1. My name is VL, I work at the EEA, on EA, and particularly on developing a platform of exchange
which aims at
facilitating the planning and development of ecosystem assessments in Europe, at national and european scales
And therefore supporting action 5 of the EU Biodiversity strategy,

2. BISE the Biodiversity Information System for Europe
A portal for information on biodiversity in the EU, providing links to policies, topics, data centres, research, countries & networks
A partnership between the EC & the EEA
Support the implementation of the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020
EU Biodiversity Clearing House Mechanism to CBD
This platform is nested in BISE,

3. Concepts and approaches
BISE platform on Ecosystem assessments
Concepts and approaches
Case-studies & Events
Portugal
Process & Governance UK
Spain
Conceptual framework
Belgium
Czech Republic
Status of ecosystems & ecosystem services
France
Germany, Norway…
Valuation
Currently the platform introduces the different building blocks of ecosystem assessments, based on the MA approach (from the process and governance, through the conceptual framework, the … to policy analyses), and provides links to the major manuals or documents.
It also documents some case studies, and provides an updated list of events of interest for ecosystem assessment in Europe.
National case studies are mainly documented regarding the processes and governance, based on a review conducted in (with some updates by countries in end of 2011).
Short information and links are given about the European initiative for “mapping and assessing the state of ecosystems and their services”
Links are also provided to main global initiatives.
European: MAES
Scenarios
Global: MA, TEEB, IPBES, CBD, …
Policies
Country survey on ecosystem-based management

4. Example of country case study
This is an example of the information provided on country case studies for ecosystem assessment.
As you can see it is very brief, it informs about the geographical scope of the initiative, its status, and gives a brief description of the process and governance. When available, links to websites or publications are also provided.
In some instances we have more detailed information on the content.
For example, Spain provided detailed information in English, regarding the methods and results of the Ecosystem Assessment of Spain

5. Information on “MAES” European initiative
This is another example of the documentation provided on case studies,
This time regarding the European initiative on “mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services”
Again the information is very brief and links are provided for more information and documents.

6. On-going developments
A country survey on Ecosystem-based management
Capture and disseminate country experiences on policy approaches, strategies, targets and instruments
Provide inputs to support the policy processes at national, EU and international level
A virtual library
Provide a more comprehensive and indexed collection of relevant documents
Populated & documented by multiple experts
Documents will be collected together with mandatory information describing their content
In order to further feed this platform, we are currently
1. conducting a survey to review policy instruments for ecosystem based management in countries
The objective is to capture and disseminate national experience, in order to expand the knowledge base on ecosystems and their services in Europe, by providing up-to-date policy information on national approaches, strategies, targets and instruments. We expect that the showcases of national experience can provide valuable inputs to support and influence the policy processes at EU (and international) level.
Leon mentioned this survey yesterday. Just to be clear again, about the different exercises. This one is focused on policy intruments. The survey that Leon is going to undertake in the coming months will focus on technical issues about mapping.
We already approached countries to answer this survey, and we expect answers in early December.
2. Tools for a virtual library
The objective is to provide a more comprehensive and indexed collection of documents that are relevant for developing ecosystem assessments in Europe.
The virtual library will need to be populated and documented by multiple experts that are directly involved in planning or shaping ecosystem assessment at national, subnational or European scale.
Documents will be collected together with mandatory information describing their content.

7. A questionnaire on the scope of the virtual library
Needs & contributions from all potential users
Issues: mapping, valuation, scenarios, policy analyses…?
Geographic scope: national, local, regional, global?
Medium: reports, events, tools, presentations?
Type: assessment, research, policy? …
Available online
We have prepared a very small online questionnaire to review the needs and contributions from all potential users.
The questionnaire cover 4 sets of questions to review
The issues to be covered (e.g. ecosystem service mapping, valuation, or on scenario analyses….)
The geographical scope of the documents (e.g. national local, regional, or global geographical scope)
the medium to be collected and documented, (e.g. reports and papers, workshops, analytical tools, presentations,…)
the type of documents to be collected and documented, for instance, elements of on-going or completed ecosystem assessments, research projects, scientific papers, policy documents….
Both the needs and contributions will determine the scope of the library. For instance, if there is an interest in collecting scientific papers or information on research projects, but if we don’t manage to attract the scientific community to contribute to the library, then these documents will not be part of the library.
We would like to invite you to answer to this questionnaire by the end of this month. It is a very small exercise, it should take only a few minutes, but it will be very helpful for us to determine the relevant scope of the library, so that we can develop adequate tools, for uploading documents, and for searching the documents across the whole library.