们需求的工具(http://ecosystemsknowledge.net/resources/tools/tool-assessor).这目前涵盖了适用于英国的12种工具。此次实习将提供一个由牛津大学环境变化研究所(ECI)的两名研究人员组成的团队，与EKN的工作人员合作，通过评估和添加新工具和案例研究来显著扩展工具评估器服务。ECI的研究人员在建模和生态系统服务评估方面拥有互补的技能。它们将提供与NERC资助的平行项目的链接，以确定评估比斯特绿色基础设施的工具，还将与欧盟的一个重大项目建立联系，该项目着眼于27个案例研究，涉及生态系统服务评估的广泛工具的实际选择和应用(开放项目)。它们还带来了关于英国关键数据集的可获得性的深入知识。实习生将在2016年和2017年初添加新工具。他们将准备英国在哪里使用工具的案例研究，审查实际的用户问题，如环境数据要求。这项工作将包括通过电话和会议与工具开发人员和用户接触。此外，还将组织两次知识交流活动，将最终用户聚集在一起，分享他们使用这些工具的实际经验的知识和经验。实习生还将与至少两个代表特定关键用户群体的专业团体接触。将与每个专业小组一起安排一次研讨会或研讨会，审查工具在该专业内告知特定工作任务的能力。英国在高质量数据集的可用性方面拥有特别的优势，但从业者往往难以获得与其需求最相关的数据。因此，研究人员将编制一份适合在英国使用的数据集的列表，并将这些数据集与可以利用它们的工具联系起来。这将增强工具评估者的功能。愿景是，这次实习将把EKN工具评估者服务建立成一个拥有活跃用户追随者的英国范围的资源。它将提供满足最终用户社区实际需求的资源，大大加强对新兴创新工具的吸收，以评估英国的自然资本、绿色基础设施和生态系统服务，从而使负责土地和水资源管理的人员能够更好地做出基于证据的决策。通过弥合研究与实践之间的差距，它将最大限度地发挥学术研究的价值，并将英国置于自然资本管理创新的前沿。

Our health and wellbeing depends on 'natural capital', which consists of living organisms and the air, water, soil and rock that supports them. Natural capital provides a range of 'ecosystem services' such as food, timber, climate regulation, air and water quality regulation, and green space for recreation and cultural value. The importance of 'green infrastructure' - the network of green spaces and water features that provides services to people - is also increasingly recognised. A wide range of innovative tools have been developed by various research groups to assess natural capital, green infrastructure and the ecosystem services that flow from them. However, uptake of these tools by end-users is generally low. The UK's Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN) has started to bridge this gap by developing a 'Tool Assessor' service: a one-stop shop which connects users to the tools most applicable to their needs (http://ecosystemsknowledge.net/resources/tools/tool-assessor). This currently covers 12 tools applicable to the UK. This internship will provide a team of two researchers from the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute (ECI) to work with EKN staff to significantly expand the Tool Assessor service by evaluating and adding new tools and case studies. The ECI researchers have complementary skills in modelling and ecosystem service assessment. They will provide links with a parallel NERC-funded project to identify tools for assessing green infrastructure in Bicester, and also with a major EU project that looks at 27 case studies involving the practical selection and application of a wide range of tools for ecosystem services assessment (the OpenNESS project). They also bring in-depth knowledge of the availability of key datasets in the UK. The interns will add new tools arising in 2016 and early 2017. They will prepare case studies of where tools have been used in the UK, examining practical user issues such as environmental data requirements. The work will involve engagement with tool developers and users by telephone and in meetings. In addition two knowledge exchange events will be organised to bring end users together to share knowledge and experience of their practical experiences with the tools. The interns will also engage with at least two professional bodies representing specific key user groups. A workshop or seminar will be arranged with each professional group, reviewing the capability of tools to inform specific work tasks within that profession. The UK has a particular strength in the availability of high quality datasets, but practitioners often struggle to access the data that is most relevant to their needs. The researchers will therefore compile a list of datasets suitable for use in the UK, and link these to the tools that can make use of them. This will enhance the functionality of the Tool Assessor.The vision is that this internship will build the EKN Tool Assessor service into a UK-wide resource with an active following of users. It will deliver a resource that meets a real demand from the end-user community significantly enhancing the uptake of the emerging array of innovative tools to assess natural capital, green infrastructure and ecosystem services in the UK, and thus enabling better evidence-based decision making by those responsible for land and water management. By bridging the gap between research and practice, it will maximise the value of academic research and place the UK in the forefront of innovation for natural capital management.