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The objective of this report is to encourage each GEO community to share, improve or start their developments on EVs and to adopt a coherent common framework. Experts from every GEO Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs) describe the level of development of EVs in their field. The relationship with transversal policy needs is analyzed from different angles. Data and research gaps are discussed and ways forward are suggested. A common set of criterias to define EVs is put forward. A recommendation is made for a better alignment of EVs with the GEO Data Sharing Principles as well as the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). In this respect, solutions to make EVs more visible on the GEO platform are proposed. The target readership of this report is therefore all members of GEO and the Earth Observation (EO) community more generally.

Szenarien zeigen uns eine Vielfalt von Entwicklungen auf und erlauben einen Blick in die Zukunft. Werden mehrere thematische Szenarien kombiniert, können auch Querschnittsthemen wie die Ökologische Infrastruktur abgebildet werden., Hotspot, 46/2022

The ValPar.CH project commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) will simulate the future development of Switzerland’s Ecological Infrastructure (EI) under multiple scenarios with the aim of exploring policy interventions intended to secure a functioning EI by 2060. Within the scope of ValPar.CH, EI is defined as a network of high quality natural and semi-natural landscape elements planned and managed to provide ecosystem services (ES) and support biodiversity. As such, simulating the development of EI is operationalized through the coupling of Land Use Land Cover Change (LULCC), ES provision and species distribution models. This coupling presents numerous practical challenges, one of which is a trade-off between model complexity and interoperability which is often exacerbated by the demand upon collaborating researchers to demonstrate innovation in their respective fields. On the other hand, it also raises conceptual questions regarding how to present the results of modelling multiple environmental phenomena in a unified, coherent manner. Whilst there can be no objective solutions to these issues, we demonstrate the approaches taken to address them within the ValPar.CH project. Specifically, we highlight how flexibility is essential in the selection of modelling approaches with key considerations for interoperability being: adaptability to a commonly agreed spatio-temporal resolution of analysis, maximisation of overlap between predictors/data sources, and the possibility to realise the models in open source programming applications, such as R and Python. Furthermore, we present how stakeholder participation can be used to derive a context specific indicator of EI combining components of ES, biodiversity and landscape metrics. Key words: model coupling; ecosystem service; species distribution; land use change; ecological infrastructure

The approach of Nature's Contributions to People (NCP) has been developed to emphasize human dependence on nature and to better target environmental conservation efforts. While the methods used for NCP assessments have evolved greatly over the last 20 years, the challenge of how to best link and predict NCP to and from individual species or biotic communities still remains largely unmet. Current NCP-based conservation prioritization methods tend to fail to account for individual species and many other dimensions of biodiversity (BD). Therefore, land-management policies based on simple NCP mapping are unlikely to properly account for the full complexity of ecosystems and can ultimately lead to biodiversity loss. Furthermore, as landscapes are increasingly modified by anthropogenic forces, the remaining (semi-)natural ecosystems represent a potential ecological ‘infrastructure’ to be maintained and kept functional. In this working paper, we provide i) a review on the BD-NCP spatial relationships, ii) the main methods used for their study, iii) the main research gaps, and iv) recommendations on how the study of their relationships can be improved, especially when considering a national ecological infrastructure (EI), and a roadmap about how we will approach this subject within the ValPar.CH project. The roadmap focuses on the EI mapping objectives of ValPar.CH, and its main stakeholders.

This book includes over three hundred and seventy-five short papers presented during the second EMCEI, which was held in Sousse, Tunisia in October 2019. After the success of the first EMCEI in 2017, the second installment tackled emerging environmental issues together with new challenges, e.g. by focusing on innovative approaches that contribute to achieving a sustainable environment in the Mediterranean and surrounding regions and by highlighting to decision makers from related sectors the environmental considerations that should be integrated into their respective activities. Presenting a wide range of environmental topics and new findings relevant to a variety of problems in these regions, this volume will appeal to anyone working in the subject area and particularly to students interested in learning more about new advances in environmental research initiatives in view of the worsening environmental degradation of the Mediterranean and surrounding regions, which has made environmental and resource protection into an increasingly important issue hampering sustainable development and social welfare.