Setting the governance of a participatory ecosystem service assessment based on text mining the language of stakeholders’ opinions

Abstract

The resident participatory ecosystem service assessment is a method for determining local situations through the ecological knowledge of residents who most closely experience changes in local ecosystems. This is an opportunity for residents to synthesize their environmental knowledge. It provides valuable research material for researchers, can be utilized as a pathway for civil servants to reflect residents' opinions on policy, and can help environmental organizations instill environmental awareness and develop environmental public opinions in residents. Despite the participation of various stakeholders in resident participatory ecosystem service assessment, discussions concerning their roles and the nature of cooperation have largely not borne fruit. This study ascertained opinions on the development of the resident participatory ecosystem service assessment from local residents, local universities and research institutes, and relevant civil servants who participated as stakeholders in environmental organizations in this assessment. Upon organizing the stakeholders’ interests through text mining based on the Q methodology, results indicated that research groups were interested in utilizing research evaluation techniques of a participatory ecosystem services assessment. In contrast, environmental organizations and civil servants were interested in utilizing the assessment results for political application. These two groups agreed that it is important to periodically map and utilize the research results of resident participatory ecosystem service assessment. The South Korean case featured in this study indicated that research teams will have to do their utmost in technique development, as will civil servants and environmental organizations, in creating measures for policy application. All of these groups should first attempt to map the results of resident participation, thereby creating resources for research and policy application, and make advances toward governance for robust resident participatory ecosystem service assessment.