CEP undertaking evaluation of Natural England's Environmental Benefits from Nature tool

CEP is undertaking the evaluation of Natural England’s Environmental Benefits from Nature tool. 

The Beta version of the tool was released for testing in July 2021. The tool is intended to expand net gain approaches to include wider Natural Capital benefits such as flood protection, recreation and improved water and air quality.

Natural England has been developing the Environmental Benefits from Nature (EBN) tool as a voluntary tool to encourage developers to consider net gain of wider ecosystem services at the same time that they work to achieve mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).

The evaluation of the Environmental Benefits from Nature Tool (EBN) is intended to deliver the recommendations of the work carried out by CEP early in 2021 on the Creation of an Evaluation Framework for the Environmental Benefits from Nature Tool and ultimately support Natural England’s work to deliver the 25 Year Environment Plan (25 YEP) commitment to expand net gain approaches.

This evaluation will look at who is using the tool in the Beta phase, for what purposes, in what ways and why. The results will help take the tool forward into the future ensuring it is able to deliver on policy needs and requirements and that it continues to have the support of users.

The evaluation will:

• co-ordinate and evaluate up to 20 case-studies of users of the EBN tool, based upon a list supplied by the NE PM, to assess the impact of the EBN tool at different scales, in different uses and at different stages of development

• document the way the tool has been applied, the actions taken, why it has been applied in these ways and the results of these applications

• carry out a case study with a local planning authority (LPA) to take an in depth look at their experience of interacting with the EBN tool in their capacity of both approving planning decisions and acting as a consultee for changes in land use that do not require Local Authority planning permission.

The project will run till the end of March 2022.

For further information, contact Paula Orr (Technical Director)

CEP delivering EKN training

Incorporating natural capital and ecosystem services into environmental assessments: Exploring best practice

Two dates for this course in 2019:

• 26th June 2019, Leeds (Coth Hall Court, LS21 2HA).

• 27th November 2019, Central London (Cotton Centre, SE1 2QG)

This course, which is now in its third year, will equip you to inform clients or colleagues on the merits of including the ecosystem services and natural capital concepts in environmental assessment processes. There is now strong interest in what ecosystem services, natural capital and nature-based solutions mean for Environmental Impact Assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal.  The course is delivered by Dr Bill Sheate and Spela Kolaric of Collingwood Environmental Planning and organised by the Ecosystems Knowledge Network.

Find out more and book at: https://ecosystemsknowledge.net/events/training-environmental-assessment

CEP runs assessment training course for EKN

CEP runs successful environmental assessment and ecosystem services training course again in 2018

Dr Bill Sheate, Spela Kolaric and Alex Mackaness delivered once again our very successful one-day training course on environmental assessment and ecosystem services for the Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN) this last week to 30 participants, building on the success of previous training courses across the UK during 2016 and 2017.

The one-day training course - on Incorporating ecosystem services and natural capital into environmental assessment - was held at the offices of Tideway, in London on Thursday 22nd November 2018 with participants from consultancies, the environmental agencies from across the UK devolved administrations, academics and practitioners from the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

For further information. including possible future dates, see the EKN link here.

CEP contribute to Urban Natural Capital Accounting report for Defra

CEP contribute to analysis on urban cooling for Urban Natural Capital Accounting report for Defra

CEP have contributed to a recently published report by eftec on Urban Natural Capital Accounting, for Defra. CEP's role in the research involved contributing to a review of the cooling effect of green and blue infrastructure across 11 city regions. This report extends earlier work for Defra on the local climate regulating benefits of urban natural capital developed in the UK Urban Natural Capital Scoping Study, by including blue space, and other green space categories, and improving the accounting of spatial differentials in climate. 

The final report has now been published: Scoping UK Urban Natural Capital Account - Local Climate Regulation Extension.  

For more information, please contact Dr Sian Morse-Jones (Senior Consultant)

Environmental assessment and ecosystem services training now booking

Incorporating natural capital and ecosystem services into environmental assessment: Exploring best practice

CEP, in association with Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN), will once again be running this popular CPD-level one-day training course in London in November 2018.

“Very informative. Trainers very knowledgeable and approachable. Use of case study
examples ideal.” Course participant, London May 2016.

The concepts of natural capital and ecosystem services are becoming prominent across Europe, along-side growing interests in nature-based solutions. There is now strong interest in what ecosystem services, natural capital and nature-based solutions mean for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Sustainability Appraisal (SA). This training course will cover:

• Why these concepts are useful in environmental assessment
• How the concepts can be used in EIA, SA and SEA
• How you might use ecosystem services in theory and practice
• Challenges and opportunities (data requirements; legal compliance; guidance)

Date and venue: 22nd November 2018. Tideway, Cottons Centre, Cottons Lane, London, SE1 2QG.

Who is the training for? The course is for professionals involved in environmental assessment processes (EIA, SEA and SA) across diverse sectors including built infrastructure and development planning, transport, energy, water resources and flood risk management.  It will be applicable to environmental assessment practitioners and stakeholders working from project level to strategic plans; and in relation to terrestrial and marine environments.

Trainers

Dr Bill Sheate: Technical Director of Collingwood Environmental Planning and Reader in Environmental Assessment at Imperial College London.

Špela Kolarič: Senior Consultant at Collingwood Environmental Planning. An environmental and spatial planning specialist.

For prices and booking visit the EKN website at:
https://ecosystemsknowledge.net/events/training-environmental-assessment

CEP-led Consortium delivers first set of European Environment Agency contracts

CEP-LED CONSORTIUM SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERS FIRST SET OF CONTRACTS UNDER EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY FRAMEWORK CONTRACT

CEP is pleased to announce the successful completion of the first seven contracts awarded under the CEP-led framework service contract for the European Environment Agency (EEA) which provides assistance to the consolidation and update of the knowledge base on global megatrends and resource nexus in support of SOER 2020 (the European Environment State and Outlook Report).

Awarded in May 2017, CEP has overseen the preparation and delivery of seven projects awarded under the framework contract to date.  The seven projects have had the overarching objective of supporting the framing and content of SOER 2020 by consolidating the evidence and knowledge base across a range of topics as well as providing new analysis to assist in the framing of the content of SOER 2020.  Examples of stock-taking and updating of EEA’s knowledge base include in relation to outlooks across multiple environmental themes (second specific contract), planetary boundaries (third specific contract), global megatrends and the resource nexus (fourth specific contract), and an assessment of the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital (fifth specific contract).  The development of new assessment frameworks included the development of an integrated approach to support urban sustainability assessments (first specific contract) and research into the implications of sustainability transitions research for policy and governance (sixth specific contract).  The seventh specific contract provided a review of different perspectives on quality of evidence to inform EEA's future research.

All the projects were completed between September 2017 and March 2018 and have helped EEA by exploring what is, and is not, possible in terms of SOER 2020, which is intended to diverge from previous European environmental reporting by exploring environmental issues from a systems perspective and proposing a transitions governance approach to addressing Europe’s environmental challenges.

CEP led the delivery of four of the seven projects delivered so far, including overall project management, technical lead on research tasks, and preparing reporting to summarise findings to provide maximum support to the EEA in relation to SOER 2020.  CEP’s work on these projects has involved collaboration with a diverse range of partners including universities and research institutions, consultancies, national environmental agencies and European networks of experts (such as the Eionet network of foresight experts).

For more information please contact CEP’s Owen White, the overall Framework Contract Manager, or Dr Bill Sheate, the Framework Contract Director.

CEP assesses the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital

CEP COMMISSIONED BY THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY (EEA) TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE BASE ON SOCIETY’S NATURAL CAPITAL IN SUPPORT OF THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT — STATE AND OUTLOOK 2020 (SOER 2020)

CEP has been commissioned to lead a specific contract, let under the CEP-led framework service contract on forward-looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions for the European Environment Agency (EEA), to provide expertise for Assessing the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital in support of SOER 2020.  CEP is also leading one of the two explicit tasks in this project which will take stock of and synthesise available knowledge on how green infrastructure (GI) / nature based solutions can contribute to sustainability challenges for maintaining natural capital and ecosystem service capacity. This will include assessing the knowledge base on whether GI / nature based solutions are cost-effective investments that can serve similar functions to grey infrastructure and even provide more benefits for local economies, the social fabric and the broader environment. This task is linked to the other specific task under the contract exploring society’s dependence on natural capital, which is being led by CEP’s partner Trinomics.

This contract is an opportunity to gain a better understanding of societal dependence on natural capital (i.e. biodiversity, ecosystems and their services) and to highlight its importance for Europe, and further incorporate these findings into the EEA’s upcoming SOER 2020 report. 

For more information on this project please contact Ric Eales or Peter Phillips.  

CEP's Owen White is the overall Framework Contract Manager and can provide general information on the framework.  CEP's Dr Bill Sheate is the Framework Contract Director.

CEP-led consortium awarded EEA framework contract on forward looking studies

CEP-led consortium awarded EEA framework contract on forward looking studies

A consortium led by CEP has been awarded a four year single supplier framework contract by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to provide expert assistance on forward looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions. The contract will support the EEA in preparing the next report on the European environment’s state and outlook in 2020 (SOER 2020).  

This exciting opportunity for CEP builds on our work for the EEA over the last 15 years, including on the SOERs in 2010 and 2015. This specific contract adds to CEP’s track record of work related to forward looking analysis for both the EEA and the European Commission, including recent projects on identifying emerging environmental risks and the implications of global megatrends for Europe.

The scope of the work under the framework contract will include developing contextual and forward looking analyses of Europe's sustainability challenges and in increasing understanding about the environmental characteristics of core societal systems, opportunities and barriers to sustainability transitions, and the implications for EU policies. A particular focus will be on strategic and long-term policies and visions relating to the low-carbon and circular economy, natural capital and the sustainable development goals (SDGs), for example.

The CEP-led consortium includes experts from leading consultancies, research organisations, universities and agencies from across Europe.

For more information please contact Dr William Sheate (Contract Director) or Owen White (Contact Manager).

CEP part of a team commissioned to scope and develop Urban Natural Capital Accounts for the UK

CEP part of a team commissioned by Defra to scope and develop Urban Natural Capital Accounts for the UK

CEP is part of a team (led by eftec) commissioned by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to undertake 'A study to scope and develop urban Natural Capital Accounts for the UK'. The project is led by eftec and project partners include the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), Countryscape and academic experts.

The aim of the project is scoping and developing natural capital accounts for the urban ‘broad habitat’ across the UK, which incorporates a range of individual habitats and ecosystem services. This study will support Defra and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in their ongoing work to develop a full set of natural capital accounts and estimates for the UK, as part of the 2020 Natural Capital Accounting Roadmap.

Dr Peter Phillips is CEP's project manager.

Training courses in natural capital and participatory planning now booking

CEP TRAINING COURSES FOR EKN IN NATURAL CAPITAL AND PARTICIPATORY PLANNING NOW BOOKING

Dr Bill Sheate and Dr Peter Phillips will deliver a series of training courses for the Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN) during 2017, following the success of our one-day training course on Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental assessment run in London and Manchester during 2016.

The Ecosystem Service and Environmental Assessment course will be run again in Scotland and in Birmingham in May and June 2017 respectively.  In addition, a new one-day training course in Participatory Land Use Planning will run back-to-back with that course:-

INCORPORATING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND NATURAL CAPITAL INTO ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

• Battleby Conference Centre, Perth, Central Scotland, 10th May 2017. With kind support from Scottish Natural Heritage.
• Austin Court, Central Birmingham B1 2NP, 8th June 2017.

PARTICIPATORY LAND USE PLANNING AND THE ECOSYSTEM APPROACH: WHAT, WHEN AND HOW

• Battleby Conference Centre, Perth PH1 3EW, 9th May 2017.  With kind support from Scottish Natural Heritage.

For further information and links for booking see below:

CEP runs training courses for EKN in 2017

CEP TRAINING COURSES FOR ECOSYSTEMS KNOWLEDGE NETWORK IN 2017

Dr Bill Sheate and Dr Peter Phillips will deliver a series of training courses for the Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN) during 2017, following the success of our one-day training course on Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental assessment run in London and Manchester during 2016.

The Ecosystem Service and Environmental Assessment course will be run again in Scotland and in Birmingham in May and June 2017 respectively.  In addition, a new one-day training course in Participatory Land Use Planning will run back-to-back with that course:-

INCORPORATING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND NATURAL CAPITAL INTO ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

• Battleby Conference Centre, Perth, Central Scotland, 10th May 2017. With kind support from Scottish Natural Heritage.
• Austin Court, Central Birmingham B1 2NP, 8th June 2017.

PARTICIPATORY LAND USE PLANNING AND THE ECOSYSTEM APPROACH: WHAT, WHEN AND HOW

• Battleby Conference Centre, Perth PH1 3EW, 9th May 2017.  With kind support from Scottish Natural Heritage.
• Austin Court, Central Birmingham B1 2NP, 7th June 2017.

For further information and links for booking see below:

Webinar taster for ecosystem services and environmental assessment training

Photo: Bill Sheate - managed realignment, Fingringhoe, Essex.

Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental assessment training course - taster webinar recording NOW available

Ecosystem services are becoming increasingly prominent as a framework for linking the environment and people’s well-being. There is strong interest in what ecosystem services mean for processes such as Environmental Impact Assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal. One key difference is the framing of the natural environment as an opportunity or benefit as opposed to a constraint or backdrop to absorb impacts.

This webinar by CEP's Dr Bill Sheate for the Ecosystems Knowledge Network and the Irish Forum on Natural Capital introduces the topic, pointing to some of the resources and examples available. It was recorded on Friday, October 7, 2016 10:00 am and lasts for 30 minutes.