Introduction

For reasons of consistency the ten main cases (see Table A.1) have been written with a (more or less) fixed format. As much as possible the following six items have been addressed in the analysis of cases:

1. (1) Introduction to the case: description of the issue, social and environmental setting, sector, and location.

2. (2) Context of the case study: where and how was the valuation study used in the planning process? (or what was the policy context of the study?) Where in the process did the study fit?

3. (3) Assessment context: was the study carried out as (part of) a formal SEA (or EIA) procedure?

4. (4) Ecosystem services: the type of ecosystem services, the way in which ecosystem services were included in the assessment, the type of valuation applied, and the role of stakeholders in the process.

5. (5) Decision making: in what way did valuation of ecosystem services influence decision making? What constraints where encountered in using ecosystem services to inform decision making?

6. (6) SEA boundary conditions: relation between study effort and magnitude of the decisions involved; source of data; the level of detail required at which level of planning; timing of the assessment in the process.

Ten further cases will appear as Cases A.1–A.10 throughout this chapter. These cases have not been analysed in detail but merely provide further illustration of the messages derived from the main cases. These additional cases are listed in Table A.2 with a reference to the cases that they support.