An Opportunities Framework for Improved Integration of Cultural-Benefits-Knowledge in Environmental Decision-making

Abstract

The cultural benefits of ecosystem services (ES) make foundational contributions to human well-being, and yet they are consistently underrepresented in research products intended to inform decision-making. In particular, the relational or holistic values of cultural benefits linked to continuous, place-based, and reciprocal human-nature relationships – such as cultural identity, maintenance of knowledge systems, and the opportunity to live in right relationship with ecosystems – are inadequately conveyed through existing instrumental approaches to ES assessment and ecosystem valuation. In this paper, we outline a decision-support framework to systematically identify opportunities for improved integration of a wider suite of cultural benefits, and their associated plural values and human-nature relationships. The framework supports expanded thinking about the diversity of forms in which cultural-benefits-knowledge can be conveyed, and the spectrum of available opportunities to learn from these knowledge forms. We demonstrate retrospective application of the framework using a case study of Elwha River dam removal and ecosystem restoration. In interviews, several groups of cultural-benefits-knowledge-holders linked to the Elwha River ecosystem articulated relationally or holistically valuable cultural benefits. Analysis of interviews and historical documents reveal examples of how these groups made their cultural-benefits-knowledge available to decision-makers in multiple forms, including knowledge practices and knowledge products. The case study further highlights that opportunities for integration of cultural-benefits-knowledge vary across phases of decision-making.