Economic valuation is the most common factor in supporting decisions around Nature-based Solutions (NbS). In practice, most applications rely on approaches that based on environmental economics, particularly cost–benefit analysis and monetary valuation techniques. These have been useful in making NbS visible within policy and investment contexts, for example through tools such as B£ST, InVEST, and i-Tree. However, they often fail to capture non-transactional values (e.g., biodiversity, amenity, education), and they have limited attention to ethical considerations and community values. Ecological economics focus more on issues such as justice, long-term sustainability, and plural values (including intrinsic, cultural, and relational values). While these perspectives highlight that values cannot be reduced to dollars or euros, they always face challenges in what criteria to be applied, how to decide, and who decides in real-world decision-making processes. This session aims to bring these discussions together by focusing on how the economic dimension of NbS can be approached in a more balanced and practical way. It invites contributions that critically reflect on current valuation practices but also move towards workable approaches that make the development more flexible and possible.
The session will explore three main directions:
1.Examining the strengths and limitations of existing economic valuation methods for NbS;
2.Presenting alternative or complementary approaches, including participatory and deliberative methods;
3.Discussing how economic appraisal can better account for uncertainty, long-term impacts, and differences in stakeholder values.
Contributions may include methodological developments, empirical case studies, or applied tools and frameworks.
📢 The Call for Abstracts & Posters is now open (May 5 – June 5, 2026)
📄 Discover the full programme with all sessions and descriptions, along with the submission link and application guidelines, all in one place: Nature-based Solutions International Congress - Sciencesconf.org
For any inquiries regarding the scope of this session or potential contributions, please feel free to reach out via the contact button on this profile, or find our session details on the official platform in the link above.
