Linking ecology and economics
In an age where sustainability has become the key to a secure future, the field of EE has attempted to bridge the gap between human economies and natural ecosystems. In this context, the EU-funded project 'CSO engagement with ecological economics' (CEECEC) aimed to render the principles and tools of EE more accessible to the public. The project worked on reinforcing research in EE, building links between ecological economists and civil society organisations (CSOs) to better address sustainability problems. The project enhanced collaboration on sustainability issues among researchers, CSOs and other stakeholders. It conducted workshops on EE tools and concepts, in addition to publishing an online EE Handbook for teachers, CSOs and others. This has helped CSOs gain knowledge on key concepts and methods in the field. The project focused on topics related to social metabolism (looking at material flows, virtual water, and energy returned on investment (EROI)) and life-cycle analysis (LCA)), participation and institutions (property rights, local governance and co-management) and economic valuation and other policy tools (Including payments for ecosystem services, ecological economic zoning and ecological debt). Through intensive collaboration, the project outlined key topics for future research in the fields of energy, water, mining, agriculture, trade, forestry and urban waste. To illustrate, one project topic studied the conflict between sugar and biofuel production that threatens a fragile wetland ecosystem in Kenya’s Tana Delta. Other conflicts involving issues related to light pollution, transport and nuclear power generation were also explored. CEECEC also documented environmental conflicts in the Balkan area in particular, building a network of CSOs from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia. It mapped the state of the environment and documented active CSO concerns in the region to enhance collaboration and create better environmental policies. This involved the organisation of workshops and the development of new resources to increase awareness of the range of environmental conflicts unfolding in region, drawing the attention of researchers to diverse concerns including ecotourism, management of protected areas, industrial logging and water disputes. Thanks to CEECEC results, civil society organisations of the global North and South working on sustainability issues will have the capacity to engage with and lead ecological economics research, using key concepts and tools of the field to influence advocacy, research and policy making. The project has also led to the publication of a book (in soft and hard covers, and an electronic version) published by Routledge, called “Ecological Economics from the Ground Up”, and an online course (that has 3 successful runs) called “Ecological Economics and Environmental Justice”. Moreover, a larger, more ambitious successor project (called EJOLT- Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade) built around CEECEC was also awarded FP7 funding, and will run from 2010-2014.
