Scaling Policy Conflicts in Ecosystem Services Governance: A Framework for Spatial Analysis

Abstract

Effective governance for ecosystem services (ES) is not only challenged by trade-offs between services’ provision and conflicts among policies aimed at enhancing individual services, but also by the problem of scale. This paper's objective is to introduce a framework for the systematic analysis of scale issues in ES governance, and to illustrate its application in a case study of bioenergy production. The research questions are: (i) How can the concepts of scale be integrated in an assessment of ES governance? (ii) Which scale effects can be identified in a case study analysis of bioenergy governance? Building upon the DPSIR (driving forces, pressures, state, impacts, and responses) model, a framework for systematically assessing scale effects in ES governance is developed and applied in a nested case study in the region of Hanover, Germany. The case study is the first such study to spatially illustrate scale effects in ES trade-offs and policy conflicts. The results contribute to our understanding of scalar issues in the governance of ES with a differentiated typology of scale effects and their spatial implications within the DPSIR model. The approach supports ex post and ex ante assessments of governance designs, and helps actors considering across-level impacts of policy options in practice.