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New OpenNESS synthesis paper on the institutional context of ecosystem management and governance
The next chapter of the OpenNESS Ecosystem Services Reference Book has been published. The new Synthesis Paper - generated by OpenNESS members - analyses institutions at several governance levels.
When conducting the OpenNESS analyses, it is important to recognise the institutional context of ecosystem management and governance. Identifying the institutional context allows us to understand what has produced the current management systems and which institutions will condition the future recommendations. The regulatory frameworks, at the EU level as well as at the national and lower governance levels, rest on broader national state and supranational institutions. Moreover, place-based management of ecosystem services can be strongly conditioned by local informal institutions. For this reason, we have to consider and analyse institutions at several governance levels and pay attention to their interplay.
Synthesis papers represent an agreed conceptual basis for taking the work of OpenNESS forward. The content of them may change over time, as the results of OpenNESS emerge. The reference book will be supported by an extensive glossary. A final version, incorporating all the material gained throughout the project, will be published at the end of the project life cycle in 2017.