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7 Prospects: Methodologies of Integration
Selected value categories are described to get an impression on how to understand the
classification:
Benefit value describes the direct use of services of the biosphere for production or
consumption. The value of experience is also subsumed under this value category, because
it is related to consumption, that is, tourism.
Functional value describes the indirect services of the biosphere. The ecological systems provide many regulation functions (e.g., water cycle, biogeochemical cycles or the
composition of gases in the atmosphere) and structures (e.g., soil, dunes or slopes), which
are necessary for human survival on the earth. Functions are usable characteristics of ecological structures. Values for the ecological goods consists of the utilization of provided
functions. The functional value describes the quality or the actual state of usable ecosystem services. For example: a wide fore land provides a regulation function for coastal
protection, because it reduces to some extend the hydrodynamical load on the main dike,
the soil provides a production function for agricultural use and the existence of habitats,
species and natural processes provides an information function for nature conservation.
Existence value is a non-use value. The existence value is neither based on direct nor
indirect utilization, only the knowledge of the existence of natural goods provide a value.
In particular, the existence value is related to natural goods which will never be used even
in the future. For example, to make the existence value tangible a questionnaire could be
applied to investigate the characteristics of the existence value of the stakeholders for a
specific region.
Consequently, the requirements for a socio-economic and ecological evaluation
scheme which should be used and applied are as follows: the method should
• integrate socio-economic as well as ecological aspects,
• enable to evaluate tangible as well as in-tangible aspects,
• integrate monetary as well as non-monetary values,
• be able to consider and to compare categorized criteria of different aspects (multi
criteria analysis),
• be able to compare different scenarios and
• be transparent and traceable.
CBA are mainly conducted by using a utility function which should be either maximized or minimized. Thus, the aim is to find an optimal solution for problems. Most
real-world problems are not related to one criterion, but to many criteria like social,
economical and ecological criteria. Applying a utility function it is impossible, for example, to maximize all criteria. On the other hand, in real-world problems it is not
wise to maximize all criteria it is better to find a compromise. Therefore, a new category of multicriteria decision-aiding methods has been developed: outranking methods
7 Prospects: Methodologies of Integration
Selected value categories are described to get an impression on how to understand the
classification:
Benefit value describes the direct use of services of the biosphere for production or
consumption. The value of experience is also subsumed under this value category, because
it is related to consumption, that is, tourism.
Functional value describes the indirect services of the biosphere. The ecological systems provide many regulation functions (e.g., water cycle, biogeochemical cycles or the
composition of gases in the atmosphere) and structures (e.g., soil, dunes or slopes), which
are necessary for human survival on the earth. Functions are usable characteristics of ecological structures. Values for the ecological goods consists of the utilization of provided
functions. The functional value describes the quality or the actual state of usable ecosystem services. For example: a wide fore land provides a regulation function for coastal
protection, because it reduces to some extend the hydrodynamical load on the main dike,
the soil provides a production function for agricultural use and the existence of habitats,
species and natural processes provides an information function for nature conservation.
Existence value is a non-use value. The existence value is neither based on direct nor
indirect utilization, only the knowledge of the existence of natural goods provide a value.
In particular, the existence value is related to natural goods which will never be used even
in the future. For example, to make the existence value tangible a questionnaire could be
applied to investigate the characteristics of the existence value of the stakeholders for a
specific region.
Consequently, the requirements for a socio-economic and ecological evaluation
scheme which should be used and applied are as follows: the method should
• integrate socio-economic as well as ecological aspects,
• enable to evaluate tangible as well as in-tangible aspects,
• integrate monetary as well as non-monetary values,
• be able to consider and to compare categorized criteria of different aspects (multi
criteria analysis),
• be able to compare different scenarios and
• be transparent and traceable.
CBA are mainly conducted by using a utility function which should be either maximized or minimized. Thus, the aim is to find an optimal solution for problems. Most
real-world problems are not related to one criterion, but to many criteria like social,
economical and ecological criteria. Applying a utility function it is impossible, for example, to maximize all criteria. On the other hand, in real-world problems it is not
wise to maximize all criteria it is better to find a compromise. Therefore, a new category of multicriteria decision-aiding methods has been developed: outranking methods