South Downs Way Ahead Nature Improvement Area
“Chalking up the benefits” - What does Lewes get from the local
environment?: awareness raising and valuation
Outputs and targets
Output 1. Establish links between local economy, community wellbeing and ecosystem services; launch
website (linked to citywildlife), promote project and establish valuation criteria (L&OVe PIS outputs 1,2,4,12)
i) Identify and prioritise public engagement opportunities for L&OVe attendance across the 3 project years;
design interactive displays for stalls; attend 3 public events
ii) base established at Linklater Pavilion, LRLWT to provide access to L&OVe activities and promote project
iii) Criteria identified for valuation techniques (monetary and non-monetary) appropriate to identify key parts
of the local environment and/or key local ecosystem services of greatest value to the Lewes Community
(including the economy)
iv) L&OVe Group page established, managed and updated on Transition Town Lewes website ; 'stand-alone'
Website established, managed & updated with public forum established for discussion of issues; partner output
(e.g. citywildlife), plus social media set up and linked to publicise the project message
Output 2. Techniques identified and trialled to value ES benefits across community (including public sector
and business decision-makers) and key enterprises identified as major beneficiaries of local ES provision
(L&OVe PIS outputs 3,5,6,8)
i) Workshop process developed, adapted to different participant groups and trialled to help Lewes community
visualise benefits received from surrounding environment
ii) Organisations and enterprises (public/private/3rd sector) benefitting from ES identified, listed and ranked in
terms of ES benefits received from L&OVe project area
iii) Workshop process publicised and promoted to engage the wider community
iv) Further techniques identified, developed, trialled and a case study undertaken to help local
enterprises/organisations recognise, document and value the benefits they receive from the local environment
as ecosystem services (ES)
Output 3. Key ecosystems services mapped and benefits recognised. Stakeholders engaged in project and
programme of land management (L&OVe PIS outputs 7,9,10,11)
i) key ecosystem services in L&OVe project area mapped and linked to beneficiaries
ii) Workshop process rolled out to engage different community groups, organisations and enterprises (3
selected from 2 (ii) - see above) in visualising benefits from ES (local environment)
iii) Stakeholders relating to ES (land managers, decision-makers [pub/priv/3rd sect] & public reps) identified
and engaged in consultation over land management and ES provision
NOTE: Figures in blue in square brackets after each outcome are rough estimates of matched
funding required.
South Downs Way Ahead Nature Improvement Area
Project Information Sheet [as submitted November 2011]
Chalking up the benefits - What does Lewes get from the local environment:
awareness raising and valuation
Project Title:
Location/Area: Brighton, Hove and Lewes Focal Area (bearing in mind that benefits from ES are experienced
over a variety of spatial and temporal scales). The focus is on a (nominal) 5 km area around Lewes town centre
with a number of venues around Lewes. Base at Linklater Pavilion, Railway Lane, Lewes, BN7 2FG (grid ref:
TQ42031008)
Lead Partner: Lewes & Ouse Valley eco-nomics Group
Other key Partners: Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust; Sussex Wildlife Trust; Lewes District Council. Other
potential partners: University of Brighton; Environment Agency Morph project; Environment Agency Coastal
Communities 2150 project; Coastal Climates CIC
Land Owner(s): A variety of private and public owners including the local County, District and Town Councils,
and groups leasing from them such as the Railwayland Wildlife Trust, the Pells Pool Community Association and
the Landport Youth Club, sundry businesses of all sizes including Independents such as Harveys of Lewes, Bills,
and Wickle, and large multiples such as Tesco, Waitrose, Aldi and Pizza Express, local farmers/landowners and
thousands of private individuals.
What are we going to do? - Project Description: Work with the community to explore and document the
benefits to wellbeing in Lewes from our local environment (with a focus on the chalk downs) and to raise and
spread awareness of the gains for the Lewes local economy from locally provided ecosystem services. The
emphasis will be on the multiple benefits to wellbeing (including the economy) that can be achieved
from a multi-functional landscape where natural ecosystem processes are protected and enhanced
and where natural habitats are connected to promote sustainable flow of services and biodiversity.
Context: Nationally and internationally, some businesses are starting to realise that their success and
sustainability are based on natural capital and services provided by ecosystems, not just globally but within
their immediate landscape. Meanwhile, public sector decision-makers are actively encouraged to recognise
wellbeing gains from the environment (e.g. UN TEEB programme). The L&OV eco-nomics Group aims to
document how prevalent this realisation is within the Lewes community; to explore with decision-makers (in
the public, voluntary and private sectors) the interconnections between their enterprises and the services
provided by local ecosystems; to raise awareness of the benefits to the local economy of healthy local
ecosystems and enhanced local biodiversity; to develop appropriate valuation criteria for these benefits; to
carry out evaluation exercises with one or more case study enterprises; to explore how enterprise resilience
levels might be improved by implementing ecosystem management to enhance ecosystem service provision
and how this may be sustainably funded.
What is already happening? – How will the project link with other existing work (added value): A workshop
process has been developed (by L&OVe Group) that allows participants within the Lewes Community to
visualise the links between human wellbeing and the local environment via provision of ecosystem services.
This workshop has been trialled on a limited basis, but via NIA funding will be taken into the wider Lewes
Community. It will link with community engagement work carried out under the EA’s Coastal Community 2021
project; education work on-going through Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust and Sussex Wildlife Trust; work on
‘access’ as an ecosystem service on the SDW; Ouse Catchment management work underway via the
Environment Agency; Brighton & Hove and Lewes Downs Biosphere Project; groundwater modelling work
(South East Water/EA) for Brighton/Hove/Lewes; LDC Sustainability team work on SMARTER living programme
and community ecofootprinting, plus additional work on climate change adaptation.
Delivery - Timescales:
Year 1: Outcomes 1,2, 4, 8 and 13 delivered (see below)
Year 2: Outcomes 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 delivered, with outcomes 1 & 2 further developed (see below)
Year 3: Outcomes 10, 11 and 12 delivered, with outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 further developed; sustainable
funding mechanisms for improved local economic resilience identified.
What will be achieved? Outcomes and Benefits to meet the 5 NIA Objectives (see below):
1. Links between the Lewes local economy and ecosystems from which they benefit revealed to members of
the Lewes Community –Town to Down objective, Valuing the Chalk objective [
2. Website established and partner output media used to publicise the wellbeing benefits to the Lewes
community from local ecosystem services, with public forum established for discussion of the issues –Town
to Down objective and potentially public engagement aspects of Walk the Chalk objective
3. Techniques identified, developed and trialled to help local enterprises document and value the benefits
they receive from key ecosystem services (ES) –Town to Down objective, Valuing the Chalk objective, plus
potentially Surface to Groundwater objective and potentially public engagement aspects of Walk the Chalk
objective
4. Criteria explored and identified for valuation techniques (monetary and non-monetary) appropriate to
identify key parts of the local environment and/or key local ecosystem services of greatest value to the
Lewes Community (including the economy) – Town to Down objective, Valuing the Chalk objective, Linking
the Fragments objective, Surface to Groundwater objective and potentially Walk the Chalk objective
5. Valuation criteria identified in outcome 4 applied to One or more case study landscapes/areas and
ecosystem valuation carried out - Town to Down objective, Valuing the Chalk objective, plus potentially
Surface to Groundwater objective and potentially public engagement aspects of Walk the Chalk objective
6. Local decision-makers engaged in valuation of the local landscape (natural capital (NC)) and ES –Town to
Down objective, Valuing the Chalk objective and public engagement aspects of Walk the Chalk objective
7. Local stakeholders identified for engagement in exploration of land use and management to enhance
provision of ecosystem services of value to wellbeing in the Lewes Community– Valuing the Chalk
objective, Linking the Fragments objective, plus potentially Surface to Groundwater objective and
potentially public engagement aspects of Walk the Chalk objective
8. Key enterprises within the Lewes local economy identified as potential beneficiaries of valuation exercises –
Town to Down objective
9. Initial valuation of ES received by case study enterprise(s) conducted, based on techniques from outcome 3
–Town to Down objective, Valuing the Chalk objective, plus potentially Surface to Groundwater objective
and potentially Walk the Chalk objective
10. Ecosystems/ecosystem services valued by local enterprises in Lewes identified, described and mapped –
Town to Down objective, Valuing the Chalk objective, plus potentially Surface to Groundwater objective
and potentially Walk the Chalk objective
11. Stakeholder consultation initiated on land use and management actions to enhance resilience of
community wellbeing (including the economy) in Lewes – Town to Down objective, Valuing the Chalk
objective, Linking the Fragments objective, plus potentially Surface to Groundwater objective and
potentially public engagement aspects of Walk the Chalk objective
12. Public forum established to make information gathered, case study results, maps and reports public;
outline new opportunities for funding activities and enterprises that expand ES+NC - –Town to Down
objective, Valuing the Chalk objective, plus potentially Surface to Groundwater objective and potentially
Walk the Chalk objective
13. A monitoring procedure suggested for assessing change in perception of enterprises and organisations
within the community
How will the work be monitored and evaluated?: Adaptive management will be used involving on-going
monitoring of each stage of the process to ensure that results are fed back so as to inform other steps in the
project. The degree of community engagement achieved via the various engagement tools trialled will be
assessed and used to inform future engagement steps so as to maximize potential community engagement.
Perceived benefits of ecosystem service valuation exercises with enterprises will be documented to assist
evaluation of the valuation exercises in relation to their influence on future enterprise approach to their local
environment.
What is the potential to continue the project and expand the work to other areas beyond 2015?:
Tools for community engagement in valuing ecosystem services developed during the project could be adapted
for ‘roll-out’ across the South Downs National Park; the Brighton, Hove and Lewes Downs Biosphere project;
Coastal Communities (via the EA project) and, potentially, more widely via the Valuing Nature Network.
The essence of financial sustainability that this project could provide is by local enterprise (local business, local
authorities, local voluntary sector, etc.) recognising their dependence/reliance on healthy local ecosystems and
seeing the benefits from or value of local ecosystems as an opportunity for investment (rather than something
needing further grant aid) so as to increase the resilience of their own business and or local economy.