CORPORATES – ‘Cooperative participatory assessment of the impact of renewable
technology on ecosystem services’
Workshop 1
The first workshop took place on the 14th of November 2014 at the Scottish Government
Buildings, Victoria Quay in Edinburgh. The workshop was attended by marine renewable
energy industry, regulatory/advisory partners and a range of stakeholders, including fishers,
NGOs and recreationalists.
The main objectives of the first workshop were to develop an understanding between
the range of stakeholders and to allow a sharing of their experiences and knowledge of the
Firth of Forth region. (expand)
The first workshop consisted of three activities: (1) Participatory mapping, (2) Benefits and
(3) Interactions and Impacts
The first activity involved a spatial mapping exercise to explore the location and
spatial footprint of local activities by sector. A hard copy of an admiralty chart was provided
along with supplementary maps of existing spatial information by sector. Participants were
asked to review existing information and provide additional data and information on the
intensity of use. Information was gathered by participants drawing and marking the charts
and any dialogue was recorded by note takers.
The second activity highlighted the benefits that local stakeholders receive from the
marine activities they take part in. Participants were asked to write down on post-it notes
benefits that marine activities provide either for themselves as local stakeholders, for
society as a whole, or for biodiversity. The participants were then asked if their benefit could
be linked spatially to a specific location and this was highlighted on the map. The
importance of each benefit to the stakeholder was also classified as ‘low’, ‘medium’, or
‘high’.
The third activity explored the links among local marine activities with all sectors, the
benefits and the underlying natural (ecological) processes. Participants were handed a
table of sectoral benefits and asked to identify and reflect on the commonalities and
differences in benefits across the sector groups. They were then asked to identify how the
benefits link back to natural (ecological) processes. The workshop concluded with the
participants being asked to consider the potential impact of various types of change,
including climate change, windfarms, and MPAs, on the benefits identified and the activities
associated with them. Discussion also included mitigation measures and other factors
influencing change.
During workshop 1, there were several presentations given regarding the different
aspects of the project. First there was a ‘welcome’ and introduction to the project
presentation by the project leader, Beth Scott (University of Aberdeen), an ‘Ecosystem
Services within a policy context’ presentation by Tavis Potts (University of Aberdeen), a
‘Consent of Firth of Forth wind farm developments’ presentation by Ian Davies and Roger
May (Marine Scotland), a ‘Drivers: what are the constraints’ presentation by one of the wind
farm representatives and finally a workshop overview by Kate Irvine & Anja Byg (James
Hutton Institute). Later in the workshop, there was also an ‘Ecological Interlude’
presentation given by Beth Scott (University of Aberdeen), Rory Murray (Marine Scotland)
and Jacqueline Tweddle (University of Aberdeen) to provide the participants with some
ecological background to the project.
At the end of the workshop, feedback surveys were handed out to the participants to
gather their opinions of the project and the workshop. Overall, participants found it useful
and interesting. Some comments included “I hadn’t thought of impact assessment this way
before”, “very positive discussions”, “very thought provoking”, “helpful to gain better
understanding of links” and “found common interests with other users”. We also received
some constructive comments that we used to improve the second workshop.
Workshop 2
The second workshop took place on the 6 th of March 2015 at the Scottish Government
Buildings, Victoria Quay in Edinburgh. The same local stakeholders and representatives
from the marine renewable energy industry and regulatory/advisory partners were invited to
attend the second workshop.
The main objective of the second workshop was to provide a process to exchange
knowledge and enhance understanding around the links between benefits and final and
intermediate ecosystem services. (expand)
The second workshop consisted of four activities: (1) Linking Local Benefits to
Ecosystem Services, (2) Conceptual System Model (CSM) Building, (3) Exploring TradeOffs and Policy Options and (4) Decision Making Process.
The first activity involved linking benefit themes to final ecosystem services and
features. Each group was provided with pre-printed A1 sheet with 3 final ecosystem
services (in centre) & 12 Benefit themes (around the edges). Participants had to link benefit
themes to ecosystem services and annotate arrows with relevant features. Benefits
included: (1) Local Economic Benefits, (2) Employment, (3) Cultural Heritage, (4) Social
Bonding, (5) Healthy Climate, (6) Ecosystem Health & Resilience, (7) Escape, (8) Health,
(9) Adventure & Challenge, (10) Knowledge & Skills, (11) Connection to Nature and (12)
Aesthetics & Scenery. Final ecosystem services included i) Fish and shellfish, ii) Climate
regulation, and iii) Seascape final ecosystem services. Features included i) Naturalness,
wildness and vastness, ii) Presence of specific species, iii) Habitats, geodiversity and
topography, and iv) Presence of cultural-historic features
For the second activity, groups of stakeholders from mixed backgrounds each
developed a conceptual system model around the key ecosystem services to look at
interactions and feedbacks. A limited set of variables on individual cards was provided
including ecosystem services and social and economic variables. Variables included
Primary Production & Nutrient Cycling, Formation of Habitats/Habitat Diversity, Species
Diversity, Larval supply, Carbon sequestration, Climate regulation & stability, Ecosystem
health & resilience, Quantity of fish & shellfish, Degree of naturalness, wildness & vastness,
Number of cultural-historic features, Fishing catch, Cultural heritage & identity, Marine
tourism/recreation, Local economic benefits, Offshore wind energy, Number/size of Marine
Protected Areas and Personal wellbeing from nature. The participants were then tasked
with generating a conceptual model by drawing arrows between cards and looking at the
positive and negative relations between the different variables.
The third activity was split into two parts: 3A involved the groups exploring the tradeoffs and policy options. In their mixed groups, the participants were asked to consider how
sectors and activities (including industry & conservation) will change in response to key
policy and legal drivers and how these changes will impact intermediate ecosystem
services and benefits. Each group was presented with a set of storylines that represent the
effect on the different ‘actions’ (i.e. wind energy, fishing, MPAs and tourism/recreation) and
they were asked to suggest how these may affect intermediate ecosystem services. The
groups also considered the criteria used in decision making process.
Activity 3B involved participants being given the chance to provide us with new
information and a ‘first hand’ narrative of expected future changes in their sector. Each
individual had 15 minutes to write up to 1 page a story about how an individual from a
sector responds to the drivers and trade-offs identified in the previous exercise. Topics
covered included what is happening in the broader sector (i.e. from the drivers), individual
prospects and values, a short term view (2020) and a longer term view (2050), and
experience in engaging in decision making.
The workshop concluded with an open discussion between all participants to reflect
on the processes of the workshops, and to provide feedback on what elements of the
discussions in workshop 1 and 2 should be included in the decision-making process.
During workshop 2, there were two presentations or ‘interludes’ given by members of
the CORPORATES team. The Ecological Interlude, presented by Jacqueline Tweddle from
the University of Aberdeen provided the participants with some background knowledge of
the relationships between Intermediate and Final Ecosystem Services. There was also a
Law and Policy Interlude, presented by Anne-Michelle Slater from the University of
Aberdeen which provided the participants with an understanding of the connections
between legislation and policy implementation on the different activities, such as Offshore
Energy, MPAs, Fishing and Recreation/Tourism.
Feedback surveys were distributed at the end of the workshop to allow the
participants to evaluate the workshop and its activities. Feedback received from the
participants suggested that they found the workshop useful with a high percentage of ‘very
goods’ marked for discussion quality in particular. Some of the comments received were as
follows: “Interaction with others organisations was very useful – gaining understanding of
others view” (BTO) and “Enjoyable, well-facilitated workshop” (MCS).