Human well-being depends in many ways on maintaining the stock of natural resources which deliver the services from which human’s benefit. However, these resources and flows of services are increasingly threatened by unsustainable and competing land uses.  Particular threats exist to those public goods whose values are not well-represented in markets or whose deterioration will only affect future generations. As market forces alone are not sufficient, effective means for local and regional planning are needed in order to safeguard scarce natural resources, coordinate land uses and create sustainable landscape structures.

 

This book argues that a solution to such challenges in Europe can be found by merging the landscape planning tradition with ecosystem services concepts. Landscape planning has strengths in recognition of public benefits and implementation mechanisms, while the ecosystem services approach makes the connection between the status of naturalassets and human well-being more explicit. It can also provide an economic perspective, focused on individual preferences and benefits, which helps validate the acceptability of environmental planning goals. Thus linking landscape planning and ecosystem services provides a two-way benefit, creating a usable science to meet the needs of local and regional decision making.

 

The book is structured around the Driving forces-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses framework, providing an introduction to relevant concepts, methodologies and techniques. It presents a new, ecosystem services-informed, approach to landscape planning that constitutes both a framework and toolbox for students and practitioners to address the environmental and landscape challenges of 21^st century Europe. 

Christina von Haaren is Professor of Landscape Planning and Nature Conservation at the Institute of Environmental Planning at Leibniz Universität Hannover. She has been working for decades on landscape planning theories and methods and is especially interested in the implementation of sustainable agriculture and renewable energies 

Christian Albert is Junior Professor of Landscape Planning and Ecosystem Services at the Institute of Environmental Planning at Leibniz Universität Hannover. He has expertise in the theories and methods of landscape planning, ecosystem services, and sustainability science 

Andrew Lovett is Professor of Geography in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. He is a specialist in Geographical Information Systems, with interests in catchment management, energy system transitions and natural capital