Coastal and marine ecosystems are widely recognized as social-ecological systems (SES), as they consist of highly interlinked human and ecological components. As such, these ecosystems provide numerous benefits known as ecosystem services (ES) to human wellbeing, but management interventions are often influenced by the distinct priorities of the different affected stakeholders. Researchers are now emphasizing the need to embrace an inclusive approach to the valuation of ES that aims to consider multiple and diverse values from multiple worldviews.

Ecosystem Services‘ special edition on “Multiple Values for the Management and Sustainable Use of Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Services” will include empirical and theoretical/conceptual research that propose and/or apply methods and tools to elicit diverse values associated with ES in coastal and marine social-ecological systems. Shamik Chakraborty (United Nations University), Alexandros Gasparatos (University of Tokyo), and Nereus Fellow Robert Blasiak (Stockholm Resilience Centre, University of Tokyo) are the editors of this special edition.

Potential topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Identify and conceptualize the multiple values associated with ecosystem services in coastal and marine SES
• Value coastal/marine ecosystem services using multiple valuation tools
• Identify the linkages between cultural ecosystem services from coastal/marine SES and different value systems and worldviews
• Describe and assess how changes in values can drive change in coastal/marine SES, and how this can affect their resilience
• Establish the linkages between change in values and the loss/change of indigenous and local ecological knowledge (ILK)
• Integrate different value systems in decision-making processes in coastal and marine SES
• Integrate multiple values in the development of future scenarios for the management and sustainable use of coastal and marine ecosystem services

Interested parties should submit extended abstracts (700 – 1,000 words) describing their intended research topic or question and how it relates to the special theme. Abstracts should be submitted no later than February 28, 2018 to [email protected].

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