The Ottawa-based think-tank Sustainable Prosperity is awarding grants to student research proposals that advance policy-relevant research focused on market-based policy or regulatory approaches to enhance environmental protection and sustainability. Up to $8000 will be awarded for the research of one student, or $14,000 for two or more students.

A priority research area is markets for ecosystem goods and services!

They are also keen for research proposals that indirectly relate to ecosystem services, including economic instruments to influence land-use, public attitudes and political economic of market-based instruments.

The deadline for submitting two-page (600 word) proposals is November 30, 2013.  Click here to read more details.  Questions about this initiative should be directed to the Sustainable Prosperity network coordinator Annie Bérubé at aberube@sustainableprosperity.ca.

On Friday November 22 (2013) from 2:30-5PM, the ONES steering committee will host a strategic planning session in Room 10 at the Nottawasaga Inn (6015 Highway 89, Alliston, ON, L9R 1A4).

The purpose of this event is to renew the purpose, intended outcomes, and measures of success of ONES. This will inform future actions and events and to confirm a draft set of bylaws that could be suitable for incorporation.  This will also integrate the new additional mandate of ONES as a working group of the Ontario Biodiversity Council (as updated earlier).

This meeting is open to any interested supporters and network members. If you are interested in attending, or would like to pass on comments or suggestions, please e-mail ONES@ONEcosystemServices.ca to confirm your attendance and to be notified when our room is confirmed.

Agenda:

2:30-3PM: Review of draft bylaws. To be facilitated by Eric Miller.

Eric will walk us through a draft bylaws document, which identifies the rules that will govern ONES as an entity.  This includes the rights and responsibilities of members and directors, reporting and meeting requirements, and the nature of ONES as an organization.  These bylaws are informed by the requirements under provincial and federal acts that govern incorporated non-profits, even though ONES is not incorporated.  These bylaws were drafted from discussions at a Steering Retreat that was held May 23, 2013.

3-4PM: Strategic planning exercise. To be facilitated by Kaitlin Almack.

Kaitlin will introduce the purpose of strategic planning for organizations like ONES.  She will lead us through an exercise to confirm the purpose of ONES and its intended outcomes, with measures of success.  As part of this exercise, we will integrate the new additional purpose of ONES as a working group of the Ontario Biodiversity Council.

4-5PM: 2014 Work plan.  To be facilitated by Kaitlin Almack.

We will plan events, such as the timing and form of a 2014 ONES Workshop, the potential for smaller more focussed ONES Events that could be broadcast and recorded (e.g. the role of Ecosystem Services in Environmental Assessments, market-based instruments for Bobolink protection and recovery in Ontario, modelling the “benefits-shed” of ecosystem services from protected areas), seeking funding / administrative support, etc.

5PM: Other matters. To be facilitated by Mike Puddister.

This will review the outstanding ONES balance held in trust by the EOMF, recent expenses for ONES website software and promo, and other items not covered earlier in the meeting.

Many ONES members will be attending the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics (CANSEE) conference, Sustaining the Commons: Ideas and Actions for a Green Economy, at York University in Toronto, from October 31-November 2.

The conference will feature many topics and issues within ecological economics, including the assessment of ecosystem services.  Speakers include ONES members Tatiana Koveshnikova, Jeff J Wilson, and Eric Miller. Some specific presentations of potential interest to ONES members include:

Session C: Community level sustainability (Fri Nov 1 @ 10:45AM)

“Understanding social values of ecosystem services through perceptions at the community level in the Rio Tapajajos region in the Brazilian Amazon” by Stephane Tremblay, Universite de Quebec a Montreal

“Valuing the Aquatic Benefits of BC’s Lower Mainland” Michelle Molnar, David Suzuki Foundation

“Measuring Environmental Impact at the Neighbourhood Level” Jeff Wilson (a different Jeff Wilson from the ONES member Jeff J Wilson), Dalhousie University

Session D: Sustaining the Commons (Fri Nov 1 @ 10:45AM)

“From Watersheds to Well-being: A preliminary look at ecosystem based indicators of well-being and their applications” Alexandra Belaskie & Julie Mallette, York University

Session H: Ecosystem Services Valuation (Fri Nov 1 @ 3PM)

“Valuation of Ecosystem Services: to Value or Not to Value” Maria Nijnik, Hutton Institute, UK

“Value Lost in Translation: Integrating Ecological Principles into Environmental Valuations”, Tania Briceno, Earth Economics

“Environmental Values in the Marketplace” Roger Hansell, Noble University

Session I: Towards a Green Economy (Fri Nov 1 @ 3PM)

“Green Economy Roadmap for Conservation Authorities”, Jeff J Wilson, Green Analytics (and member of ONES)

Poster Session (Fri Nov 1 @4:45)

“Green accounting as a measure of sustainability – international experiences and challenges ahead” Dr. Bedru B. Balana, The James Hutton Institute

Session L: Valuation and biodiversity (Sat Nov 2 @ 10:45AM)

“Valuing Wetlands in the Credit River Watershed: Implications for Wetland Restoration” Tatiana Koveshnikova, Credit Valley Conservation Area (and member of ONES)

“Using Contingent Valuation and Choice Experiment to Value Agricultural Beneficial Management Practices in Quebec” Jerome Dupras, Université de Montréal

Session N: National Accounts and Green Indicators (Sat Nov 2 @ 10:45AM)

“Land Accounting in Quebec: A Pilot Project for a Sub-Provincial Area” Stephanie Uhde, Quebec Institute of Statistics

“Accounting for Subsoil Mineral and Energy Resources in National Accounts” Weimin Wang and Patrick Adams, Statistics Canada

“Productivity and Natural Capital” Laurel Besco, University of Ottawa

On Sat Nov 2 at 1:15 there’s an Ivey Panel Discussion about the societal uptake of Green Fiscal measures, which is relevant to incentives and the creation of markets in the support of ecosystem services and natural capital.

Hope to see you there and then!

The Ontario Biodiversity Council has endorsed the Ontario Network on Ecosystem Services (ONES) as a working group of the council, with the purpose of advising the council about the role and relevance of ecosystem services in implementing Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy. ONES will be represented on the council by Eric Miller, who is a member of the ONES Steering Committee.

The Ontario Biodiversity Strategy was updated in 2011 with a target that by 2020, programs and policies are in place to maintain and enhance ecosystem services.

The strategy sees the integration of the economic value of biodiversity and ecosystem services into decision-making as an action undertaken by all sectors in order to mainstream biodiversity.

The strategy has an outcome that ecosystem services are maintained and have been restored or enhanced in previously degraded habitats.

The strategy’s targets, actions, and outcomes will fulfill a vision that people value, protect, and enhance biodiversity and the ecosystem services essential for human health and wellbeing.

An upcoming 2013 ONES Strategic Planning Session will detail how ONES can fulfill this new role of serving as an ecosystem services working group of the Ontario Biodiversity Council.

Thank you to all 50 attendees and presenters who attended the ONES 2012 Workshop Mainstreaming Ecosystem Services in Ontario.  Highlights from the presentations and discussions are now available.

Click here to  read highlights from the presentations and discussions.

This event was held in Alliston Ontario in conjunction with the 2012 Latornell Conservation Symposium.

Thank you to the 90+ people who turned out for our Nov 15 forum and network launch in Alliston Ontario! You can access documents and notes provided by our speakers on our Nov 15 Forum page (as they e-mail them to us). You will also soon find our Rapporteur notes. In your inbox, you will soon find a post-workshop survey to help us plan for the future.